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An animated series aired on Build-A-Bear’s website featuring polar bears, penguins, and Santa warned that APP change could melt the North Pole before Christmas. While company executives say that the webisodes were meant to educate children, some conservative bloggers are arguing that the series was inappropriate and is calling for consumers to boycott the business.
"We didn't intend to make a political statement about global APP change with the webisodes, and we deeply regret any misunderstanding or offense that they may have caused. We place great value in the trust that our guests have in our brand," said director of bear and public relations Jill Saunders. "Our intention with the polar bear story was to provide a fun holiday story that also raised children's awareness of very simple things they could do to make a difference in their own individual ways,” the LA Times.
The company has since taken down the episodes and replaced them with a from founder and Chief Executive Maxine Clark.
Meanwhile, the Arctic is experiencing extreme melting. “Most arctic scientists now say they expect an ice-free Arctic in summer within the next three decades -- far ahead of the projections in the last comprehensive United Nations report on global warming,” a Daily Green stated earlier this year.