Recently, Jellycat’s pop-up store event in Shanghai saw long queues and scalpers reselling for profit. The police had to intervene and strengthen on-site management.
What is Jellycat
Jellycat a high-end toy brand originating from London, UK, has rapidly become popular worldwide in recent years and has become a favorite of countless children and adults. In 2022, it sold over 1.3 billion yuan, and now it’s clearly more than that number. Its average transaction price per item is between 300-400 yuan, far exceeding other plush toys.
Jellycat is also quite popular in China. Whether on social media or in physical stores, Jellycat’s plush toys always attract a lot of attention. Players regard Jellycat dolls as “emotional toys” and “family members”, and share various “baby raising” experiences on platforms such as Tiktok, Xiaohongshu, Douban, etc. Keywords such as “emotional compatibility”, “family”, and “raising children” actually contain the password for Jellycat’s explosive popularity. Behind every emotional need of consumers, there is a lack of certain emotions, either due to individual reasons or symptoms of the times.
A type of emotional consumption
As the brand gradually became popular, the founder realized that the lifecycle of a single product is limited and that the brand’s appeal must be maintained through continuous innovation. So Jellycat broke through the limitations of traditional animal images and launched a series of diversified products – covering multiple categories such as fruit series, food series, flower series, sports series, etc., with numerous items under each series. They mostly have iconic bean eyes, smiling faces, slender limbs, and rounded bodies, looking cute, friendly, lively, and interesting, and also full of recognition. For example, the Barcelona bear and Bonnie rabbit in the animal series, and the lively eggplant and fun avocado in the vegetable series, are all loved by consumers for their classic styles.
Jellycat is not limited to the children’s market, but can gain favor from a wider range of adult groups. In addition to its rich product line, personalized design, and hunger marketing (Jellycat releases some limited edition or limited series toys every year), it is crucial for its anthropomorphic design of dolls.
Personification refers to the process of endowing non-human objects with human traits or behaviors. Through personification, Jellycat’s plush toys are no longer just static objects, but are endowed with life and personality, becoming partners that can establish emotional connections with consumers. As Jellycat’s official Chinese introduction states, “Each Jellycat doll has a tag that says “Please look after me”, meaning “Please take good care of me”. For both children and adults, Jellycat dolls are more like characters of friends than toys.
Jellycat sets unique character designs and story backgrounds for each toy, giving them their own identity, personality, and even interests. They also regularly release stop motion animations and fun short videos featuring the toy as the protagonist, allowing consumers to more intuitively feel the “personality charm” of the toy. Consumers not only receive a toy when making a purchase, but also feel like meeting a new friend. With the passage of time, this virtual character setting gradually became deeply ingrained in people’s hearts and became an important link between users and brands.
Individuals hope to obtain more emotional value and psychological comfort through consumption, in order to alleviate stress and discomfort in life. For some consumers, the soft touch and cute appearance of Jellycat plush toys can trigger positive emotions, alleviate anxiety and stress; Some consumers consider Jellycat toys as their “children” or “pets” and establish a deep emotional connection with them through naming, dressing up, taking photos, and other means; Or, when adults face setbacks, loneliness, or anxiety, holding a Jellycat plush toy is like having a companion to confide in and rely on, which can bring psychological comfort and consolation.
The healing feeling of raising children and the love of power
Many adult consumers take care of Jellycat dolls as their “pets” or “children”. From naming them, arranging exclusive beds, to regularly taking photos to record their growth process, every step reflects the owner’s enthusiasm and love for this special parent-child relationship, and from it, they receive various emotional satisfaction.
“Meng” also known as” moe “in Japanese, is widely used in ACG culture to refer to an emotional experience of strongly liking a character or thing. With the passage of time, the meaning of “Meng” has gradually expanded, not only limited to the anime field, but also has been widely used in real life. Broadly speaking, ‘moe’ can be understood as a trait or state that can stimulate people’s desire for love, protection, and pleasure. From Jellycat plush toys to pet cats and dogs, and even various cute cartoon characters on the internet, “moe” is everywhere and heals the hearts of countless people with its unique charm.
It is human nature to like cute things. Conrad Lorenz proposed the theory of “infant schema“. This concept refers to specific physical features such as a large head, large eyes, small nose, and high forehead, which are commonly seen in infants of humans and other animals. People are always attracted to people and things with baby schema characteristics, and are willing to care for them. There are also psychological studies showing that when we face something particularly cute, our brain releases a large amount of dopamine and other pleasure hormones, which help relieve stress and improve mood.
