Chinese rabbit emoticon ‘Tuzki’ takes over amid social media buzz

Global Business

A digital Chinese rabbit by the name of Tuzki is winning the hearts of young adults across Asia and reaping riches in merchandise deals for his owners. That’s as the bouncing bunny becomes the choice ’emoticon’ for social media users.
CCTV’s Cathy Yang filed this report from Hong Kong.

Chinese rabbit emoticon \'Tuzki\' takes over amid social media buzz

A digital Chinese rabbit by the name of Tuzki is winning the hearts of young adults across Asia and reaping riches in merchandise deals for his owners. That's as the bouning bunny becomes the choice 'emoticon' for social media users. CCTV's Cathy Yang filed this report from Hong Kong.

Highlights:

  • Tuzki is the digital rabbit emoticon with funky dance moves made famous on WeChat, the messaging platform operated by the Chinese social networking company Tencent.
  • Tuzki has become so famous that WeChat clients such as Nico in Hong Kong use the gyrating rabbit exclusively when sending messages to friends.
  • WeChat’s reach has enabled Tuzki to become a global phenomenon. The bouncing bunny has become so famous that he can now be seen on everything from bedcovers to mobile phone cases on the Mainland to bags in Spain. He’s even got his own Facebook account.
  • Managed by TurnOut Ventures – a joint undertaking between Outblaze and Turner Entertainment, Tuzki is hopping across Asia and beyond. One can now purchase Tuzki bedding and cushions online and can be shipped worldwide.
  • Its first overseas market is South Korea, where messaging app Kakao Talk adopted Tuzki as a paid-for emoticon. Licensing deals then followed in Japan, Thailand, Taiwan and Hong Kong.