[S]HELBURNE — Joining the ranks of stuffed bears honoring presidential candidates Hillary Clinton, John McCain, and Barack Obama, a Bernie Sanders bear was released last week by the Vermont Teddy Bear company, in an announcement they called a “campaign” that went out on the same day the Vermont senator declared his run for POTUS.
As of Sunday, “several hundred” orders had been placed for the Bernie Sanders bear, according Jason Baer, vice president of sales and marketing for Vermont Teddy Bear.
“We will probably wait until the actual party nominees to make the other candidates,” said Baer. “We could not resist jumping in earlier with Bernie, as it’s not very often a candidate from Vermont runs!”
The Shelburne-based manufacturer, which is privately owned, provides the state with a fluctuating supply of jobs, from about 250 permanent to 1,000 seasonal positions. It is the largest seller of teddy bears by mail order and the Internet, according to the company’s website.
“Given Senator Bernie Sanders’ well-known affinity for President Theodore Roosevelt, and our products’ tie to the former President of the United States, it seemed only natural,” said Bill Shouldice, president and chief executive of Vermont Teddy Bear in a company statement.
“Teddy Roosevelt is where [our] legacy began. He even carried one with him on the campaign trail! And, it was deemed cool.”
Michael Briggs, a Sanders spokesman, said, “Bernie thinks it’s great that the bear is made in Vermont, and hopes it supports Vermont jobs.”
Briggs did not say whether Sanders would carry the bear or other talisman on the campaign trail, but Baer said there is a bear set aside at the factory for him just in case.
“The senator has not directly reached out to us, however we have a Bear waiting for him … We’d love for him to carry it on the campaign trail with him,” Baer said.
The Bernie bear will stay on the market for as long as the real-life Sanders is on the campaign trail, Baer noted.
(Coincidentally, Mr. Sanders is the name that hung over famed stuffed bear Winnie-the-Pooh’s oak-tree door. And, Vermont Teddy Bear sued Walt Disney Co. in 1996 over copyright infringement when the cartoon giant launched Pooh-Grams, a name similar to Bear Grams, the Vermont company’s signature offering at the time. The case was settled a year later.)
The teddy bear’s release came the same day as Sen. Bernie Sanders announced his run for president, on May 26.
The sales pitch? “He’s just announced his run fur president and is ready to hit the campaign trail. A passionate, blunt speaker; he’ll quickly tell you, ‘I am not a circus Bear, I am not a dancing Bear, I am not a toy Bear.'”
Quirky other recently issued toys by the Vermont Teddy Bear company, which sees especially high sales around Valentine’s Day, include the Fifty Shades of Grey “Christian Grey” bear; the “I Love You More than Bacon” bear which holds a frying pan and is dressed as a slab of bacon; and the Zombie Love Bear, with stuffed brain in one paw, and drippy heart in the other. The company offers 190 different costumes, and creates bears to order, according to company details online.
Shipping for the $80 stuffed bear is estimated to begin June 12.
