blahaj, a stuffed animal sold by a company that is the number one consumer of wood in the world. it becomes extremely popular because of memes, more people buy it. i dont get it comrades, it seems like pandering to me. ikea isnt like boeing in terms of awfulness but its existence is resulting in increased deforestation around the world. the ikea stores act as cultural embassies for sweden, they provide a sanitized commodified disneylandesque experience of sweden which really helps their public image on the world stage when they are allowing hate crimes against muslims to occur in their country, but hey, buy the toy shark, trans rights, consume treats, all being trans is is buying useless shit with the pride flag on it from corporations that wouldnt have hired you ten years ago but now want your money. in conclusion blahaj is a class traitor, embrace neopets, i sure hope theres no weird shit going on there like a christofascist owns it and is donating money to trump, and no i didnt look up anything about neopets, im just assuming theirs something bad there too. i wonder how right i am about that?
Blahaj is innocent! The trans community just adopted him because he has a pink mouth, white underbelly and blue surface. These resemble the colours of the trans flag. To the best of my knowledge, Ikea is not behind this. They might be capitalising on it now, but it’s not really much different than when Subaru noticed that a not-insignificant number of their customers were lesbians and started marketing specifically to them.
There’s quite a bit of misinformation and assumptions on the trans-shark connection. The real deal of Blåhaj is actually rooted in the tragic rejection many of us face. I would argue actually that it is a currently developing piece of our culture and heritage. Blåhaj became popular with the trans community because it’s a cheap stuffed animal from a cheap furniture store. Since so many of us get rejected and have to start our lives over sans financial supports, housing, or furniture, many folx have found themselves getting some basic furnishings at IKEA. So as they get the stuff they need, they pass by a bin of cute plushie sharks that are cheap. Small comforts like this can make a big difference in such a difficult time. It’s a symbol of starting new, healing, and growing.
I don’t know whether that’s your personal narrative or a more widespread piece of the blåhaj canon, but I really like the interpretation either way. I was going to make some cynical comment about consumption as identity, but that sort of misses the mark by erasing the personal stories that people have attached to the blåhaj as a symbol. I appreciate you sharing.
Someone on shared it with me several years back and that was their personal experience as well as that of a few trans friends if my memory serves correctly. But even if it’s not the average experience, we can collectively decide that that is the story and symbolism that we share. Sort of a modern oral history so we can have some semblance of community and belonging, and a piece of humanity in our collective stories. Lord knows corporate media isn’t going to speak our truths.
Idk but the one I’m hugging rn is so cute and cuddly and comfy
its existence is resulting in increased deforestation around the world
as much as I hate to defend a massive corporation, I don’t think this is actually true. IKEA claims to use 99.9% FSC-certified wood, so it’s coming from forests where the trees are planted at the same rate that they’re harvested. it makes sense for companies to do this even from a profit-driven perspective, since it would be quite bad for their business if there weren’t enough trees
the main cause of deforestation is agriculture, especially animal agriculture. 80% of de-forested land in the amazon rainforest is being used to rear cattle
My understanding is that at some point Ikea has been an important factor in the deforestation of Borneo for the production of plywood. I haven’t looked up the details in years so I do not know the current situation, but that is an accusation I recall being leveraged against them. That said, I personally do not believe that consumer activism is a productive thing to worry about, but I do fully support people to decide to liberate their sharks.
