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Forget SpongeBob SquarePants, Sesame Street, and the sourdough starter craze: a depressed German loaf of bread named Bernd das Brot is celebrating his 25th anniversary as the reluctant star of a children’s television program that accidentally became equally popular with adults. A cult classic in Germany, Bernd das Brot (Bernd the Bread) is a puppet renowned for his deep, gloomy voice, his perpetual pessimism and his signature expression, “Mist!” (Think crap! in English.) Played and voiced by puppeteer Jörg Teichgraeber, Bernd is a television presenter who wants nothing to do with TV and cant wait to go home to stare at the wallpaper. This year, his friendsa sheep and a flower bushare urging him to become a bread influencer. Bernd’s beginnings Born as a sketch on the back of a napkin in a pizzeria, Bernds infamous grimace was drawn by Tommy Krappweis who modeled it after co-creator Norman Cösters face. The duo had been asked to come up with mascots for KiKA, a German childrens public television channel. Comic artist Georg Graf von Westphalen designed Bernd as a pullman loafwhite bread typically sliced for sandwicheswith short arms and a permanent scowl. Bernd channels German stereotypes with his grumpy disposition, penchant for complaining and dry sense of humor and irony. Bernd’s first episode aired on KiKA in 2000 alongside his more-optimistic pals, Chili the Sheep and Briegel the Bush. A reluctant popularity Because KiKA is a children’s channel, there was typically dead air from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. On January 1, 2003, the network put Bernd’s short episodes into the night loop for the first time. The move brought an adult audience into Bernd’s world, often those sitting at home and smoking pot, or returning after a long night of partying. The night loop cemented his popularity as a German cult classic. In 2004, Bernd won the Adolf Grimme Prize, the German television equivalent of an Emmy. The jury said he represents the right to be in a bad mood. Bernd shows you that you are less vulnerable with humor and self-irony. And perhaps the most important point is: Its totally okay if you dont feel well sometimes. Thats completely fine, Krappweis, Bernd’s creator, said in a KiKA Q&A about Bernd’s anniversary. Bernd’s broken heart Bernd is depressed for a multitude of reasons, including his failed attempt to be the mascot for a bakery’s advertising campaign (that’s how he ended up as a TV presenter, as a last resort). But it’s in Episode 85 that we finally learn about Bernd’s broken heart. A long, long time ago I fell in love with a beautiful, slim baguette. She was so incredibly charming and funny, Bernd tells Chili and Briegel. But unfortunately it was in vain. She only had eyes for this run-of-the-mill multigrain bread with its 10 types of grain. It was so depressing. The kidnapping Despite Bernds best effortsone of his catchphrases is I would like to leave this showthe episodes have never become stale. He sings, he dances, hes been to space. He’s the star of merchandise, a video game, and headlines like Give Us Our Daily Bernd. He was even kidnapped! In 2009, his 2-meter-tall (6.56 feet) statue was stolen from his traditional place outside the town hall in Erfurt, where KiKA is based. A claim of responsibility surfaced on YouTube, by sympathizers of a group of demonstrators who were protesting a company that had produced cremation ovens for the Nazi extermination camp Auschwitz. The demonstrators, however, denied involvement in Bernds kidnapping and the video was removed from the internet. Bernd was held hostage for nearly two weeks before being discovered unharmed in an abandoned barracks. The anniversary year KiKA is honoring Bernd’s 25th anniversary, despite his complaints. New episodes, an update to his hit song, and online activities for kids and adults alike will be featured. The celebrations begin now, as Bernds birthday is February 29. The latest series will premiere in September as Bernd, Chili, and Briegel launch the social media channel Better With Bernd in their efforts to make him into a bread influencer. The trio will present inventions to make school, and life, easier for viewers, but naturally their concoctions backfire. Bernd instead becomes a defluencerand an involuntary trendsetter. By Stefanie Dazio, Associated Press AP journalist Kirsten Grieshaber contributed to this report.
