Pardoes, the magical Jester and mascot of Efteling, is crucial to the theme park’s identity. As the park’s official mascot, Pardoes has evolved from a simple character into an ambassador who promotes the park in various ways.
Pardoes is featured in Efteling advertisements, where he embodies the magical spirit of the park. His presence in commercials and other promotional tools of Efteling instantly connects viewers with the magic of the park, helping to attract new guests and maintain the loyalty of returning visitors (Guang et al., 2019).
In addition to advertising, Pardoes has become a big figure in Efteling’s merchandise. His look can be found on numerous products, from plush toys to figurines (“Symbolica souvenirs”, 2017). Toys featuring Pardoes are particularly popular among children, who love having a piece of the park to remember their visit.
These figures are showing Pardoes in two of his most famous looks (Bol.com image 1, Bol.com image 2)
Most recently, a YouTube show centering around Pardoes, his friends and their stories was published online. This shows that Efteling is keeping up with modern times and makes use of digital resources to display the theme park to the public. Other important characters, such as Pardijn and Grootmagister Almar are also part of the show.
A visual of Pardoes in his YouTube show (IMDB)
Furthermore, several characters, mostly Pardoes and Pardijn, who are part of the Efteling walk around in the park during the day to interact with the visitors, like taking photos with children and other guests (“Efteling zet mascottes Pardoes en Pardijn in de schijnwerpers bij parkopening”, 2016). Pardoes is not just the Efteling’s mascot. He brings magic to all visitors and makes sure that guests will remember the wonder of the park long after they’ve left.