‘Parenting’ orang utan stuffed toys from Ikea trending among millennials and Gen Zs in China

Feb 18, 2024

Many “parents” are emerging on Chinese social media app Xiaohongshu, but they are neither married nor pregnant.

Instead, they are “adoptive parents” to orang utan stuffed toys from Swedish furnishing giant Ikea, reported Radii, an independent media outlet founded in 2017 that focuses on Chinese youth culture. Radii has more than 49,000 followers on Instagram and more than 10,000 on Twitter, now called X.

At a glance, the toys, which cost $19.90 each, look cute and cuddly.

“Our (toy) Bob misses his family so we brought him back to the store to take a look,” one post reads.

“His brothers in the store were all adopted, leaving only the ones in a bathtub and a pair of newlyweds on the premises... He was very happy.”

The hashtag #IkeaGorilla, which began appearing on Xiaohongshu in April, has garnered more than 12 million views thus far. The same hashtag has also appeared on other Chinese apps such as Douyin and Weibo.

Besides showcasing the orang utans’ daily “activities”, some users in their 20s and 30s take it further by editing ultrasound pregnancy images to pretend they are carrying orang utans in their wombs and throwing birthday parties for the stuffed animal.

According to Radii, the trend signifies the difficulties of bearing children and starting a family in an economy hampered by rising living costs and long working hours in today’s China.

Stuffed animals, just like traditional pets, are a means of satisfying one’s desire for companionship, the news outlet said.

One meme asks: “Who’s going to take care of you when you’re old if you don’t have children?”

“My monkey child,” it answers.

One Xiaohongshu user known as Butter Bun said that as an adult, she is grateful that the use of the stuffed toy is trending and she can carry it around without being judged.

“Who said stuffed toys are only for kids? They are so soft and comfortable to hug (and should be for everyone),” her post reads.

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