Factory Mistake Turns Sad Horse Into Smash Hit

A factory mistake in eastern China has turned a $4 plush toy into an unlikely symbol of workplace burnout—and a runaway hit. The stuffed horse, produced in Yiwu International Trade City for the Year of the Horse, is designed to wear a cheerful smile, explains China Daily. But in one batch, the toy left the assembly line with its mouth accidentally sewn on upside down, which, well, turned its smile upside down. What's more, the nostrils look a bit like falling tears. Photos of the glum-looking toy spread online, and the "crying horse" has since become a viral favorite, per UPI.

Factory owner Zhang Huoqing told local media that when the toy debuted in October, sales hovered around 400 per day. After the gloomy horse took off on social media, daily orders surged into the tens of thousands, with wholesalers requesting shipments from as far away as South Africa. Young Chinese office workers, who sometimes refer to themselves as "niu ma" ("cattle and horse") to describe feeling exploited on the job, have embraced the toy as a kind of soft protest mascot.

"This little horse looks so sad and pitiful, just like the way I feel at work," wrote one user posting as Tuan Tuan Mami, according to the South China Morning Post. She added that keeping the crying horse on her desk in the Year of the Horse is a way to leave her on-the-job frustrations with the toy and "keep only happiness."