Weibo Launches Singles’ Emoji for Chinese Valentine’s Day
Chinese microblogging platform Weibo is famous for launching funny seasonal and themed emojis for different Chinese festivals.
For Chinese Valentine’s Day (Qixi in Mandarin), Weibo dropped a unique emoji dedicated to brokenhearted singles.
The new brokenhearted frog emoji is inspired by Pepe the Frog, a meme that originated in the West and has found favor among alt-right groups. Despite its troubled history, the meme is very popular in China.
Chinese netizens’ obsession with sad Pepe exists separately from the character’s association to hate groups. The meme is often associated with ‘sang culture,’ a Chinese internet subculture centered around defeatism and pessimism.
The brokenhearted frog emoji was met with enthusiasm by Chinese netizens. A related hashtag gained over 53 million views on Chinese social media, with many sharing Pepe memes to celebrate their singlehood.