Hear that joyful and oddly dignified sound? That’s the cash register of British marketers cashing in on the royal baby craze sweeping England. And it’s not just royal-themed maternity and baby wear, either. Krispy Kreme is selling “bite and reveal” doughnuts with pink and blue centers. Marriott’s Grosvenor Hotel is charging $3500 a night for a luxury apartment designed by nursery outfitter Dragons of Wall Street. And the legit bookmaker Paddy Power sent four terrifying-looking crowned babies to locales throughout London to make its presence known in the hot-and-heavy royal-name betting (“Diana” is the odds-on favorite, but does that include if it’s a boy? That would make life interesting).
It’s no coincidence that the royal family is nicknamed “the firm” in England. All other sectors of the British economy may be mired in a depression, but any product that can successfully tie itself to Great Britain’s obsession with the impending arrival can write its own ticket. You would think the British had never seen a baby before. Heck, tradition even allows marketers to poke fun with royal-themed barf bags for morning sickness, and those are selling well. The British economy, stuck at 0.3 percent growth, could suffer a post-partum depression after the summer birth.
But the marketing gain of William and Kate comes with a cache loss for Prince Harry, who will be bumped to number four in the pecking order of royal secession. Let’s hope he doesn’t get any Shakespearean ideas.
Now if only we could goose our economy with the recent birth of the first offspring for our own royal couple. Do you think compass makers owe a debt of gratitude to Kim and Kayne?