Remember a few years back when Coke started running
their polar bear commercials around Christmas? Not long after that, they added
penguins to the mix. I don’t know about the general population, but apparently
the marketing people at Coke don’t know much about polar ecology.
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| Geographically and ecologically incorrect soft drink |
Aside from wild animals drinking carbonated beverages,
the biggest mistake in the commercial is mixing animals that are literally
polar opposites. Polar bears live at the North Pole and penguins live at the
South Pole. You could theoretically have them share a Coke, but one or the
other would have to travel quite a distance for that to happen. Not all penguins live at the South Pole, but none live at the North Pole. The southernmost polar bear range doesn't even come close to the northernmost penguin's range.
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| Polar bear in search of seals and Coke (US Fish and Wildlife Service) |
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| Penguins, seen here being photobombed by a seal. The seal is hiding from polar bears. (USF&WS) |
Polar bears are carnivores that prey mainly on seals,
which glide through the water in much the same manner as penguins. I have a
feeling that if they shared overlapping range, rather than drinking Coke and
playing together, polar bears would have another option for their holiday
feasts. Hungry polar bears have been known to chomp on the occasional puffin, which looks like the flying penguin of the north, so it's not too much of a stretch.
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