A frog with a turquoise body, with two legs straight, a bloody mouth and a pair of large, overly casual eyes...... Two months ago, a frog spoon made of ceramics suddenly became popular on the Internet, because of its "magic skills", many netizens couldn't stop and became the top of the spoon circle.
On December 20, at the 2024 Taobao Ugly Things Contest Award Ceremony at Station B, this extremely ugly frog spoon won the "Ugly Head" award, and at the same time drowned in a bunch of "deserved" barrages.
Frog spoon, boiling kettle helmet, "My Emperor's Umbrella", "Good Luck to Fortune Clothes", "Dream Butterfly iPad Shell", this Taobao Ugly Things Awards Ceremony gave birth to a total of five ugly things of the year. Some netizens commented: It's really ugly, I like it so much!
Why is the ugly thing on fire?
The ugliest frog spoon on the whole network
The quasi-00 generation went from having difficulty eating to earning 100,000 a month
The creator of Frog Spoon is a quasi-post-00s, Chen Ergou born in 1999.
Chen Ergou University majored in ceramic production, and after graduation, he came to Jingdezhen, the porcelain capital of China, alone to become a "Jingpiao", and his initial life plan was to "be a blogger with personality and porcelain making".
Because the frog spoon won the 2024 Taobao Ugly Things Competition "Ugly Head" Award for Chen Ergou
Chen Ergou, who "hasn't worked, just doesn't want to work", at first his family wanted him to take the exam, but he thought that if he studied for 4 years just to make a stepping stone to the exam for a diploma, wouldn't it be in vain?
Jingpiao's life was not satisfactory, because his family did not support him at first, so Chen Ergou only had 1,000 yuan of living expenses per month, which was just enough to afford the rent in Jingdezhen, and the rest of the food and clothing could only rely on his own hands.
At the beginning, Xiao Chen also made some post-95 childhood memories to kill series porcelain, such as the 12 zodiac charms in "The Adventures of Jackie Chan", but it was somewhat "applauded", and there were a lot of likes, but the sales were mediocre.
In March last year, due to the lockdown of the epidemic, the number of tourists in Jingdezhen was greatly reduced, and life became more difficult. Chen Ergou used his small savings to buy some cheap clay and made some ornaments of small frogs, intending to try his luck again, but he didn't expect it to be sold out on the same day.
Since the frog spoon broke the circle in October, in the past two months, Chen Ergou's Taobao store has been robbed. "It's not three minutes or a second, and it's harder to grab than the live broadcast room if it's not joking. A netizen "complained" on Weibo.
Chen Ergou said that the inspiration for the frog spoon came from a real picture seen on the Internet. "The frog in the picture jumps up and opens its mouth to hunt, which I think is particularly vibrant. So, he made the first frog spoon with a "realistic" attitude, but I didn't expect everyone to think it was artistically processed.
Chen Ergou's inspiration: photographs and design drawings
Because it is made by hand, the yield of pottery products is not high. Chen Ergou said that his income in the past two months has exceeded 200,000 yuan, "It is like a dream to suddenly be loved by so many people." ”
One person walks out of the pomp and circumstance of a group of people
An umbrella factory in Shaoxing is out of the circle because of an umbrella that has never been seen before
Feilian Umbrella Factory is an old umbrella factory in Shaoxing, Zhejiang, Suzhou and Hangzhou are the industrial belt of umbrellas, and there are not a few umbrella manufacturers in Shaoxing. How to make their products stand out has become a problem for many big brothers in the industry.
Most of the employees of Feilian Umbrella Factory are born in their 90s, and the boss is a post-85 generation, but this group of people surfs at the speed of the post-00s every day.
The inspiration for the production of "My Emperor's Umbrella" really comes from the noble pomp of the emperor's tour, Huangluo umbrella, honor guard fan, and luxurious decorations and bead chains, which can not only reflect the sense of dignity, but also shelter from the wind and sun.
As a result, Feilian's staff gathered the emperor's crown, bead chain, and noble gold into the daily parasol, and spent half a month to create an unprecedented "My Emperor's Umbrella". Gently open the umbrella, the emperor's noble aura is fused with the practical attribute of sheltering from the wind and rain, and a person can also walk out of the pomp of an honor guard.
"As soon as it was launched, it exploded, and I knew that this was a drama among young people. Zhang Jianbin, an employee of Feilian Umbrella Factory, said, "The unique and practical design is more attractive than the same beauty." ”
Zhang Jianbin said that the main people who bought this Wuhuang umbrella were young people, basically 15-30 years old, comic exhibitions, stage plays, performances, and even those who bought it to confess, "I guess that scene should be very popular." ”
In the following period of time, this "unprecedented" umbrella buyer show was carried to various platforms by the whole network, and at the same time that the emperor's color umbrella was out of the circle, this old Shaoxing umbrella factory called Feilian was also known by more people.
In the Taobao store of Feilian Umbrella Factory, the sales of other umbrellas are also slowly increasing. Gradually, everyone found that in addition to the design of the products of this umbrella factory, the quality is also very good, the traffic brings attention, and the quality brings repeat customers. Taste the sweetness of flying love, but also launched the "double umbrella", "cabbage umbrella" and other fun and easy-to-use life umbrellas.
Why is the ugly thing on fire?
Netizen: It's not ugly that sells, but the freedom that I am ugly
The annual Taobao Ugly Things Contest can always cause many people to complain, and it accidentally becomes a reverse "planting grass".
However, some netizens said that these ugly things are very much in line with their own "ugliness" - for general ugliness: oh, it's disgusting, and for especially ugly: ahhhhh
Some netizens said that the Ugly Things Contest is actually a mental state of contemporary young people.
On Douban, there is a group called the Ugly Things Protection Association, where many netizens post beauty outside the inherent form every day, becoming a distribution center for ugly things.
It is also an important channel for the Taobao Ugly Things Competition. Hu Yu, the person in charge of the Taobao Ugly Things Competition, revealed that the Taobao Ugly Things Competition has some basic principles, such as not choosing the kind of particularly vulgar and spicy eyes, or the goods with a lot of cottages, and generally choosing those merchants who are more in line with the ecology of Taobao's small and medium-sized merchants.
"It's not ugly that sells, it's my ugly freedom. ”
In fact, an ugly thing that is not perfect or even has its own humor can provide emotional value for young people, so it is becoming a spice in young people's lives. According to Taobao data, the number of people actively searching for "ugly things" on Taobao has increased by 900% in the past year.
In addition, while consumption is becoming more rational, young people are not completely giving up on the happiness that comes from consumption, but are more carefully measuring how much happiness each penny spent can bring. Many ugly things have their own sense of humor and have a higher "price ratio" to help people combat the alienation and burnout caused by the pressure of life.