Thailand’s baby hippo goes viral; boosts local business

CHONBURI PROVINCE: Moo Deng, the baby pygmy hippo born in July at Thailand’s Khao Kheow Open Zoo, has millions of fans on social media following her clumsily charming adventures, but she has also become an unlikely entrepreneurial catalyst.

With her irresistible pink cheeks and pint-sized charm, Moo Deng, whose name means “bouncing pig” in Thai, has swept social media users off their feet, but her influence extends far beyond the digital realm, sparking a remarkable small business boom in Thailand.

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In Bangkok, a cake shop named Vetmon Cafe (Magic Cafe) has started creating an entire menagerie of hippo-shaped cakes, drawing in crowds and boosting local business.

Chalit Kulsaree, the owner of Vetmon Cafe, who meticulously hand-crafted each hippo-shaped cake, explained that it all began with a simple customer request.

After posting the hippo-shaped cake on social media, it quickly went viral, amassing 6-7 million engagements and resulting in more than a hundred preorders, causing a surge in overall orders.

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“We’ve been sculpting cakes every day until morning. But it’s also made us hundreds of thousands of baht ($3,111) in just 10 days,” Chalit told Reuters. The cake, coated in chocolate fondant with a butter cake base and buttercream filling, is often bought as a gift or enjoyed at the cafe. Some customers even find it too cute to eat.

Thailand’s blind box art toys market has also found an unlikely hero in Moo Deng, with local artist Worachai Mattakij capitalising on the trend. Blind box art toys have become a staple in modern pop culture in Thailand, blending art, collectibility, and fun and spawning a dedicated community of collectors, traders, and enthusiasts.

“It feels like I’ve been hypnotised by Moo Deng. That’s why I wanted to create my own version of a baby hippo,” Worachai told Reuters. Moo Jum, Worachai’s version of a hippo-shaped Art Toy, is first printed using a 3D printer before being painted, detailed, and packaged into a blind box.

Since the product launched on social media, preorders had surged to over 1,000, bringing an income of around 150,000 THB ($4,662) within one week.

“Normally, for 1,000 mystery boxes, it would take me about a month. But once the Moo Deng trend started, the preorder bookings skyrocketed, and it only took two to three days (to produce 1,000 mystery boxes),” Worachai told Reuters.

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Moo Deng’s viral appeal has reached far beyond cakes and toys. Her popularity has also inspired a variety of businesses, from cosmetics to fashion, and even attracted attention from global corporations, both in Thailand and abroad.

The baby hippo was born alongside two siblings, whose Thai names translate to “Pork Stew” and “Sweet Pork”. Moo Deng’s grandmother, Malee, recently celebrated her 59th birthday, and is Thailand’s oldest hippo.