The applause that greeted the unveiling of Dubai Aquarium’s latest attraction on Wednesday, June 1, turned to bemusement as it quickly became clear that something was out of place.
It took a few seconds to sink in but assembled guests soon realised that a couple of vowels had been given the wrong directions on their way to the “Discevory” Channel store, a shop on level two of Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo at The Dubai Mall, and the first of three attractions involving the science documentary channel.
Was it a deliberate play on words?
“No, it was a simple mistake,” said Qaisar Rafique, senior director for finance and operations emerging business at Discovery Networks, who took the typo in good humour.
“Looks like the ‘e’ and the ‘o’ are in the wrong place,” he said with a laugh.
A short time later the letters were back in their correct positions and curious shoppers took their first steps inside the region’s first Discovery Channel shop.
Merchandise includes a Dh300,000 SubSea Scooter and Bear Grylls’ survival gear. Thirty per cent of the items available are sourced from charitable organisations around the world.
“We have about 200 Discovery Expedition stores in South Korea and China but this is the first time we have Discovery Channel as a retail brand,” said Rafique.
“This has involved a lot of planning but it’s just the start as we also have a Shark Week-themed attraction opening in the aquarium in July, followed by another at a later date.
“But with this store we really want to promote the idea of responsible retail by giving back to good causes around the world.”
Dozens of small Indian threadfin fish swim inside a specially constructed tank greeting visitors to the store. There are also tanks containing lionfish and Moray eels inside.
Among the soft toys, DVDs, books, clothing and various gadgets are a range of items where all the proceeds of the sale go to help people around the world.
The Whale Company, for example, makes sustainable products and supports marine conservation.
Profits from the sale of Gandys Flip-Flops, which was started by two survivors of the 2004 tsunami, go to fund children’s homes in Sri Lanka and India, which were affected by the disaster.
And LifeStraw, which makes a simple but highly effective water purification system and donates one of these life-saving devices to a child in the developing world for every straw bought.
Work is currently under way to bring Discovery Channel’s famous Shark Week to the aquarium as an exhibit.
The attraction promises to bring an interactive experience to visitors.
“We are busy working on that at the moment but I can promises it’s going to be a unique experience for visitors,” said Paul Hamilton, general manager and curator of the aquarium.
“Through our new partnership with Emaar Entertainment and the opening of the Discovery Channel store, we can take the best of Discovery off-screen and provide a fun, innovative and interactive brand experience for our local audiences.”
Other projects in the pipeline include a special Discovery Channel documentary looking at how the aquarium’s King Croc was brought from Australia to Dubai.
nhanif@thenational.ae
