Orlando Sentinel

Trumpy Bear is on the loose

-

And you thought finding one perfect Christmas gift for that Republican and Democrat on your shopping list would be impossible.

Meet Trumpy Bear, a 22-inch stuffed teddy bear with a blond comb-over, bushy eyebrow and red tie. In just four days, it has conquered large swaths of the internet via a brilliant marketing strategy.

Or maybe it’s just dumb luck. Either way, it’s having the same polarizing effect worldwide as the man it’s fashioned after.

“Trumpy Bear has filled me with despair,” read a headline in Vox, a progressiv­e website.

“Puh, der Trumpy Bear,” was how the website of Bluewin, a Swiss internet provider, put it.

I’m not sure what that means. But like millions, I wasn’t even sure Trumpy Bear was real at first.

The phenomenon began Monday when a Trumpy bear commercial appeared during “Fox & Friends.” It ran in only the New York market, but that was enough to set off a Twitter dust storm.

You can see why if you look at the ad. It begins with a booming baritone voiceover.

“From the trees rose a resounding voice: ‘I fear nothing. I come when the trumpet sounds. I am the storm. The great American grizzly.’”

A series of patriotic endorsers appear, including a beefy exMarine who rides around on his motorcycle with a Trumpy on the handlebars. A woman lovingly combs Trumpy’s hair and tends to his tie and cufflinks.

There’s also a 15-inch Trumpy Bear head cover for golf clubs that will make your golf game great again.

The narrator implores viewers

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States