Cute things also give people a feeling of weakness and helplessness, just like the fragile and innocent appearance of children or newborn animals, which inspires people’s desire for protection and sense of responsibility. When lower level needs are met, people will turn to higher-level needs – namely, a sense of belonging, respect, and self actualization. Taking care of “cute things” makes them feel dependent, needed, and emotionally comforted, thereby enhancing their sense of achievement and self-worth.
If you don’t want to have children, how can you obtain the “love of power” that combines power and warmth in your daily life? Pets are becoming an alternative choice for modern people, especially unmarried or married individuals who are not pregnant. Dolls have become another mainstream way to satisfy the “love of power” after giving birth and raising pets, which is a truly “painless way to raise children”, except for the pain of having a wallet. As a form of ‘inanimate object’, a completely controllable object, dolls such as Jellycat products do not resist or require special care, but can be dressed up in any way they want. For adults who crave more autonomy, this high plasticity perfectly satisfies their inner need for control, allowing them to find inner balance and stability when facing the uncertainty of the external world.
Adults who adopt painless parenting have their own “child circle”, which is a unique community composed of plush toy enthusiasts such as Jellycat. Here, they find like-minded friends to freely share their stories with dolls, showcase newly acquired treasures, and explore how to better take care of these special “children”. They are happy to be fathers and crazily “show off their children” without worrying about being accused of being “fatherly”. This kind of connection based on common interests and hobbies promotes the development of deep friendships among members, and also allows everyone to find a sense of belonging in the small world.
Caring for the inner child
Many adult consumers raise Jellycat dolls as children, and there are also many consumers who return to their childlike state while treating Jellycat as children. This is particularly evident in the “playing house” shopping experience created by Jellycat physical stores when selling dolls.
Currently, more and more adults are showing a mentality of “not wanting to grow up”. Psychology has described this as Peter Pan syndrome. The word originates from the literary character Peter Pan created by Scottish author James Barry, who is a little boy who refuses to grow up. Peter Pan syndrome is used to describe those who have entered adulthood at a physiological age but have not adapted psychologically, exhibiting behavior patterns and emotional needs similar to those of children.
Families and society have multiple and complex expectations for adult roles. Whether as children, partners, or parents, one needs to take on corresponding responsibilities, and it is not easy to find a balance between multiple roles, which makes many people feel overwhelmed. Therefore, when recalling the childhood period where one only needed to focus on personal growth and not overly consider external expectations, a sense of nostalgia naturally arises.
For many adults, raising Jellycat dolls is like raising the wounded child in their heart again. Through the game of “playing house”, they learned how to treat themselves with a more loving and patient attitude. Even the most vulnerable parts can be cared for, and they find a way to reconcile with themselves and nourish themselves. Therefore, although playing with Jellycat dolls may seem childish on the surface, for some people, the psychological value it carries is profound and significant.
Conclusion
Although Jellycat dolls can meet the various emotional needs of adults, from a critical perspective, we can easily identify Jellycat’s weaknesses. In terms of price, Jellycat’s products are priced relatively high, which makes buying these dolls a luxury consumption behavior. High prices may exacerbate the economic burden on consumers and may also encourage people to engage in unnecessary high consumption in pursuit of short-term emotional satisfaction. Further investigation reveals that Jellycat’s “playing house” experience to some extent satisfies consumers’ emotional needs and provides emotional comfort, but behind this process lies the exploitation of emotional labor by store clerks. Emotional labor refers to employees displaying specific emotions in their work to meet the needs of the organization or customers, even if these emotions are not a part of their true feelings. For example, store clerks need to maintain a friendly and patient attitude at all times, and participate in the interaction of “playing house”, even if they are not always in their best state. This sustained emotional output is accompanied by enormous psychological pressure and physical exhaustion, but the emotional labor of the store clerks is ignored and underestimated.
Exhausted adults may not be ignorant of these truths, but even if they rationally recognize that this is a commercial means, a carefully packaged emotional and memory, they are still willing to temporarily let go of criticism and immerse themselves in the simple happiness and spiritual comfort brought by dolls. Between busyness and stress, this seemingly superficial joy becomes a way for them to self heal and regain inner balance. Anyway, we must first give ourselves the courage and strength to live well. Living means victory and is also a prerequisite for improving ourselves and society.
