In marketing terminology, the term gimmick refers to a unique or quirky special feature that makes something "stand out" from its contemporaries. However, the special feature is generally thought to be of little relevance or use. Thus, a gimmick is a special feature for the sake of having a special feature. It began, however, as a slang term for something that a con artist or magician had his assistant manipulate to make appearances different from reality. Such things as the manipulating of a gaming wheel led to the idea of a "gimmick" being used. Musicians often use gimmicks such as Slash's top hat, Angus Young's schoolboy uniform and Deadmau5's mouse helmet.

, known as Mr. Gimmick outside Japan, is a platform video game developed and published by Sunsoft, and originally released in Japan for the Family Computer on January 31, 1992. It was later released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in Scandinavia on May 5, 1993. The game was originally intended to be released internationally, however, like , Sunsoft of America did not approve of the game for a North American release due to its quirky character design. The only distributor that imported the NES version was Swedish distributor Bergsala, which sold it to the Scandinavian market in small quantities.