Last month, I wrote about a manufacturing mistake that became a hit for the Year of the Horse: the Sad Horse. I placed an order for one, and because it came from a literal “slow boat from China,” it finally arrived last week!
It looks sad because a number of the plush horses made for this Lunar New Year left the factory with their snouts attached upside-down, turning their smiles into glum expressions. But because this expression reflects a lot of Chinese workers’ current “down and dissatisfied” mood (especially in their current “9-9-6” culture, the Sad Horse became a hit!
Since the Chinese zodiac characters are animals (here’s their origin story), each new year sees the release of a plush version of that year’s animal, made out in red, gold, and white, which are the colors of good fortune.
Since this is the year of the horse, here’s what this year’s plushie is supposed to look like:
However, because of a manufacturing error, many of those plush horses’ snouts were attached upside-down, turning their smiles into these glum expressions:
Surprisingly, this error made the horses incredibly popular, probably because they’re reflecting the current mood.
At a time of slowing economic growth and dimming job prospects for many workers, the toy has been embraced as the “cry cry horse” and become an internet sensation.
“The economy hasn’t been great, and life’s been tough for a lot of people these past couple of years,” said Zhang Ziqi, 24, a teacher in Hebei province. “That crying expression really matches how most people feel — stressed, anxious, kind of down.”
“It’s about allowing yourself to not be OK, to admit you’re in a low period,” she said in an interview this week.
Zhang Huoqing, owner of the Happy Sister shop in Yiwu, a wholesale hub in central Zhejiang province, explained that a worker sewed its snout on the wrong way. When a customer pointed out the mistake, she offered a refund — but the customer didn’t return the horse.
Photos of the sad horse appeared online, spread via social media, and it’s now a viral hit.
“Many customers liked it, and then it started selling very well,” she told Reuters. “So we just kept producing them.”
Since then, Zhang’s shop has been rushing to keep up with orders for the “accidental edition,” including some from overseas, and knockoffs have proliferated online. According to media reports, the worker who first made the mistake has been rewarded with an annual bonus of 8,888 yuan ($1,280) for the next 12 years.
Why 8,888? Because 8 is the lucky number in many Asian cultures. Pronounced bā in Mandarin, it sounds like fā which means “to get rich.” In fact, the New Year greeting in Mandarin, gong xi fa cai, really means “Hope you get rich.”
We had an incredible response to this offer and were excited to provide true American Patriots the opportunity to attend the best documentary ever created while providing some much-needed relief for Biden’s economy.
However, due to widespread coverage and backlash surrounding this offer in the fake news media, counsel has advised us that proceeding would run afoul of campaign finance laws. Considering the funding of the film by Amazon, we were shocked to hear this, but cannot take the risk.
Therefore, we are unable to move forward. As usual, this is the fault of the lunatic left and their corrupt election laws. They HATE America and will do anything to destroy this country.
On the bright side, this incredible film is now SOLD OUT everywhere, with box office success like no one has EVER seen.
Melania is incredibly thankful for your support and as always, encourages you to BE BEST!
Trump and the MAGA crowd like to talk about “Soros-funded paid agitators,” partly because they can’t imagine anyone doing something out of a sense of civic duty or community, and partly because paying people to act as if they believe in a certain thing, even if they don’t actually believe in or endorse it, is just the way they operate.
So it should come as no surprise that they’re now paying people to watch the unwatched (and from some reviews, unwatchable) Melania film. Pictured above is a screenshot I took from Craigslist Boston at around 4 p.m. on Thursday, January 29th. (Here’s the link to the Craigslist ad.)
Here’s the thing, and this is me putting on my “developer relations” and “community building” hat:
The optics are poor, and there are better ways to “seed” an audience.
They could have easily just bought out the theatre, sent out invitations to pro-Trump groups, influencers, people in the area who are on their email/phone/texting lists, give out popcorn and soda for free, make it a party, and capture the entire thing on video.
Look, I know times are tough out there, so I’m not going to judge you if you’re in Boston and need the money. It’s also an opportunity to do hilarious things — I’ll leave those as an exercise for the reader.
