In the Protein Era, Even He-Man Is Hawking Supplements

In the movie “Masters of the Universe,” He-Man is a warrior with bulging muscles.But it turns out that the source of his strength, the power of Grayskull, isn’t available to the middle-age audience watching the film in a fit of nostalgia.Cue the protein!Mattel, the toy company that created He-Man more than 40 years ago, has made no secret of its desire to turn the film into a merchandising juggernaut.

That even extends to tapping into Americans’ seemingly insatiable appetite for muscle-building protein.The company has teamed up with Perfect Sports, a Canadian maker of nutritional supplements, to make a limited-edition line of He-Man-branded whey protein products and other supplements for athletes and weekend warriors looking to bulk up.The goal is to reach the audience that watched He-Man as a cartoon in the 1980s.The largest segment of the movie’s audience has been men ages 45 to 54, according to the Hollywood research firm PostTrak.“It’s very good marketing,” said Silvia Bellezza, an associate professor of business in marketing at Columbia Business School....