Making News
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The Branding of the Easter Bunny
March 31, 2021 | Branding Emails
A Rabbit Tale
What does a giant rabbit who hides colored eggs and candy have to do with Easter? And how did this big bunny become such an integral part of spring’s biggest celebration?
You might guess that some savvy chocolatier invented the Big Hopper as a way to commercialize the holiday and sell more sweets. But the Easter Bunny can actually be traced to early secular traditions.
The fact is, ancient pagan cultures celebrated the coming of spring long before this highly anticipated holiday was named for the Anglo-Saxon fertility goddess Eostre. She was the mother deity of the Saxon people in northern Europe and she represented spring and fertility—the rebirth of life after the cold winter. Eostre’s animal icon was the hare, the most fertile animal and a symbol of new life.
The Emergence of The Bunny
The appearance of a rabbit as a creature that lays brightly colored eggs as gifts for children is also documented in 16th-century German writings—where kids eagerly awaited the arrival of the Oschter Haws. It was said that if well-behaved children built a nest out of their caps or bonnets in secluded areas of their homes, they would be rewarded with colored eggs.
The tradition was brought to America in the 1700s by German settlers who arrived in the Pennsylvania Dutch country, where the Easter Bunny (or Easter Hare) became firmly established as a popular symbol of Easter. The arrival of the Oschter Haws was considered one of childhood’s greatest pleasures. It was similar to the annual visit by Kriist Kindle on Christmas Eve—since both reward good children with richly deserved gifts on the night before the big event. As the tradition spread, the nest has morphed into the modern Easter basket, now used to collect colored eggs community Easter egg hunts and in homes and backyards throughout the world.
Hip Hop at The Chocolate Shop
The first edible bunnies were made of pastry and sugar in Germany during the early 1800s. By the 19th century, German chocolate makers began creating rabbit-shaped treats for Easter celebrations.
In more recent Western traditions the Easter Bunny is often a giant, loveable and friendly character who is as real as Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy. Today, the chocolate bunny is the ubiquitous symbol of Easter-and definitely the holiday’s most popular Easter treat.
Did you know that 90 million chocolate Easter bunnies are produced each year? And that 76% of Americans eat the ears first. We also buy more than 700 million marshmallow peeps each year, making these soft little chicks the most popular non-chocolate Easter candy. Plus, we wolf down some 16 billion jellybeans, many of them hidden in baskets.
Today’s Easter means big business and sweet profits. Americans spend nearly $1.9 billion on Easter candy—just below first place Halloween at $2 billion.
How about sweetening your Brand?
Whether your brand is well established or newly minted, it can always use a little sweetening. Successful brands are built on solid strategies and a firm foundation of effective communications, compelling visual language, and rich customer experiences. Like the Easter Bunny, they have the power to make connections, touch lives, and stand the test of time. But they also need a facelift and tummy tuck every once in a while to remain fresh, vibrant, and keep on hopping.
If you would like us to help you take a new look at your brand, please give me a call at 617-661-6125, or email to set up a meeting. I promise you, we’re all ears.
Stewart Monderer