Why China is obsessed with this evil bear

The Lotso Mystery
A few weeks ago, a subscriber named Marco De Nobili told me a story. Walking the streets of Shenzhen and Guangzhou during a work trip to China, he noticed something strange: Lotso — or Lots-o'-Huggin' Bear, the cuddly pink villain from Toy Story 3 — was everywhere. Images of his face were emblazoned on the sides of cars, scooters, and mopeds; shops were filled to the brim with every kind of Lotso-themed merchandise.

Marco was confused. He’d been to China before, most recently in 2018. But he’d never seen anything like this. In Europe, where he lives, Lotso isn’t a particularly well-known character. Same goes where I live in the United States — you’ll see plenty of Mickey Mouse, Hello Kitty, Snoopy, or Winnie-the-Pooh. But in China, Lotso has become a phenomenon. Marco wanted to know why. I went down a rabbit hole to figure it out.

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S2025E05 - Something strange is happening on Google