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The tops of dried, bent cornstalks crunch underfoot. Jill Holtzs gaze is fixed on the ground ahead. She wanders into the nearby woods and weaves between twisted branches. Then, Holtz spots something and starts to riffle through the withered twigs. To the untrained eye, it’s easy to overlook. But for Holtz, it’s instantaneous recognition. Scraggly, white lines give the appearance of shattered glass, but a name can still be made out at the top. It is a sonogram stripcrinkled, abused by the elements, but intact. In early February, Holtz combed through parts of a flattened cornfield in Swannanoa, North Carolinaa rural area razed by fierce floodwaters from Hurricane Helene a few months earlier. The deluge swept away entire homes, and with it, people’s beloved photos, keepsakes and family heirlooms. Many have accepted that they are gone forever. But lost items remain scattered across the regiontangled in gnarled trees, washed up in deep ravines and buried under mud. That’s why Holtz is on a mission: find and reunite those cherished possessions with storm victims who don’t have the time or energy to look themselves. Its not just trash, and its not just trees and pieces of metal, Holtz says. Its their lives. This is their hearts, their homes, the generations of history. Searching the cornfield Over the past few months, Holtz has spent much of her free time making the nearly four-hour drive from Raleigh to Swannanoa to search for lost items. She balances her job as a North Carolina National Guard captain and being a mom to two sonsa 10-year-old and a 24-year-old. It’s difficult being away, Holtz says, but her kids support her efforts. Holtz first visited western North Carolina after the storm on duty delivering aid. Then, while helping retrieve lost objects in Swannanoa for Violet Vardimana woman Holtz fondly calls Miss Violet”Holtz realized how many other missing belongings were out there. So she kept coming back. Holtz posts her finds to Facebook in hopes of finding their owners. At first, searching for lost belongings was overwhelming because of the sheer volume of objects strewn about, Holtz says. Now, she looks a few feet ahead of her at a time to stay focused. She’s learned other tips and tricks too. Use larger pieces of debris to store missing keepsakes while walking. Put on a hat or your hair will get caught in tree branches. Wear gloves and sturdy boots. And if you see a Dallas Cowboys mat, stomp on it first before picking it upHoltz, after all, is a Buffalo Bills fan. After exploring the cornfield and adjacent woods for about 20 minutes, Holtz already has a handful to bring backan 8-track tape, a teddy bear with golden wings and plenty of photos. Despite some scratches and their sun-bleached tone, the photos are in decent shape for what they’ve been through. As Holtz walks back to her truck, she squints and scours the cornstalks for anything she missed. Holtz views each valuable she finds as an opportunity for joy, and if its left behind, theres no guarantee it will be there next time. Holding onto belongings until the time is right What Holtz found in the cornfield will join the collection of other lost possessions in her trailer as she tries to find their owners. The spread inside resembles a garage sale. Photos make up a large chunk of Holtzs collection. Pictures captured from weddings, school and simple slices of life. Just from collecting photos, Holtz says she feels like she knows some peoples entire life story without ever meeting them. To restore photos, shes developed her own cleaning routine: Use cool water and rubbing alcohol, then carefully scrub with a soft toothbrush. Its time-consuming, yet therapeutic. Holtz sets down a large mud-spattered canvasa piece that will require the toothbrush treatmentand slowly pours water over it. The gentle stream crackles against the crisp canvas. Faces emerge from the splotchy, brown haze. Its a family portrait, Holtz says. I hope I find the owner of that, she says softly. Since Holtz started posting pictures of the lost possessions on Facebook, shes consistently in contact with about 15 families. She has returned belongings to some and is waiting to connect in-person with others. Some of the families have evacuated the state and havent returnedbut Holtz doesnt mind holding onto their things. Im in no hurry, and I dont expect them to be in a hurry, she says. Theyre still getting their lives back together. Getting back history The next day, Holtz sets up her trailer by the cornfield. She had posted her location to social media and patiently waits to see if anyone comes. About a half hour later, a silver SUV pulls over. A woman from Swannanoa, Angie McGee, steps out. McGee is looking for lost photos. The 42-year-old searched for her familys belongings after Helene washed away her home, but she wasnt successful. Wearing black latex gloves, she rubs caked dirt from the photos and notices familiar faces: her brother, her father, and her son. She even spots her ultrasound photosthe same scroll that Jill had picked up the day before. She is stunned. McGee cant believe the photos traveled nearly 2 miles downriver from her homemuch less that Holtz had somehow found them. After months of anguish over what she had lost, McGee says she is finally getting history back. “She done brought back a smile to me, she done brought back life to me. Not just me, my family, McGee says. Because, you know, there were things we lost that we thought maybe we never get back. At one point, McGees gaze settles on football shoulder pads with silver marker writing. The sight brings her to tears. They belong to her 12-year-old son, Link. Holtz tries to not to cry. Later, the two women embrace before McGee leaves with her things. Giving people back their lost hope is why Holtz says she continues this work. But in these reunifying moments, it gives Holtz a little of her own hope, too. By Makiya Seminera, Associated Press AP National Writer Allen G. Breed contributed to this report
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E-Commerce
