Pesto the penguin puffs up Australian aquarium’s bottom line
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Pesto the penguin puffs up Australian aquarium’s bottom line
In January, a star was hatched.
Pesto, a king penguin of unusually large size, has waddled his way into social media feeds all over the world, forcing pygmy hippo Moo Deng to share the celebrity baby animal spotlight. In the process, Pesto has boosted the profile and revenue of the Australian aquarium where he lives.
When Pesto poked out of his shell in January, he weighed just 7 ounces but eventually reached 53 pounds, making him the largest penguin at Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium. The average king penguin weighs between 21 and 40 pounds.
Good genes and good parenting contributed to his healthy size, according to the aquarium’s website. His dad, Blake, is the aquarium’s biggest penguin, and at 22, the oldest. Raising a chick “can put considerable strain” on a penguin’s body, so Pesto was cared for by a younger doting penguin couple, Tango and Hudson.
The “global scale of his popularity” has attracted tourists from all over the world, said Claire Burrell, general manager at Sea Life Melbourne.
“Penguin chicks are pretty special. You don’t have one every day,” Burrell said. Pesto was the first king penguin to hatch at the aquarium in two years, according to the Associated Press.
Animals like Pesto and Moo Deng have not only bolstered attendance at zoos and aquariums, but they’ve inspired clothing and knickknacks that celebrate them.
The reason why so many people have gravitated toward them is simple: “They’re chubby little babies,” said Jenna Drenten, an associate professor of marketing at Loyola University Chicago’s Quinlan School of Business.
Because these animals have become celebrities and brands in their own right, consumers feel a kinship with them like they do with, say, Nike or Taylor Swift, Drenten said.
Over the past year, Sea Life Melbourne has seen a 40% increase in visitors, said Burrell, although she declined to share the exact number of visitors. “We had our strongest week on record in October, and we can see through this data that it’s significantly driven by Pesto’s popularity,” Burrell said.
Revenue is also up 60% year over year at the aquarium.
Other factors have also helped drive foot traffic, including Swift’s stop in Melbourne as part of her “Eras Tour” and pent-up demand from people who postponed visits during aquarium renovations in 2023, Burrell said.
The aquarium’s revenue has also been boosted by selling more “premium” products and less reliance on third-party ticket sellers.
But there’s no denying that Pesto’s star power has had a considerable impact on the aquarium. Guest surveys found that about 80% of visitors were aware of Pesto, and about 70% of those people came to visit Pesto specifically, Burrell said. Guest surveys began asking visitors about Pesto when hype surrounding the king penguin started to amp up, Burrell noted.
Pesto first appeared on the aquarium’s Instagram account in April, but his popularity exploded after the aquarium hosted a gender reveal party in September. Katy Perry then visited Pesto later that month, pushing him further into the global spotlight.
Merchandise sales at the aquarium have soared 50%, and Pesto-themed items — plushies, shirts, hoodies and tote bags — make up 13% of all purchases, Burrell said.
Tourists are also flocking to see Moo Deng. The Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Thailand, where Moo Deng lives, had fewer than 85,000 visitors in July when the hippo was born. But in October, attendance reached 300,000, according to the LA Times.
Nearby businesses, like restaurants and food stalls, are benefiting from Moo Deng mania. Local incomes have increased by at least 50%, the LA Times said.
Meanwhile, dozens of companies have paid a cumulative $4.4 million in copyright fees to feature Moo Deng on their products, according to the Bangkok Post.
Smaller businesses on platforms like Etsy and TikTok are also capitalizing on the popularity of animals like Pesto and Moo Deng by selling clothing, calendars and stickers inspired by them.
Their fame allows artists to create merchandise that’s both marketable and has their own unique spin, Drenten pointed out.
“Just drawing your own characters might be really exhausting or not as commercially successful,” Drenten said.
However, these giant baby animals won’t stay babies forever. Pesto lost his baby feathers and some fat while molting, slimming down to about 46 pounds in late November.
Sellers are trying to cash in while these viral animals are popular, Drenten said. She said there will be another animal superstar next year, and then another one the year after that.
But even if the hype surrounding Pesto and Moo Deng cools down, some followers will remain loyal.
Pesto just had his first confirmed swim, according to a post on Monday from Sea Life’s Instagram account. The post has garnered more than 59,000 likes and attracted a flurry of comments from people celebrating the milestone.
“They grow up so fast,” said one user.
“We’re all so proud of you Pesto,” said another.
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