Santa and the Bunny, A Modern History- PART THREE

This is Part Three of a series. Please read Parts 1 & 2 for the full story...
Having made the decision to leave the Americas for economic reasons, Claus Enterprises decided to base itself in Mongolia. As with the previous two locations, this decision had been carefully thought out. China was undergoing political change after the death of Mao Tse Tung, and despite the uncertainty and unrest in the country, Santa realised that it was a sleeping economic powerhouse. The success of Japan and Taiwan would spur the leadership to modernise and invigorate China, and despite events such as the Tianeman Square protest and subsequent armed retaliation, it was obvious that the country had a massive future, and so it has proven.
Secondly, Mongolia gives Claus Enterprises the two main requirements for locating a base: proximity to supply sources, and privacy. The huge plains of Central Mongolia are sparsely inhabited, yet not too far away from China's immense manufacturing capabilities. The location of the majority of China's factories in the South did cause some initial concern, but with most of Santa Claus' merchandise being shipped direct to the country of delivery these days, this is no longer a problem.

With both Claus and Easter Bunny well established in their roles and sitting on an extremely profitable marketing model, it appears as though both entities have settled down somewhat, and have decided to make use of their respective fortunes. As extremely wealthy, but also very recognisable entities, it is understandable that both of them have decided to buy not only their personal comfort, but also their personal privacy.
The very rich can afford the very best, and also the biggest, a mere acreage estate would not be sufficient for either privacy, or ego. So naturally, they have both bought personal islands.

Santa has invested in a tropical island well away from normal shipping lanes or flight paths, and Bunny has bought a truly remote piece of real estate that is uniquely suited to his preferences. They are, naturally enough, respectively known as Christmas Island and Easter Island.
Christmas Island is located to the South of Indonesia, and North-West of Australia. Look for it on a map and you will see that it is not too far from the tropical paradise of Bali. Naturally, some would question why Santa would purchase a place which has a Detention Centre for illegal migrants on it, but this is actually a positive for Claus. Looking at a map of the island reveals that the centre of the island is dominated by a massive National Park. This of course is Santa's private estate. The Detention facilities are on the islands extreme West coast, with the only airstrip on the North-Eastern corner, along with the island's town. The presence of a permanent security team at the Detention Centre gives Claus the means of ensuring his privacy, while the proximity of the air-strip to the town means that few people need to travel anywhere near his private sanctuary. As time goes on, and the immigration problem settles down, Santa will ensure that his island quietly slips out of the news and back into obscurity.

Easter Bunny, on the other hand, has little need for security, with Easter Island being placed very conveniently in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, West of South America, remote and small enough to discourage major development. It is situated slightly further South of the equator than Santa Claus' private retreat, but still close enough to be warm all year round. The major attraction on the island for Bunny, was what it DOESN'T have. Trees. Rabbits have no need for trees, and the absence of them allows for more grass, which suits Bunny very well.
Bunny uses his island as a holiday resort for the many rabbits who work for his corporation, as well as making it his private retreat.

Although this History is essentially about Santa Claus and Easter Bunny, it is worthwhile taking a slight detour to illustrate just how remarkable the success of these two has been. Why has no other entity or deity made a successful entry into the world of business? Surely there must be others that wish to have the fame and wealth that these two have garnered? Well, there are. Several mythical beings have attempted to crack the market at different points in history, but only one has made a reasonable success of it, and even then he required the assistance of one of the Big Two.

In the late 1970's, the being known as Echo, felt that the time was right to make a move in the area of his own speciality; Sound. Echo approached Bunny for help in making a move into the music industry, and bunny loaned him several staffers who specialised in the field. In 1978, Echo and the Bunnymen released their first album.
Although never approaching the success of the other two entities on the world stage, Echo has, with the help of the Bunny's men, managed to forge a public presence of some note. He will never threaten their supremacy, and in fact it looks as though Echo may be fading from the music scene, with fewer record releases, and a shrinking chart presence. It may be that Echo may soon disappear entirely. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that this is the only other example of an entity from folklore entering the real world with any success.

Meanwhile, Santa and Bunny seem to have settled into a form of semi-retirement, allowing their respective businesses to run themselves to a large degree. Bunny, in particular has not produced any major innovations for some years now. Santa has Christmas down to a fine art, that requires little interference, apart of course, from his regular investment in the motion picture industry. Every year a new crop of Santa movies is released, maintaining Santa's high profile, and maintaining his revenue stream through DVD sales and appearance royalties.

So it stands in the present day, with two Giants of industry standing astride the world, each a product of hard work, planning, canny investment, and the public's willingness to believe. What does the future hold for these two successful businessman? There can be little doubt that for Santa's future, it looks like it will be Christmas every day, while Bunny seems perfectly happy with his decision to put all his eggs in one basket.