What do you do upon the 30th anniversary of a celebrity’s death? Merchandise it!

Bob Marley drinks, luggage, stationery, hotels and video games could soon appear after the late reggae star’s family struck a merchandise deal.

“We’re open to licensing just about anything,” said the late reggae icon’s daughter Cedella. But she added: “If it is not right, we will not do it.”

The family has teamed up with private equity firm Hilco to capitalise on his name and songs and to stop bootleggers.
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There is already a Bob Marley Resort & Spa in the Bahamas, which could be the springboard for a string of Marley hotels.

First off, congratulations to the Marley family for cashing in on the memories of their deceased family forbears, and making the big bank during this lousy economy. I’m sure that consumers will be excited to snap up Bob Marley-branded beer, coffee, headphones, snowboards (!?), shoes, musical instruments, and electronics.

But with regard to the Marley hotel chain idea, let’s think about what this could mean:

- Forget about non-smoking rooms: Expect bongs in every room.
- Late night munchies table.
- Ruthless attempt to run the Peter Tosh hotel chain out of business.
- No business center.
- Points program will allow you to cash in for other Marley-branded products. (Best redemption rates on snowboards.)

…but seriously, how big is the size of the market for deceased-celebrity-themed hotels? This could only work if they stick to the Caribbean party islands. If they start planting Marley hotels in, say, Minneapolis and Charlotte, then they’ll end up the next Planet Hollywood, which went bankrupt. Twice.