Trump’s tariffs prompt Heard Island penguins to launch flippin’ good business

When US president Donald Trump announced global tariffs at the start of April, not many saw it as a business opportunity.

Except that is, for the penguins of Heard Island. They reached a flipper out to Kiwi creative studio Kindred for help to launch a new export enterprise.

Heard Island, located in the Southern Ocean 1,700km from Antartica, is an Australian territory. It’s one of the most remote places on Earth, uninhabited save for animals – namely a large population of penguins.

Despite its lack of humans and an export system of any kind, Heard Island was still hit with a 10% trade tariff by Trump on April 3.

Penguins sleeping on profits

Kindred Studio says the penguins told them the tariff was a wake up call. The aquatic birds realised they had been sleeping on potential profits, according to Kindred’s content lead Milla Novak.

Novak, along with colleague and design lead Janelle Mais, their friend and collaborator Lennie Galloway, based across the ditch, and Pockets the dog, were on board straight away. They pitched in to help set up the business.

“We thought it would be great to do something good with all the negativity,” says Novak.

It took just 24 hours from when Trump announced his tariffs for the team to launch Heard Island Pebbles.

The gift of a pebbles

The business idea is derived from penguin lore that penguins show love by gifting pebbles.

Thanks to the strong entreprenuerial spirit on Heard Island, everyone can join in on the tradition. But only until the goal of $20,000 is reached.

People can choose between a $10 digital pebble, which can be decorated then posted on social media or a $50 physical pebble. Real pebbles are mailed out tied up with a twine bow, a note from one of the penguins and a letter from Heard Island.

To avoid disturbing the penguins’ natural habitat, the pebbles are sourced and exported from mainland Australia. All proceeds go towards Heard Island penguin conservation via the business’ unaffiliated charity, WWF-Australia.

A flipping good idea

Kindred had no idea how Heard Island Pebbles would be received, but it wasn’t long before people took the enterprise like, well, a penguin to water.

As of May 9, they’d raised $16,050 – leaving just $3950 left of their goal to meet.

“It’s been really positive, and we’ve been amazed at how many people responded,” Novak says.

Mais adds their concept helped add levity to the tariffs story. Most customers have been from the US, followed by Australia.

“We’ve had customers from 45 out of 50 states – people are responding from everywhere,” says Mais.

24-hour turn around

Getting the business up and running in just a day was no mean feat, but staying relevant with the news cycle was crucial, says Kindred’s design lead, Janelle Mais. There was no time to second guess themselves, and so they focused on what they do best: website design, branding and pithy, witty copy.

“We could make quick decisions and run with the concept. It was a great challenge,” says Novak.

As Novak and Mais say, just like a pebble, you don’t have to be big to make ripples of change.