An accepted fact of childhood: Monopoly is a slow game that requires consecutive snow days to successfully finish. And, by god, no matter what you do, do not end up as the banker, the most tedious and thankless of jobs. [Photo: Hasbro] Though they wouldnt put it in those terms, the folks at Hasbro likely know thats how a lot of players feel. So today the company is announcing a new set that bridges the gap between Monopoly Junior and the classic version for ages 8 and olderspeeding things up by ditching the banker and paper currency entirely in favor of an app. Kids don’t carry cash these days . . . [but] they probably do have a mobile device, says Brian Baker, SVP of board games at Hasbro, who adds that children are also observing a lot of tap-to-pay in the world. That led the team to consider how they could combine modern technology with intuitive behavior to completely reinvent the experience, Baker says. [Photo: Hasbro] Banking on App Banking Monopoly turns 90 this year, and Monopoly App Banking officially hits stores in August. Though Hasbro has released a cashless version of the game before (the Monopoly Electronic Banking edition, which utilizes a calculator-looking device to help automate finances), this is the first time an app has been brought into the ecosystem. Here’s how it works: After downloading the app, players put a smartphone or tablet into a standdubbed the phone throne in-house at Hasbroand it stays there all game. Baker says the idea was to keep the focus on the board, rather than having to pass the phone around. Whereas board games like Monopoly usually involve combing through a dense list of instructions before playing (and eventually arguing over them), this box contains just some quick-reference cards. The app kicks everything into gear quickly, directing players to select a token and its associated credit card, and snaps a photo of each player to indicate whose turn it is. Players roll physical dice, and then scan a QR code representing the space theyve landed on. The app handles the property auctions and transactions and does all the basic accounting, speeding things up immenselyand provides a real-time leaderboard in a game whose player standings are often nebulous, lest everyone sit around and count money for five minutes. Is Monopoly App Banking reductive to kids learning basic accounting skills the way many of us no doubt did via the classic game? Maybe. But to Bakers earlier point, its hands-down more reflective of the online banking ecosystem were all accustomed to today, which runs on apps. Another thing youll find in this version: an infusion of new life into old hubs like free parking, jail, and the railroads, thanks to built-in interactive mini games. There are some spaces where, if you land on them, nothing really happens, Baker says. And if you’re an 8-year-old kid, you can get bored really, really quickly. Take the railroads. When you land on one now, the app turns it into a high-speed train that brings the player on board; you tap your card to stop the train, and wherever it lands, thats where you move. [Photo: Hasbro] Marvin Gardens vs. a Chocolate Factory To young players, the new elements will likely feel organic; theyre not just gimmicks for gimmicks sake. Baker says thats thanks to FunLab, Habsros in-house testing center in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. The lab gives the company an opportunity to converse with players and their parents, as well as to observe how they interact with various concepts at the earliest stages of product development. To wit: I remember watching a mother struggling to put together Hungry Hungry Hippos out of the boxit comes in nine partswhile her child was screaming, Baker says. And the painful part of it was, after she finally got it together and they got to play, she had to take it apart to put it back in the box. It doesn’t fit back in. So I’m happy to report that the new Hungry Hungry Hippos requires no assembly out of the box, and when you’re done playing, it fits back in. In the case of Monopoly App Banking, Baker says the team needed to test and understand the role of the mobile device at the tableparticularly because of the notion many people have that when a family is doing an activity together like playing a board game, smartphones should be put away. We really wanted to make sure that we used FunLab as a way to kind of validate the idea that we can use technology for good and not evil, and there is a place for a mobile device at the table if thoughtfully integrated, he says. Another place you can see FunLabs work: the properties on the board. If you asked a kid, Hey, what property would you dream of owning? I guarantee you they’re not going to say Marvin Gardens, right? They’re going to be like, I want a chocolate factory or I want to buy a time machine, Baker says. It was really fun to just kind of take the guardrails off and let the kids guide us in the creation of this product. On the board youll find soccer fields and water pars, an infinite-pizza generator, and more. What you wont find is anything an 8-year-old kid would deem too complicated, oversimplified, or unnecessary. Those kids, Baker says, don’t pull any punches. They’ll tell you exactly what they think. [Photo: Hasbro] The Sand Timer Test Are apps the future of Monopoly, if not board games at large? Baker says Hasbro has been trying to honor the boundary between tech that is intrusive and tech that is complementary. Take the standard board game sand timer. How many times have you nearly come to fisticuffs over someone cheating the clock with it? There are easier ways to do that, and the best technology sometimes is in your pocket, Baker says. A part of our innovation road map at Hasbro when it comes to board games is exploring new technology and then thoughtfully applying it to the experience. As for what the rest of this 90th-anniversary year holds for Monopoly, in January Hasbro announced expansion packs. And, according to Baker, the company plans to continue developing intellectual property partnerships, such as those that brought about the recent hit Pokémon and Harry Potter editions of the game. Monopoly is, after all, big businessand you wouldnt want anyone getting bored with it. Especially younger kids. The Monopoly game is the biggest product that Hasbro sells, Baker confirms. I can say confidently that this is by far the most innovative version of Monopoly we’ve ever created. . . . We’re super proud of that.
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