Sun 8 Apr 2007
Even Zoo Shares Get Boost from Knutmania-zoo polar cub
Posted by Barb under Bear Information , Corporate Sponsorship , International InfoEdmonton Journal
Even zoo’s shares get a boost from Knutmania
Kirsten Grieshaber, The Associated Press
Published: Saturday, April 07, 2007
BERLIN - Thousands of people line up at the Berlin Zoo each day to see Knut the polar bear cub, and his button-eyed face has become inescapable for many others who live far from the capital.
Knutmania is in full swing in Germany, where the fluffy baby bear has become the latest merchandising sensation, inspiring Knut T-shirts, mugs, postcards, DVDs, keychains, candy and stuffed teddy bears that cost up to $40 US.
Knut shares the cover of the current issue of Vanity Fair with no less than Leonardo DiCaprio, with photos by Annie Leibovitz. He has the cover of the German edition all to himself.
Martin Frechen, CEO of the German Steiff company, poses recently with a new line of toys inspired by Knut the polar bear, seen in the background.
Martin Frechen, CEO of the German Steiff company, poses recently with a new line of toys inspired by Knut the polar bear, seen in the background.
The Associated Press
Born at the zoo on Dec. 5, Knut — who was rejected by his mother and hand-raised by zookeepers — rose to fame last month thanks to television and newspaper pictures. So potent is his appeal that zoo attendance has roughly doubled since his debut, officials said. He even helped the zoo’s stock to more than double — albeit temporarily.
Some 15,000 people visit the baby bear each day.
The merchandising frenzy now includes a special collection by German toy maker Steiff GmbH. Since January, the company has been selling 800 Knut bears a day, sales director Gerald Uhlich said. The stuffed animals come in three sizes and cost between about $27 and $40.
Haribo, the German candy company that makes gummi bears, has created a white, marshmallow-like Knut candy that will hit grocery stores across Germany and Austria next week.
Steiff has a licensing deal with the zoo and will invest part of its profit in projects there. Haribo also will contribute part of its proceeds to the zoo.
The Knut marketing phenomenon has had a dramatic impact on the Berlin Zoo’s ownership shares, a legacy of its founding as a stock corporation in 1871. The shares, which had hovered around $2,680 in recent years, shot up as high as $6,400 this week.
By Thursday, the shares, which usually tend to stay in family ownership for years, had settled back to $4,960 on the Berlin-Bremen local exchange.
Knut also has his own blog — in German, English and Spanish — written by a journalist at the regional public broadcaster, Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg.
© The Edmonton Journal 2007
April 8th, 2007 at 7:12 am
With this international attention re: Knut and the financial windfall for the shareholders of the zoo no doubt \’human cared for \’baby\’ animals with heart-wrenching stories will start popping up in zoos more frequently. The public will never know if the \’baby\’ animal was truly rejected by it\’s mother or it arrived at the facility under less than honest circumstances.
I know of a zoo that had been given a few very young orphaned grizzly cubs by the gov\’t authorities when rehabilitation facilities were waiting in the wings for these bears. The story the commercial enterprise now tells it\’s visitors is that the cubs would surely have been shot if they had not offered to take them. The two large carnivore rehabilitation facilities in the area are never mentioned in the zoo\’s lectures to guests as having been an option for these cubs.
Another instance I heard of recently is that a santuary for polar bears recieved their first and only two orphaned cubs after they were orphaned when a hunter went out and shot the mother and \’luckily\’ brought the cubs promptly to this newly opening facility. Another facility saves the day!
Commercial operations dealing in live animals or even in animal foods must be put under the highest possible scrutiny. Animals matter to most of us and how we treat them in society, here and now, reflects on our collective moral and ethical character, here and now. We have to start recognizing crass commercialization of animals for what it really is and not rush to buy tickets….or shares!
Barb
Bears Matter