page_title: Knut (polar bear)
section_title: Commercial success
hierarchical_section_title: Knut (polar bear) / Effects of popularity / Commercial success
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: US-Botschafter William Timken und seine Frau Sue besuchten die Sensation in Berlin, das Eisbärbaby Knut im hiesigen Zoo, das weltweit Aufmerksamkeit erregt hat. Der Besuch schloss einen Rundgang durch das Aquarium ein und ein direktes Treffen mit dem Bären, den die Berliner Medien "Cute Knut" getauft haben. Links im Bild der Tierpfleger Thomas Dörflein, rechts der Tierarzt André Schüle.
context_page_description: Knut was an orphaned polar bear born in captivity at the Berlin Zoological Garden. Rejected by his mother at birth, he was raised by zookeepers. He was the first polar bear cub to survive past infancy at the Berlin Zoo in more than 30 years. At one time the subject of international controversy, he became a tourist attraction and commercial success. After the German tabloid newspaper Bild ran a quote from an animal rights activist that decried keeping the cub in captivity, fans worldwide rallied in support of his being hand-raised by humans. Children protested outside the zoo, and e-mails and letters expressing sympathy for the cub's life were sent from around the world.
  Knut became the center of a mass media phenomenon dubbed "Knutmania" that spanned the globe and spawned toys, media specials, DVDs, and books. Because of this, the cub was largely responsible for a significant increase in revenue, estimated at about €5 million, at the Berlin Zoo in 2007. Attendance figures for the year increased by an estimated 30 percent, making it the most profitable year in its 163-year history.
  On 19 March 2011, Knut unexpectedly died at the age of four.
context_section_description: The Berlin Zoo registered "Knut" as a trademark in late March 2007. As a result, its shares more than doubled at the Berlin Stock Exchange; previously worth around €2,000, the value closed at €4,820 just a week later. The zoo reported that its attendance figures for 2007 increased by an estimated 30 percent, making it the most profitable it had been in its 163-year history. Knut earned the Berlin Zoo nearly €5 million that year, mainly thanks to an increase in visitors as well as the amount of merchandise sold.
  Various companies profited from the attention surrounding Knut by developing themed products such as ringtones and cuddly toys. Plush toy company Steiff produced several Knut-based plush toys in three sizes and models: sitting, standing, and lying down. The first 2,400 produced toys, which sold exclusively at the Berlin Zoo, sold out in only four days. The money raised from the Steiff deal was intended to be used to renovate the polar bear enclosure at the zoo. Candy company Haribo released a raspberry-flavored gummy bear sweet called Cuddly Knut beginning in April 2007. They pledged to donate ten cents to the zoo for every tub of Knut sweets it sold. The gummy bears sold so well that the Bonn-based company had to expand production to a second factory to deal with demand.
  Knut was the subject of several popular songs in Germany, the most successful of which were the singles "Knut is Cute" and "Knut, der kleine Eisbär" (English: "Knut, the little polar bear") by nine-year-old Kitty from Köpenick. In Britain, musical comedian Mitch Benn has performed four songs about Knut for BBC Radio 4 satirical series The Now Show: "The Baby Bear Must DIE!", "Knut Isn't Cute Anymore", "Goodbye Knut" and "Panda in Berlin". A blog with updates about the polar bear was maintained by a journalist at the regional public broadcaster Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg; it was available in German, English, and Spanish.  RBB was also responsible for a weekly television program dedicated to the polar bear cub that was broadcast in Germany.  Knut has also been the subject of several DVDs, including one entitled "Knut – Stories from a Polar Bear's Nursery".  On 29 March 2007 he appeared on the cover of the German Vanity Fair magazine, which included a several page spread about the cub's life.
  On 1 May 2007, it was announced that New York-based Turtle Pond Publications and the Berlin Zoo had signed a deal for the worldwide publishing rights to Knut with the hopes of raising awareness of global warming issues. Written by Craig Hatkoff and his daughters Juliana and Isabella, the 44-page book entitled Knut, der kleine Eisbärenjunge (Little Polar Bear Knut) includes Knut's life story as well as previously unpublished photographs. Although several books about Knut had already been published in Germany, this book was the first to be authorized by the Berlin Zoo.
  The book was published in Germany by Ravensburger on 26 July 2007 and US publishing company Scholastic released the English version, entitled Knut: How one little polar bear captivated the world, in the United States in November of the same year. Rights to the book have also been sold to publishers in Japan, England, Mexico, China, and Italy.
  On 31 December 2007, the zoo's director confirmed the zoo had received a proposal for a film deal from Hollywood film producer Ash R. Shah, whose films include Supernova and Shark Bait, to make an animated film about the bear's life. Shah reportedly approached the Berlin Zoo with a purported €3.5 million film deal. Knut made his big screen debut in the German film Knut und seine Freunde (Knut and His Friends), which premiered in Berlin on 2 March 2008. Directed by Michael Johnson, the film depicts how Knut was rescued after his mother abandoned him and also features a polar bear family from the Arctic and two brown bear cubs from Belarus.
caption: Knut with Dörflein and US Ambassador to Germany William R. Timken in April 2007
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