The 1987 film Robocop was rated R, for very good reasons, if you recall. It was ultra-violent, ultra-gory, and creepy enough in places to induce nightmares. It was also very big hit, and Hollywood aimed to wring every last dollar out of it.
As with nearly every other gruesome action film from the 1980s, Hollywood realized that kids freaking love Robocop. It didn’t matter that it was a seriously hard R-rated movie with tons of gruesome violence and satirical jabs at corporations, the media, and Cold War-era nuclear paranoia that likely flew over young impressionable heads. Hollywood decided that they could turn Robocop into a superhero, and thus the subsequent sequels, cartoons, and live-action TV series stripped the property of everything that made it great in the first place.
What we got following the film was Robocop anti-drug PSAs, a comic book, an animated series for kids, appearances in professional wrestling, political photo-ops, fast-food advertising, and more. Relive those surreal moments in a list (with videos) at Gamma Squad.