(18 Dec 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Lake Zurich, Illinois – 13 December 2024
1. SOUNDBITE (English) Jessica Dietzen, buyer at Learning Express Toys (talking while showing toy display):
"So right now we have a huge trend with capybaras."
2. Close of capybara in Jessica’s hands. UPSOUND: "Capybaras are the world’s largest rodent, and weigh over 100 pounds."
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Jessica Dietzen, buyer at Learning Express Toys:
"They are just one of the most popular animal items that we carry right now."
4. Close of capybara and other stuffed toys
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Richard Derr, Learning Express Toys store owner:
"There’s always been your core stuffed animals, unicorns, turtles, bears, that type of thing. But in the last, I would say, 5 to 8 years, social media trends are the ones that have burst things on to the scene."
6. Mid of stuffed animals on display
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Richard Derr, Learning Express Toys store owner:
"And when Covid hit and many businesses shut down and kids were sheltered, they sought comfort. They sought joy. They sought a texture of softness or or cuddleness. And that’s when Plush took off."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
St. Louis – 12 December 2024
8. Various of stuffed animals on display at Build-A-Bear store
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Sharon Price John, president and CEO of Build-A-Bear Workshop:
"Trends in stuffed animals can come from almost anywhere, pop culture, social media. Sometimes they’re generated by user generated content. But we watch for those trends all the time and listen to our fans to understand like what’s trending."
10 Mid of stuffed toys on display
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Sharon Price John, president and CEO of Build-A-Bear Workshop:
"This year we introduced another product called the capybara. Capybara’s a huge rodent, it’s actually the largest rodent."
12. Wide of stuffed toys on display
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Sharon Price John, president and CEO of Build-A-Bear Workshop (holding small toy):
"So this is a mini version in our mini bean selection of a capybara. But he’s a cookie capybara that we made just for the holidays. The large size sold out very quickly."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Lake Zurich, Illinois – 13 December 2024
14. Jellycat stuffed animals on display
15. Various stuffed animals on display and Jessica Dietzen arranging animals
STORYLINE:
The world’s largest rodent is having a big moment.
The capybara – a semi-aquatic South American relative of the guinea pig — is the latest in a long line of “it” animals that received star status during the holiday shopping season. Shoppers can find capybaras appearing as slippers, purses, robes, bath bombs and stuffed animals and on bedding, T-shirts, phone cases, mugs, key chains and almost any other type of traditional gift item.
In previous years, owls, hedgehogs, foxes and sloths all took their turns as plush toys or printed on products designed for children and adults.
This year, shoppers can find capybaras appearing as slippers, purses, robes, bath bombs and stuffed animals and on bedding, T-shirts, phone cases, mugs, key chains and almost any other type of traditional gift item.
Trendy animals and animal-like creatures aren’t a new retail phenomenon; think the talking Teddy Ruxpin toys of the 1980s, or Furby and Beanie Babies a decade later. But industry experts say social media is amplifying animal celebrities.
Social media is also speeding up the cycle, says Richard Derr, who has owned a Learning Express Toys franchise in Lake Zurich, Ill., for nearly 30 years and is also a regional manager for the specialty toy store chain.
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