2_0_DiscoverGermany_Issue30_September2015:Scan Magazine 1
28/8/15
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Discover Germany | Design | Badeenten
ricated rubber ducks with customised prints. The classic yellow rubber duck now has brothers, sisters and cousins in quite different shapes. For example, the clearly female duck in Dirndl with the typical deep cleavage called Traudl, the male counterpart in lederhosen or a duck dressed in green as the Statue of Liberty with a torch in hand. “No one knows why most rubber ducks today are yellow, maybe this is simply an accident of history,”says Broegger. The effect on the other hand is mostly the same all over the world: “The rubber duck might be a hundred years old, but after all these years it still brings happiness, joy and a smile on the face of small and grown-up children.”
Funny ducks with customised prints Rubber ducks are the perfect companion for the bathtub with their bright yellow colour and the big smiles on their faces as they float on the water – not only creating delightful giggles when small children play with them, but also making adults smile. A rubber duck brings joy and that is what makes it perfect for advertising. TEXT: JESSICA HOLZHAUSEN | PHOTOS: PRESS IMAGES
The question of who had the idea to create a swimming rubber duck for the bathtub first cannot be answered. It is clear that in the 1920s rubber, for the first time, could not only be fabricated in black but also in different bright colours. The mate-
20 | Issue 30 | September 2015
rial began to conquer the world.“During that time the first rubber ducks emerged,” says Matthias Broegger, who works for the merchandising specialist Factotum that runs the website www.badeenten.de. For more than 15 years the specialist has fab-
www.badeenten.de currently has about 300 different ducks on offer – dedicated to professions or sports, from city mascots to season related design. During the Christmas season for example, the rubber duck comes in an angel shape or dressed as Santa, with candy and a funny Christmas hat or as Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer.The Easter duck has bunny ears or hatches out of its egg. Every version can be bought with customised prints in one or more colours and are of great value for marketing purposes. A special idea for crowdfunding or charity is a rubber duck race: The racing ducks Speedy and Flitzer come in three sizes and are made for floating down rivers and streams. Small weights make them stable against capsizing. When buying 300 ducks or more they also come with serial numbers printed on their breasts. www.badeenten.de