STAMFORD, Conn. — Jim Henson’s Muppets made pigs and frogs endearing, and Walt Disney turned a common rodent into a cultural icon. Now, Drew Oliver thinks it’s time for bacteria, viruses and other maligned microorganisms to share the love.
Instead of standard Christmas gifts, a growing number of people are looking under the tree for giant stuffed cold germs, cuddly E. coli, hugworthy heartworm and other oddities from Oliver’s Stamford-based company, Giant Microbes. Oliver says the toys are true to the microbes they represent, except, of course, for their eyes and enhanced colors.
Being a purveyor of pretend pestilence might seem an odd career turn for Oliver, 40, who was a Chicago corporate attorney when he incorporated Giant Microbes in 2001.
As a father of four, he thought stuffed versions of microbes that cause sore throats, the flu and other common ailments could help children understand the illnesses and avoid some of them with good hygiene.
“From the beginning, they were designed to be whimsical, of course, with the eyes and features like that, but also scientifically sound — to the extent that a plush doll of a germ can be,” Oliver said.
