Hooray for Fiona the Hippo, Our Bundle of Social-Media Joy
- 7 years ago
Hooray for Fiona the Hippo, Our Bundle of Social-Media Joy
Scientists at the zoo milked a hippo for the first time — “we had no idea what was in hippo milk before now,” Ms. Gorsuch said — so
that they could recreate the formula for Fiona’s bottles.
“We tell people, you have to find your Fiona, whatever that may be, and just tell the story.”
Ms. Curley said, “We have tried to say we are going to stop posting about her every day,
but we get 100,000 commenters telling us they must have updates.
One website called her “The Only Good Thing Left in This World.”
“Fiona is one of a kind, there’s no doubt about it,” said Thane Maynard, the director of the zoo, who talked to me
in the zoo’s giant boardroom, featuring a lacquered mahogany table and several figurines of rare African mammals.
Over the last year, Fiona has become something of an international cause célèbre, largely because of the efforts of Ms. Curley, the zoo’s communications director,
and her four-person team, who started posting Fiona’s every move to social media from the day she was born on Jan. 24 (prematurely, and perilously, but more on that later).
Everyone is so invested now.”
“People tell us all the time that Fiona is something everyone can agree on,” said Amy LaBarbara, the zoo’s coordinator for marketing and events.
Scientists at the zoo milked a hippo for the first time — “we had no idea what was in hippo milk before now,” Ms. Gorsuch said — so
that they could recreate the formula for Fiona’s bottles.
“We tell people, you have to find your Fiona, whatever that may be, and just tell the story.”
Ms. Curley said, “We have tried to say we are going to stop posting about her every day,
but we get 100,000 commenters telling us they must have updates.
One website called her “The Only Good Thing Left in This World.”
“Fiona is one of a kind, there’s no doubt about it,” said Thane Maynard, the director of the zoo, who talked to me
in the zoo’s giant boardroom, featuring a lacquered mahogany table and several figurines of rare African mammals.
Over the last year, Fiona has become something of an international cause célèbre, largely because of the efforts of Ms. Curley, the zoo’s communications director,
and her four-person team, who started posting Fiona’s every move to social media from the day she was born on Jan. 24 (prematurely, and perilously, but more on that later).
Everyone is so invested now.”
“People tell us all the time that Fiona is something everyone can agree on,” said Amy LaBarbara, the zoo’s coordinator for marketing and events.