The moral panic over unsubstantiated claims that the Huggy Wuggy plush toy is linked to problematic lyrics on YouTube has moved from social media to the regular media.
On June 14, the web portal Zenski recenziraj published an article with the following title:
The toy that moms canât stop talking about â we found out what Huggy Wuggy is and how âdangerousâ it is
The article talks about the popularity of a plush toy inspired by the Huggy Wuggy character and tells a story about how âdangerousâ this toy is. Although it is mainly a âreviewâ, that is, an opinion about the toy, the article also contains factual statements explaining why it can be dangerous.
The article says that the toy was created by the company Playtime CO and that it is their best-selling toy. Huggy Wuggy is described as âa dangerous and predatory monster who is the main antagonist of the horror video game Poppy Playtimeâ.
It is also stated that the story of âdangerâ originates from the lyrics of the song âthat comes withâ this plush toy. The article states that it is about a song called âFree Hugsâ.
The article is equipped with a video of the song HUGGY WUGGY SONG âFree Hugsâ (Poppy Playtime), published on November 18, 2021, on TryHardNinjaâs YouTube channel, featuring an alleged translation of the lyrics of the song from English:
Huggy Wuggy comes with the catchy song Free Hugs
The secret of its popularity lies in the song that accompanies it, and we bring the translation of the text in its entirety:
âMy name is Huggy Wuggy,
body shaggy and cuddly.
Wonât you come and hug me?
Hold me day and night,
Hug me day and night.
My name is Huggy Wuggy,
sharp teeth leave you bloody.
Donât you ever call me ugly!
Hug me till I die,
hug me until you die
I know where you hide,
you slide down the ventilation.
Donât you know Iâll find you?
Wherever you go,
Iâm waiting in the dark.
There is no way out, there is no escape!
Donât you know Iâm right behind you?
Closer than you thinkâŚ
This is my factory,
this is my house,
this is my home.
For ten long years, I walked these corridors,
Iâm waiting all by myself.
So, will you come play with me?
So wonât you come and play with me?
Stay a little longer,
I promise I wonât bite this hard.
Just trust my smile!
My name is Huggy Wuggy.
Iâm glad you came to play.
Stay till the night becomes day,
play all night,
my name is Huggy Wuggy.
Although Iâm not hungry,
I still want to taste youâŚâ
According to the article, what is horrifying about the stuffed toy is âits storyâ, that is, its origins related to the horror video game and the song associated with it:
The stuffed animal itself is not so much critical as its whole story, and this song with truly scandalous lyrics for children aged three to six who find stuffed animals interesting.
Stating that it is unlikely that children will not see the problematic song on the YouTube platform, despite parental protection, the article states that the song originates âfrom a horror gameâ:
Knowing that children often go on Youtube, and despite all parental prohibitions and protections, merciless advertisements can pop up, and the chance that Huggy, with its song from the horror game, will miss your child is really minimal.
The article was published in this form by the Croatian Catholic web portal, Rastimo u vjeri and Book.
Without mentioning the name of the song, articles claiming that the popularity of the plush toy is due to the song âwith which the toy comesâ, whose translation is quoted above, were published by web portals Klix, Cazin, Jabuka, Dnevno (.hr) and others.
On June 17, a web portal Slobodna Dalmacija published an article on the same topic. Taken from Klix, the article is equipped with the title âhorror toy threatens children with hugs to deathâ:
A new horror toy that threatens to hug children to death and invites them to bite has worried parents and educators, and delighted retailers. How long will it last?
In the introduction to the article on this topic, published by the web portal 24 sata, it is stated that Huggy Wuggy sings about feeding on human flesh and killing:
The plush toy popular among kindergarteners comes from a horror video game, and in its song, it sings about feeding on human flesh and killing. Parents are divided in opinion.
Facts about the toy and the song
As explained in the article of the web portal Zenski recenziraj, the plush toy was created by the company Playtime CO based on the character from the popular horror video game Poppy Playtime. The video game was developed by the MOB Games developer team and is available via the Steam platform from October 12, 2021.
According to Forbes magazine, the game is a terrifying experience designed to thrill. The game is rated as suitable for 12-year-olds and older by PEGI (the European self-regulatory system for rating computer games), while it is rated as suitable for 13-year-olds and older by the ESRB (PEGIâs counterpart in the US and Canada).
The association of the video game and stuffed toy with the song âFree Hugsâ is unfounded â the claim that the stuffed toy comes with the song published in the article is not true.
Namely, the mentioned song is not the âofficialâ song of the game or the song with which the plush toy is sold. The song was created by YouTube channel owner TryHardNinja, who states in the channel description that he is a singer and writer of songs about video games. Additional information about this online content creator can be viewed on his site.
Due to the captions linking the song to the video game, TryHardNinja explained in a comment on the video that he and the song have no official connection to the game:
As explained in the article of the web portal Zenski recenziraj, the plush toy was created by the company Playtime CO based on the character from the popular horror video game Poppy Playtime. The video game was developed by the MOB Games developer team and is available via the Steam platform from October 12, 2021.
According to Forbes magazine, the game is a terrifying experience designed to thrill. The game is rated as suitable for 12-year-olds and older by PEGI (the European self-regulatory system for rating computer games), while it is rated as suitable for 13-year-olds and older by the ESRB (PEGIâs counterpart in the US and Canada).
