WOODLAND HILLS, Calif.—The news has featured stories lately of sightings of a giant rubber duckie. And apparently, several people from the pleasure products side of the industry were surprised it wasn’t the giant duck they are familiar with.
“I got calls from dozens of people asking me if I had seen the giant duck,” said Tony Levine, aka the “Duck Man” and president of Big Teaze Toys, maker of the I Rub My Duckie series of massagers. His company’s mascot—a giant, vibrating I Rub My Duckie—has become a fixture at trade shows and other events.
The “other” giant duck, however, is a six-story inflatable rubber duck that spent several weeks floating in the harbor of Hong Kong.
“I was amazed when I saw it,” Levine said. “I even contacted the artist and told him it was great to have a ‘big brother.’”
And now, that “other” giant duck is leaving Hong Kong and headed to the United States.
Referred to in news reports only as the giant rubber duck, the six-story version is the brainchild of Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, who created the floating work of art to represent peace and unity. Since 2007, the giant rubber duck has visited 13 cities and is next headed to Pittsburgh, Pa., where it will float in the Allegheny River starting Sept. 27 at part of the Pittsburgh International Festival of Firsts.
“How can I not go and see it?” Levine said of the giant rubber duck’s planned visit,. He added he would like to capitalize on the existence of the two oversized duck’s, but isn’t revealing any concrete plans just yet.
Levine said he heard rumors the giant rubber duck would travel to California, but that trip has not been verified by Hofman’s website.
