Marge Simpson voice is performed by Julie Kavner, who also does the voices of Marge's mother Jacqueline and her sisters Patty and Selma. Kavner had been part of the regular cast of "The Tracey Ullman Show". Voices were needed for the shorts, so the producers decided to ask Kavner and fellow cast member Dan Castellaneta to voice Marge and Homer rather than hire more actors. Part of Kavner's contract says that she will never have to promote "The Simpsons" on video and she rarely performs Marge's voice in public because she believes it "destroys the illusion. People feel these are real people."
The Simpsons their advertising. As a promotion for "The Simpsons Movie", twelve 7-Eleven stores were transformed into Kwik-E-Marts and sold "The Simpsons" related products. These included "Buzz Cola", "Krusty-O" cereal, pink doughnuts with sprinkles, and "Squishees". In 2008 consumers around the world spent $750 million on merchandise related to "The Simpsons", with half of the amount originating from the United States. By 2009, 20th Century Fox had greatly increased merchandising efforts. On April 9, 2009, the United States Postal Service unveiled a series of five 44-cent stamps featuring Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie, to commemorate the show's twentieth anniversary. "The Simpsons"