By: Ethan Shen

Thanks to the pandemic and the increase of social media, Squishmallows have exploded in popularity and sales among adults.

Sunny Cho was a designer at KellyToy when her boss asked her to design something using the soft, stretchy fabric they had just recently sourced. Cho wanted something different, an egg-shaped style of plush that hadn’t made it to the United States yet. Using the egg shape, she then made the belly and the face. She then designed 12 animals, including cats, penguins, hedgehogs, owls, llamas, foxes, etc.

The first “squad” (group of plushies) debuted in 2017, and was sold mainly in amusement parks. Customers loved it, but KellyToy was unable to scale the distribution and manufacturing. This was solved when, in 2019, toy manufacturer Jazwares acquired KellyToy. ”The toys are now available in big brand stores such as Walmart, Target, Walgreens, CVS, Costco, Five Below, TJ Maxx, and Hallmark.

During the pandemic, parents calmed their children with the wildly popular Squishmallows.. Even adults started buying them, as many used them to deal with their stress. With the rise of social media, there were soon many videos on services like Tiktok and Youtube featuring the Squishmallows, making the soft toy even more popular.

Instead of using traditional advertisements, Jazware took advantage of social media and the pandemic to create a “beanie baby craze”. Squishmallows are well on their way to becoming a big brand, like Hello Kitty or Pokemon. At the end of the day, this toy is headed for great things, and will build a massive brand.