--- title: Fiona the Hippo Has Sold Nearly $500,000 in Merchandise for the Cincinnati Zoo description: Fiona the Hippo of the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden gets $480 million in revenue through branded t-shirts, apparel, ice cream & beer. authors: - name: Allana Akhtar url: https://money.com/author/allana-akhtar/ at_money_since: 2017 articles: 101 covers: - Lifestyle - Business - Career Advice - Economy and Politics - Education - Identity Theft - Loans - Personal Finance - Retirement - Shopping - Technology former_staff: true published: '2018-01-05T18:34:16.000Z' modified: '2018-01-05T18:34:16.000Z' section: Lifestyle tags: - Cincinnati - cincinnati zoo - hippo - hippopotamus word_count: 251 canonical: https://money.com/fiona-the-hippo-has-sold-nearly-500000-in-merchandise-for-the-cincinnati-zoo/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Cincinnati Zoo Hippo Fiona](https://img.money.com/2018/01/180105-fiona-hippo-2.jpg) *Fiona, a Nile hippopotamus plays in her enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo.* Internet sensation [Fiona the Hippo](http://people.com/pets/fiona-baby-hippo-cincinnati-zoo-milestones-timeline/) isn’t just the Cincinnati Zoo’s darling infant—she’s a serious cash cow. Since the hippo baby was born early last year, the Cincinnati Zoo has garnered $480,000 from merchandising agreements with local business selling Fiona-themed items, according to a report by the *[Cincinnati Enquirer](https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2018/01/03/fiona-inc-nearly-500-k-cincinnati-zoo-sales-hippo-books-beer-and-ice-cream/999850001/)*. The top-selling items included T-shirts, holiday ornaments, cards, ice cream, books and even beer—all inspired by the baby hippo. The zoo itself does not break how much of its licensing revenue is Fiona-related, a spokeswoman told the *Enquirer*—although she estimated that Fiona-related deals had raised $350,000. Fiona-themed apparel made by startup retailer CincyShirts generated the most revenue for the zoo at about $216,000. A CincyShirts spokesperson told the *Enquirer* the company sold 45,000 Fiona the Hippo T-shirts, leggings, wrapping paper, and insulated drinking cups in 2017. ![](https://img.money.com/2018/01/cincyshirts.jpg) Beer inspired by the celebrity hippo generated the second largest amount in sales for the zoo. #TeamFiona beer, from Listermann Brewing, generated between $40,000 and $50,000 for the zoo, the *Enquirer* found. Most of the money that comes from Fiona-themed merchandise agreements goes toward hippopotamus veterinary care, nutrition, medical supplies and habitat building at the zoo, according to the *Enquirer*. The Cincinnati Zoo is also gearing up for Fiona’s anticipated [first birthday on January 24](https://twitter.com/CincinnatiZoo/status/949007670161412096). It plans to [throw a celebration](http://cincinnatizoo.org/fionas-first-birthday-party/) featuring Fiona apparel from its business partners, while Ohio residents can start buying [themed ice cream](http://people.com/pets/fiona-the-hippo-ice-cream-first-birthday-chunky-chunky-hippo/)—Chunky Chunky Hippo, a toffee ice cream with peanuts and chocolate truffles—from local supermarkets in Cincinnati on January 17. ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/fiona-the-hippo-has-sold-nearly-500000-in-merchandise-for-the-cincinnati-zoo/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Lifestyle", "item": "https://money.com/lifestyle/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Entertainment", "item": "https://money.com/entertainment/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Fiona the Hippo Has Sold Nearly $500,000 in Merchandise for the Cincinnati Zoo" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/fiona-the-hippo-has-sold-nearly-500000-in-merchandise-for-the-cincinnati-zoo/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/fiona-the-hippo-has-sold-nearly-500000-in-merchandise-for-the-cincinnati-zoo/", "name": "Fiona the Hippo Has Sold Nearly $500,000 in Merchandise for the Cincinnati Zoo", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2018-01-05T18:34:16.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/fiona-the-hippo-has-sold-nearly-500000-in-merchandise-for-the-cincinnati-zoo/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/fiona-the-hippo-has-sold-nearly-500000-in-merchandise-for-the-cincinnati-zoo/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2018-01-05T18:34:16.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "Fiona the Hippo Has Sold Nearly $500,000 in Merchandise for the Cincinnati Zoo", "articleSection": "Lifestyle", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2018/01/180105-fiona-hippo-2.jpg", "width": 5472, "height": 3648, "caption": "180105-fiona-hippo-2" }, { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2018/01/cincyshirts.jpg", "width": 800, "height": 800 } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Allana Akhtar", "url": "https://money.com/author/allana-akhtar/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/allana-akhtar/#author" } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2018-01-05T18:34:16.000Z", "description": "Fiona the Hippo of the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden gets $480 million in revenue through branded t-shirts, apparel, ice cream & beer.", "abstract": "Fiona the Hippo of the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden gets $480 million in revenue through branded t-shirts, apparel, ice cream & beer.", "@id": "https://money.com/fiona-the-hippo-has-sold-nearly-500000-in-merchandise-for-the-cincinnati-zoo/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2018-01-05T18:34:16.000Z", "wordCount": 251, "keywords": [ "Cincinnati", "cincinnati zoo", "hippo", "hippopotamus" ], "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Lifestyle", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifestyle" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Entertainment", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entertainment" ] } ] } ] } ```