[Jihye Choi's Trend 2025] The Era of "Muhaeryeok": When Cuteness Rules the World

Citizens Enthusiastic About Harmless Beings
Gacha Shops, Teenieping, and Jellycat
As Digital Fatigue and Social Conflict Rise

Recently, something has taken over the streets known as so-called hot places. It is the gacha shop. The word ‘gacha’ in gacha shop originates from the Japanese word ‘gachagacha (ガチャガチャ),’ which means ‘clank clank,’ referring to the sound of metal hitting metal when a coin is inserted and the lever is turned on a capsule toy vending machine. Inside the capsule that fits in one hand are various toys such as mini figures and doll stationery. It is similar to the claw machines that used to be in front of stationery stores. While the main consumers of those claw machines back then were elementary school students, the main consumers of the recently popular gacha shops are people in their 20s and 30s.

It’s not just gacha shops. Looking at the pop-up stores, goods, and trendy items that are currently making headlines, most of them are pretty and cute. Today’s consumers are enthusiastic about cute things and open their wallets for adorableness. These small, cute, and pure things?harmless objects?are gaining power. This phenomenon is called “muhaeryeok” (harmlessness). Why are consumers so enthusiastic about harmlessness? How do these cute and small harmless beings gain power? Let’s explore various phenomena of muhaeryeok and investigate the reasons behind it.

The craze for ‘Catch! Teenieping’ among the 20s and 30s generation can also be seen as a reflection of muhaeryeok. Adult fans, called ‘eoreuni’ (a blend of adult and child), have started to become enthusiastic about children’s animation characters popular among 4-6-year-old kids. Catch! Teenieping features fairy characters with various appearances and abilities such as Ddokddokping, Hwanaping, Hachuping, and Posilping, with over 100 types in total. Many young children enjoy collecting Teenieping dolls and toys, and among parents, it has even been nicknamed ‘Pasanping’ (bankruptcy ping) because buying so many toys has lightened their wallets. However, since last year, a phenomenon where people in their 20s and 30s liken themselves to these Teenieping characters and call themselves ‘OOping’ has become a meme. Those who boast about frugal consumption habits call themselves ‘Jeoryakping’ (saving ping), while those who buy luxury goods they want call themselves ‘Tangjinping’ (squandering ping). There are also ‘Yageunping’ (overtime ping), ‘Chuljangping’ (business trip ping), and ‘Pigonping’ (tired ping), which reflect the hardships of young office workers.

Movie 'Sarang-ui Hatchuping' Still Cut

Riding the muhaeryeok trend, Jellycat is also enjoying a second heyday. Jellycat, a premium doll brand that opened in London in 1999, sells soft and pretty dolls to 77 countries worldwide and is famous for its unique and cute designs. For example, instead of just animal dolls, they create highly refined dolls of amphibians, reptiles, polar animals, insects, dinosaurs, farm animals, jungle animals, mythical creatures, sea animals, and more. Originally, Jellycat was famous in Korea as an attachment doll for infants and toddlers, but recently, mentions on TikTok have exploded. Users in their 20s share their Jellycat collections or post daily life videos with Jellycat, making it a hot topic. For Generation Z, Jellycat has become not just a doll but a lifestyle item.

Stuffed dolls are also used in idol fandom culture. Recently, there has been a craze for decorating cotton dolls modeled after the appearance of favorite celebrities. It’s not just about buying the cotton dolls but decorating them with various items and even producing and trading doll clothes and accessories through group purchases. Reflecting this trend, Artbox operates a ‘Props Factory’ sales corner in about 70 Artbox stores nationwide, receiving explosive responses with reviews like “You can find a certain cotton doll at a particular store!”

Why does this phenomenon occur? First, we want to point out the increased digital fatigue. The various new technologies that flood in daily force us to part ways with familiar lifestyles. Information overload across platforms and devices increases doubts about whether we are making the right choices. The content we encounter daily is shockingly stimulating. It is perhaps natural to be drawn to low-stimulation, harmless objects and content that soothe this digital fatigue.

Additionally, the rising level of conflict in Korean society is another reason people seek harmless beings. A recent slang term is ‘geulkhinda’ (to be scratched). It is used when someone’s taste or opinion is denied or their pride is hurt by others. With the generation and wealth gaps already severely worsened, chronic political ideological conflicts are intensifying day by day. Broadly speaking, Korean society is becoming a ‘scratched society.’ Perhaps this is an era that needs something harmless to heal the scratched wounds or something that can soothe the itch of life without causing wounds even when scratched.

What a society’s members enthusiastically embrace paradoxically reveals the element that community lacks the most. The fact that Korean society is immersed in muhaeryeok can be understood as a longing for something that heals one’s heart and purifies one’s thoughts in an era full of stimulation and sharp conflicts toward each other. Perhaps muhaeryeok is not just about cute designs but a survival strategy to live in this chaotic world.

Choi Ji-hye, Research Fellow, Seoul National University Consumer Trend Analysis Center