Brow Beat

Colbert Found Some of the Most Absurd Pope Francis Merchandise Money Can Buy

The Pope has landed in New York, and the city has gone reliably Pope-crazy. During Thursday night’s “pope-isode” of Stephen Colbert’s Late Show, Colbert took a quick beat to gawk at all of the ridiculous merchandise that savvy sellers have managed to wring from this visit.

Sure, there are the predictable baseball caps, $70 pullovers, T-shirts, and $200 crystal rosary beads. But could anyone have predicted custom pizza pies with Pope Francis on them, complete with hat and crucifix? Perhaps the best item for sale is the Pope Francis cologne, which can be yours for a meager $30. One has to wonder how it smells to Pope Francis, who once called capitalist excesses the “dung of the devil.” But as Colbert said, “What’s more forbidden than smelling like a 78-year-old celibate man?”