The Drum Awards for Marketing - Extended Deadline

-d -h -min -sec

Hamley Twitter

Hamleys scraps penguin plans after online furore

Author

By The Drum Team, Editorial

December 2, 2010 | 2 min read

Toy shop Hamleys has bowed to social media criticism and abandoned plans to bring live penguins and reindeer into the store in the lead up to Christmas.

Hundreds of animal lovers had taken to social networks to complain that the plans were cruel.

They protested on Twitter using the hashtag 'sHamleys' and more than 500 became fans of a Facebook page called 'Stop sHamleys using live penguins and reindeer as a cheap attraction'.

Today Hamleys used its own Facebook page to announce that it had abandoned plans to have the animals in store.

It said: "Hamleys' [sic] recognises having penguins in store has raised concerns amongst some of its customers and, as a result, we have decided to cancel their proposed appearance next week.

"While we were taking every measure possible to ensure the welfare of the penguins, we have listened closely to people’s views and feel this is the best course of action.

"We apologise to those of our customers who were looking forward to seeing the penguins."

Any readers who would like to see penguins in a happier habitat should take a look at snowy Edinburgh Zoo's live Penguin Cam which is proving hugely popular on Twitter.

Hamley Twitter

More from Hamley

View all

Trending

Industry insights

View all
Add your own content +