“Squishmallows are fun to have around the house, you can collect them, they’re fun to sleep with, lay on, and share,” said Runken of the toys, which range in size from 18cm to 50cm, with the largest ones selling for £50 to £60. The toys are popular with children and adults who relate to them in different ways, he said. Gerhard Runken, the senior vice-president of brand and marketing at Jazwares, which owns Squishmallows, said the low-priced toys struck a chord during the Covid era when people were spending more time at home and needed a “little hug or something soft to play with”. For example Cam the Cat, one the US brand’s first characters, likes skateboarding, the beach and cat naps. Launched in 2017, there are now 3,000 Squishmallow designs, each with a unique name and biography, a facet that stokes their appeal for collectors who seek out characters they relate to. Pull those things together and add the power of social media, and Squishmallows became a viral sensation.” “People are also collecting more than ever, we see that in our data with things like Pokémon and Panini stickers. “It is a bit of ‘cuddles’,” she said of the sensory appeal of the supersoft, cushionlike toys. Tutt said Squishmallows united several big consumer trends including wellness and collecting. This was aided by famous devotees such as Kim Kardashian, Lady Gaga and the US social media star Charli D’Amelio posting about the toys to their huge numbers of followers. They rose to prominence on social media as fans – the toys are particularly popular with teenage girls – shared their collections online, resulting in more than 9bn video views on TikTok alone. Squishmallows at a DreamToys event in Spitalfields, London.
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