Vol. 121 IKEA: Punch and the plushie 🐒

Case Studied
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We’ve seen many powerful, impromptu brand moments. 

In 2020, a TikTok user filmed himself skateboarding to work sipping Ocean Spray cranberry juice to Fleetwood Mac and the viral clip sent sales soaring. In 2024, a TikTok of a toddler enthusiastically agreeing to visit the Four Seasons Orlando also went viral, sparking a response campaign that led to an estimated $10 million in earned media value. And recently, we saw IKEA brought into a similar spotlight. 

This week, Case Studied explores how a viral Japanese macaque turned an IKEA product into a global sell-out.

The Brief

IKEA was founded in Sweden in 1943. Since then, it’s expanded to more than 60 markets worldwide and is a household name in furniture and home goods. 

While IKEA is best known for flat-pack furniture and meatballs, it also carries a line of stuffed animals in their Djungelskog (Swedish for "jungle forest") collection. Within that line is a $19.99 orangutan plushie that, until recently, many shoppers would walk right past.

In July 2025, a seven-month-old Japanese macaque named Punch was born at Ichikawa City Zoo. Punch was abandoned shortly after birth and hand-raised by zookeepers, who gave him an IKEA Djungelskog orangutan plushie as a surrogate companion. Shunned and scolded by some of the other monkeys in his enclosure, Punch was filmed dragging the plushie around and clinging to it for comfort. 

By early 2026, the videos of Punch gained so much traction on TikTok and Instagram that his story was picked up by major outlets. A hashtag that translated to "Hang in there, Punch" tracked the macaque’s progress. 

With so many people invested in Punch, the plushie he clung to—"Ora-Mama," as some fans started calling it—was suddenly selling out globally.

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The Execution

IKEA's response to this unexpected viral moment involved a series of coordinated, locally executed moves across its global markets.

The first course of action was a donation. Working in close collaboration with IKEA Japan, Ichikawa City Zoo, and the City of Ichikawa, IKEA donated a supply of soft toys to support Punch and the children visiting the zoo. The stated aim was to offer comfort while also respecting Punch's wellbeing and the zoo's circumstances. 

Social media followed, but each market handled it in a way that was tailored to its local audience. IKEA Canada worked with its social media agency Dentsu Creative to produce a short video shot at its North York store. It featured the line, "We all need a comfort monkey" alongside a series of shots showing the Djungelskog orangutan paired with other animals in the collection. 

IKEA Spain posted a photo showing the plushie with an arm protectively wrapped around an image of Punch. IKEA Switzerland shared an image of the stuffed toy with the caption: "Sometimes, family is who we find along the way."

In Malaysia, the response went a step further. The regional IKEA page announced that a portion of every Djungelskog plushie sale would go toward supporting orangutan conservation in the country.

"Every so often, a genuinely unexpected and heartfelt moment happens that naturally connects back to the brand," said Jonelle Ricketts, head of marketing at IKEA Canada. 

"Markets across IKEA saw the incredible outpouring of posts and reactions to this heartfelt moment, and each chose to respond in a way and time that felt right for their local audiences," she added.

Globally, IKEA's commercial manager Javier Quiñones acknowledged the surge in a statement to The Washington Post: "The toy has long been one of our most sought-after across markets, and the story from Japan is now giving it a little extra love."

The Results

The Djungelskog orangutan sold out across multiple markets simultaneously. At all but five of IKEA's 54 U.S. stores, the plushie was out of stock, with no more than two units remaining at any of those locations. 

In Japan, only one of the chain's 12 stores showed the item available. The majority of UK stores were nearly or entirely out of stock as well. On eBay, resale listings for the $19.99 toy appeared at prices exceeding $300 (more than 15 times the retail price).

Meanwhile, Ichikawa City Zoo saw its February attendance reach approximately 47,000 visitors, more than double the figure from the previous year. On peak days, roughly 9,600 people passed through the gates. The zoo had to cap front-row viewing time at 10 minutes and ban selfie sticks to limit stress on Punch and the other macaques.

IKEA received significant earned media coverage from outlets including CNN, The Washington Post, Forbes, and many international publications. The brand's social posts referencing Punch also generated substantial engagement across markets.

The Takeaways

1) Actions speak louder than words. 

The centerpiece of IKEA's response to Punch was a donation to the zoo he calls home. Before the social content rolled out, IKEA coordinated with the zoo and local government to get plush toys for Punch and the children visiting him. That action helped provide a foundation of credibility for everything else that followed. 

When your brand has the opportunity to respond to a cultural moment, ask what you can do before you ask what you can say. Tangible, relevant action often carries more weight than commentary. 

2) Let each market lead with local judgment.

Rather than deploying a single global response, IKEA let individual markets move in ways that made sense for their audiences and contexts. Canada created a video. Spain shared a photo. Malaysia tied the moment to conservation. Each response shared a common emotional tone but was executed with local judgment rather than a centralized playbook.

If your brand operates across multiple markets, consider building a response framework for cultural moments. You can define the guardrails around tone, what to avoid, what values to center, while leaving execution to regional teams who understand local audiences. 

3) Restraint is a strategy. 

Multiple brand strategists commenting on IKEA's response flagged the same thing: what the brand didn't do was as important as what it did. IKEA didn't turn Punch into a mascot. It didn't launch a limited-edition product. It didn't put out a press release. Its reaction was measured and strategic, and avoided overextending or forcing anything.

Managing an unexpected viral moment is a high-stakes balancing act. Audiences today are highly attuned to overreach and the goodwill generated by a proportionate response can have a lasting impact on those engaging with the moment. Consider what guardrails could help ensure your brand finds balance if and when it’s in the spotlight. 

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