Penguins must be flying high. People are flocking to see them on the big screen, they star in ads all over the little screen and they're splashed across advertising circulars and packaging for a scad of products.

Emperor penguins are hawking batteries in commercials with Duracell-powered "penguin cams" strapped to their backs, and, in a Capital One TV spot, they surround a shivering couple vacationing in Antarctica because their credit card miles program blacked out flights to warm resort locales.

Penguins also are strutting on packaging for Minute Made lemonade, Entenmanns gingerbread cookie and more, and on Web site banners, such as at the Mystery Guild book club. Hallmark is offering a discount, with the purchase of greeting cards, on its animated penguins-decorating-a-tree decoration.

And Coca Cola has resurrected its ad showing penguins making friends with polar bears (never mind that they live in different hemispheres) by offering them a Coke.

According to ad monitors TNS Media Intelligence, penguins also are in ads for two vehicles, the Jeep Commander and Honda Element, plus Canon cameras, Credit Union One, Creekside Fitness & Health Center, Kids Cuisine Frozen Dinners, Whirlpool washers, Starbucks iced coffee and Dawn dish soap — showing real penguins being cleaned with it after an oil slick.

What's behind all this?

In large part, the Nov. 17 launch of "Happy Feet," the animated movie that has been No. 1 at the box office for three straight weeks. It tells the story of Mumble, a young penguin temporarily outcast because, while he's a phenomenal tap dancer, he can't sing like the other penguins. Already, the movie has spawned a video game.

There's also lingering penguin popularity from last year's Academy Award-winning documentary, "March of the Penguins," and the animated "Madagascar" movie, which featured four very cagey penguins. Pete and Penny Penguin, official SeaWorld ambassadors, starred at a fall Hollywood event announcing the U.S. TV premiere of "March of the Penguins" on Nov. 25.

"It's the year of the penguin," says Eric Bennett, owner of penguin-place.com, who has been selling penguin clothing, housewares, toys and other merchandise since 1985. "Now there's probably 50 to 75 percent more penguins endorsing products" than five years ago.

Bennett, who's been slipping a pack of Happy Feet gummi penguins in each order he ships, said retailers are reacting to the success of the recent penguin movies and jumping on the bandwagon.

"Happy Feet" has a large roster of licensees, or promotional partners running ads featuring movie scenes to promote their business, according to Andrea Marozas, spokeswoman for Warner Bros., the movie's distributor.

Several companies have promotions enticing potential customers with contests offering movie tickets or even a trip to the premiere last month, including Pepperidge Farms, General Mills, Sears, Blockbuster videos, Doubletree hotels, ceramics maker Color Me Mine and Burger King, which also is putting Happy Feet toys in its kids meals.

Sears, Kmart, Toys R Us, Blockbuster and other retailers are selling licensed Happy Feet merchandise, including dancing plush figures of the movie's star penguins, Mumble, Ramon and Gloria. Taubman Centers has set up a Happy Feet-themed "Sno Globe Experience" in 17 malls it operates.

Cable TV giant Comcast Corp. has been running at least 3 ads tied into Happy Feet promoting its triple-play package — cable, phone and Internet combined. Its on-demand service offers a variety of Happy Feet content, including lessons on one of the tap dances Mumble does, a music video and penguin environmental trivia.

Pharmaceutical company Hoffmann-La Roche is promoting its influenza medicine, Tamiflu, in a TV ad featuring many scenes of dancing penguins from the movie, while an announcer tells viewers to promptly call the doctor if they have flu symptoms because prescription antiviral medicines can help them recover quicker.

The Tamiflu ad begins with a movie scene, Emperor penguins being blasted by fierce Antarctic winds, and the announcer saying, "It's flu season again and you've got a choice — suffer through it or put your foot down."

That cold weather tie-in is typical for ads featuring penguins, which usually have something to do with products related to winter (think N'Ice cough drops) or durability.

"They are a universal symbol of winter and cold. The visual link with penguins works for our flu message," Hoffmann-La Roche spokesman Terrence Hurley wrote in an e-mail note. "Everybody loves penguins. They are adorable and very human-like."

Several penguin logos and characters have been around for years, from those on Penguin Books and Munsingwear clothing to the Linux computer operating system penguin and Opus, the loony comic strip character formerly of "Bloom County."

The oldest penguin character likely is "Willie," the Kool cigarettes mascot dating back to the early 1930s, when Brown and Williamson Tobacco Co. began selling menthol cigarettes. It ran print ads showing penguins smoking, and looking very cool, while skating or floating around a pack of Kools.

Penguins are even popular in company names, particularly businesses in public relations and Internet services, such as Mobil Penguins Inc., in PR and e-commerce; and Drunken Penguins, an advertising firm. Go figure!

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On the Net:

http://www.warnerbros.com/happyfeet

http://www.penguin-place.com

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