In a stroke of marketing genius, IKEA Hong Kong promoted two plush toys after a video of a baby Macaque went viral.
In the video, the baby Monkey was clinging to an Orangutan plush toy. IKEA’s caption read, “You can’t adopt Panchi; he’s already part of the zoo. Buy this IKEA one instead, and you won’t even have to help catch fleas.”
THE VIRAL MOMENT
The video that inspired IKEA is of Punch (or Panchi), a six-month-old Macaque from a zoo in Ichikawa City, Japan.
A zookeeper gave Punch an orange Orangutan plush toy from IKEA called DJUNGELSKOG after the Monkey was abandoned by his mother shortly after birth. He clings to the stuffed toy for comfort: hugging it, carrying it around, and even playfully tumbling with it.
After the video went viral, IKEA then featured the SANDLÖPARE plushie, modeled after Punch.
Punch is full of energy and managed to make a new friend
among the baby Monkeys. (Ichikawa Zoo | X)
