Participating in 2010's most important international event in China, EXPO 2010 in Shanghai, is an obvious move for Carlsberg.
EXPO is a huge event with a very high profile in China and the world at large with millions of visitors. For Carlsberg, participation means creating an image around Denmark with the Danish pavilion, but it is certainly also a to tell more people the story of Carlsberg beer and about our heritage in which The Little Mermaid plays an important role.
The fairytale of The Little Mermaid, by the famous Danish author Hans Christian Andersen is known all over the world. But not so many know that the creation of the sculpture of The Little Marmaid is in itself a fairytail and part of the history of Carlsberg.
Carl Jacobsen, one of Carlsberg's founders, was very fond of the ballet and HC Andersen. So much, that when the Royal Theatre in 1909 created a ballet build upon H.C. Andersen's fairytale, The Little Mermaid, it inspired Carl Jacobsen to make a sculpture of the mermaid. He devoted himself to the project with the aim of creating a landmark for Copenhagen, honour the genius of HC Andersen's fairytales, and erect a memory of the ballet.
By chance or by destiny, Jacobsen’s vision for improving the appearance of the city lives on in the theme of the Expo in Shanghai: ‘Better City, Better Life’. At the time of Carl Jacobsen the most modern brewery sites were built outside the cities. But today, around the world, Carlsberg’s breweries are often situated in the city centres due to the growing city populations, with a lot of inconvenience for people in the city. This is also the case in Copenhagen and as a consequence Carlsberg has decided to close down the historic brewery and develop the land into a sustainable housing, business and recreation area.
If Carl Jacobsen had lived to see this change he might have compared it to another famous fairytale by Hans Christian Andersen: The ugly duckling – that turned into a beautiful swan!