As the faithful organized prayer groups and planned memorial services for Pope John Paul II, some in the business community took a different tack–perceiving a huge demand and the opportunity to fill it.
Catholic gift shops stocked up on CDs and DVD documentaries of the pope’s life. Barnes & Noble Inc., the nation’s top bookseller, sent messages to its stores about how to set up pope displays. And eBay aficionados quickly posted memorabilia of the holy leader for sale online.
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“I think you’ll see a lot of that, and a lot of things created overnight. You may even see infomercials pop up on television,” said Alan Napleton, president of the Catholic Marketing Network, a nationwide association of Catholic bookstores and publishers.
Over the weekend, pope-related merchandise had already begun to move. In the course of a few afternoon hours, a book by the pope, “Rise, Let Us Be On Our Way,” jumped 308 spots on amazon.com, to 185th place from 493rd.
So-called Christian retailing is estimated to be a nearly $4 billion industry, up from about $2.6 billion in 1990.
But satisfying the public’s desire to bring something of the pope’s life into their homes often requires a delicate marketing balance to keep the commercial from slipping into the crass.
On eBay, auctioneers sold photos of the pope with Princess Diana, along with counterfeit cash imprinted with the pontiff’s likeness, wall clocks featuring his face and even two “Pope on a Rope” soaps.
“Unfortunately there are instances where people will take advantage of the situation. Certainly as consumers, we can make the decision not to shop with those merchants,” said Ellen Tolley, a spokeswoman for the National Retail Federation, a trade group in Washington. “For the most part, I think retailers will be extremely sensitive to this.”
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Edited by Lara Weber ([email protected]) and Victoria Rodriguez ([email protected])