The association of the video game and stuffed toy with the song âFree Hugsâ is unfounded â the claim that the stuffed toy comes with the song published in the article is not true.
Namely, the mentioned song is not the âofficialâ song of the game or the song with which the plush toy is sold. The song was created by YouTube channel owner TryHardNinja, who states in the channel description that he is a singer and writer of songs about video games. Additional information about this online content creator can be viewed on his site.
Due to the captions linking the song to the video game, TryHardNinja explained in a comment on the video that he and the song have no official connection to the game:
Hello everyone. Iâve noticed a few misleading stories and posts directing clicks to this video lately. I completely understand your concern, but the articles are not accurate. Huggy Wuggy is and always has been a monster in a horror game. If anyone, unfortunately, believed otherwise, it is not true. I also have no role in creating the game or the character. This is an unofficial song inspired by the character and was never in the game or part of the official story. Articles that say this is what âHuggy Wuggy singsâ are factually incorrect. This is something I came up with inspired by the game.
The original music from the game can be heard in this video, published on the YouTube channel of the team that developed the game. How it is played in the game can be seen in this video.
Therefore, the claim that the stuffed toy comes with this song and that it is a song âfrom the gameâ has no basis in reality.
In a follow-up comment, TryHardNinja addressed earlier claims that his song could be found on YouTubeâs childrenâs platform â YouTube Kids â stating that he had marked his video as unsuitable for children from the beginning and that it only exists on the main YouTube platform which, basically, is not intended for a very young audience.
Fact-checking portal Snopes, in its analysis of claims referred to by TryHardNinja, states that there is no evidence that the video of the song âFree Hugsâ can be found on the YouTube Kids platform, as well as on the TikTok platform for younger audiences â TikTok for Younger Users experience.
In addition, in the article of the web portal Zenski recenziraj and its transmissions, the translated text is wrongly associated with the song âFree Hugsâ. It is a translation of another song called âHuggy Wuggy (Poppy Playtime Song)â, which was inspired by the same character, but published on November 7, 2021, on the YouTube channel Endigo.
On YouTube, you can also find this song about the mentioned character from the video game, which has over 15 million views, while earlier examples recorded close to seven, or slightly more than 2.6 million views. It is, therefore, about songs created by fans of the game and independently of the team that worked on its development, that is, independently of the company that sells plush toys.
Additionally, claims that Huggy Wuggy âthreatensâ children are also unfounded. As Zach Belanger, president of MOB Games, told Forbes, Huggy Wuggy has no voice at all in the first chapter of the game.
Unfounded moral panic
The analyzed articles represent an example of raising a moral panic about the alleged undesirable effects that toys characterized as problematic, violent or âpredatoryâ can have on childrenâs development. In this case, children are discouraged from buying toys based on unsubstantiated claims that the stuffed toy is connected to a song with problematic lyrics, which is available online.
In an article on moral panic in childrenâs culture at the end of the 20th century, using the examples of the purchase and exchange of childrenâs cards, Pokemon cards and Beanie Baby stuffed toys, author Daniel Thomas Cook states that this phenomenon involves claims that âsacred valuesâ are threatened by the trade toys because of what they supposedly teach.
Huggy Wuggy is just one of a number of toys that have been the subject of public controversy in this context. How much the Internet, social networks and unfounded media articles have contributed to the phenomenon of moral panic about toys and video games is shown by the example of the so-called Momo Challenge, a non-existent game that caused fear among parents and school administrations in the USA, and the police and local authorities reacted.
The police also reacted with warnings (1, 2) in the case of videos with songs about the Huggy Wuggy character, wrote the web portal Okay Bliss, and the whole controversy started in March of this year. One of the first stories to gain traction involved a now-deleted Facebook post in which a mother shared a troubling warning email she received from her childâs school.
In the email, according to Snopes, parents were informed of âa teddy bear with razor-sharp teeth who sings disturbing songs about hugging and killingâ. The claims refer to the lyrics of the song âFree Hugsâ, and the lyrics âI could hug you here forever, until you take your last breath, togetherâ were particularly problematic, since, in some schools, children allegedly imitated the game on the playgrounds.
According to Okay Bliss, the game involved hugging tightly and whispering ominous lines encouraging the other to âlean into a spine-crushing hugâ. In another example, Okay Bliss reports, a mother said her three-year-old son tried to jump out of a window, saying he was going to die and come back to life because thatâs what Huggy Wuggy does.
The aforementioned police warnings apply to parents, who are being urged to be especially vigilant when it comes to what their children watch on YouTube and other video-sharing platforms. There is currently no evidence that videos of âHuggy Wuggyâ songs with problematic lyrics appear on YouTube and TikTok platforms aimed at children.
You can read about examples of false moral panic that âspreadâ in our speaking area in the analyzes on the links (1, 2, 3).
Given all the facts, the claims that the Huggy Wuggy toy âcomesâ with the song whose translation was published in the articles and that it is a song from the game are considered disinformation.
Due to the presentation of the lyrics of the song âHuggy Wuggy (Poppy Playtime Song)â as the lyrics of the song âFree Hugsâ, the articles also receive a rating for the manipulation of facts.
We give the same rating to claims that Huggy Wuggy sings (a) song/s. This character âsingsâ songs in videos made by fans of the game, not the team that developed the game or the company that sells the toy modeled after this character.
(Author: Amar KaraÄuz, Raskrinkavanje.ba)
