The Pooh Problem
First, the elephant, or bear, in the room. For years, Winnie the Pooh was a favorite in China. Just like in the rest of the world. That was until some clever internet users started comparing President Xi Jinping to the lovable bear, turning Pooh into an accidental political dissident. Long story short? Pooh got banned on Chinese social media, cutting off his meme-fueled popularity pipeline.
Enter Lotso—another plush bear, but one without the unfortunate political baggage. As Christophe’s video points out, Lotso was never censored, and while he’s technically a villain, he’s also pink, fluffy, and has a tragic backstory, which weirdly works in his favor.
Miniso’s Master Plan
But it wasn’t just the absence of Pooh that gave Lotso his big break. A huge part of this story is Miniso, the Chinese lifestyle and merchandise giant known for pumping out adorable, affordable IP merchandise.
In 2021, Miniso dropped a Toy Story collab that leaned heavily on Lotso—thanks in part to the fact that he’s pink, and Miniso LOVES pink. They flooded stores with Lotso-themed blind boxes, a collectible trend that practically guarantees viral social media content. Influencers, collectors, and casual shoppers all got swept up in the pink bear frenzy, leading to entire series of products dedicated solely to Lotso.
It was so successful that even Disney themselves admitted—during a 2024 industry event—that they orchestrated Lotso’s rise by focusing marketing efforts on him.
So yeah, this wasn’t organic—it was engineered. And it worked.
The Perfect Viral Storm
What makes the Lotso craze even weirder is that it didn’t blow up the way we’re used to seeing things go viral these days. There was no massive TikTok trend, no meme explosion on Twitter, no Instagram challenge. Lotso became a phenomenon the old-school way: by flooding physical stores, showing up on products, and becoming a must-have photo op at Miniso’s in-store “IP check-in points” (aka, the perfect place to take a really cool picture for social media).
And all happened mostly unnoticed by the West. There’s still barely a blip about Lotso on Western social media. It’s one of those rare cases where a character exploded into mega-stardom in China almost entirely offline first—and even now, most of us outside China have no idea it happened.
The Lawsuit Nobody Talks About
And here’s the cherry on top: Disney is still fighting a decade-long lawsuit over Lotso. Yep. Turns out a New Jersey toy company called Diece-Lisa Industries claims they invented a plush bear brand called “Lots of Hugs” back in the ‘90s, and that Lotso is infringing on their trademark.
The legal battle has gone all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, and thanks to a recent ruling, Disney’s defense might be on thin ice. So while Lotso is raking in the yuan overseas, Disney is still tangled in court battles over whether they had the right to make him in the first place.
So… Why Lotso?
At the end of the day, it’s a mix of all the above. Lotso is cute. He’s tragic. He’s pink. He filled a bear-shaped hole left by Pooh’s political exile. He’s also a cost-effective IP to license (thanks to NOT being the main character). And most importantly? People just like cute stuff. Sometimes it really is that simple.
What makes it even funnier is that Lotso’s rise happened almost by accident, on purpose. Disney pushed it, Miniso exploded it, The Chinese communist party made room for it and the Chinese public embraced it. And now, Lotso is bigger than Buzz, Woody, and even Mickey Mouse on Chinese social platforms.
And to think—this all started with a bear who tried to murder Woody.
Big thanks to Christophe for the rabbit hole of a video that inspired this article. Check out his channel and the original deep dive, "Why is this Toy Story villain everywhere in China?" because honestly? You won’t look at Lotso the same way again.
