The fluffy baby bear has become Germany's latest merchandising
sensation, inspiring Knut T-shirts, Knut mugs, Knut postcards, Knut
DVDs, Knut keychains, Knut candy and stuffed Knuts costing up to
EUR29.95 (US$40).
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. Since then, Knutmania has just
kept on gathering steam.
Together with Leonardo DiCaprio, he appears on the cover of Vanity
Fair's current May issue, with pictures taken by star photographer
Annie Leibovitz. He has the cover of the German edition all to
himself.
Zoo officials say attendance has roughly doubled on average since
Knut came along.
"Obviously, his innocent, babylike looks are an important reason,"
said Peter Walschburger, a psychologist at the Free University in
Berlin, adding that Knut's white fur and soft, round features made
people want to protect him.
The merchandizing frenzy now includes a special collection by
German toy maker Steiff GmbH. Since January, the company has been
selling 800 Knut bears every day, said sales director Gerald
Uhlich.
The stuffed animals come in three sizes and cost from EUR19.95
(US$26.60) to EUR29.95 (US$40). Steiff has a license deal with the
zoo and will invest part of its profit in projects there.
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. The candymaker also
will contribute part of its proceeds to the zoo.
"Our Knut candies have raspberry flavor and are sold in boxes of
150 pieces or over the counter for five cents each," Marco Alster,
a Haribo spokesman, said Thursday.
Knut even has his own blog in German, English and Spanish - written
by a journalist at the regional public broadcaster, Rundfunk
Berlin-Brandenburg.
The Knut marketing phenomenon has also had a dramatic impact on the
Berlin Zoo's stock. The shares, which had hovered around the
EUR2,000 (US$2,680) over recent years, shot up as high as EUR4,820
(US$6,400) this week.
By Thursday, however, the 4,000 shares, publicly traded on the
local Berlin-Bremen Stock Exchange, had settled back to EUR3,700
(US$4,960).
The boom may run its course in the next few months: Unlike his
stuffed replicas, cute Knut will soon grow up - into a huge and
much less cuddly adult.
http://english.pravda.ru/news/world/06-04-2007/89209-knut-0
