Original article (in Bosnian) was published on 29/06/2022
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 can’t stop talking about – we found out what Huggy Wuggy is and how “dangerous” it is
The article talks about the popularity of a plush toy inspired by the Huggy Wuggy character and tells a story about how “dangerous” this toy is. Although it is mainly a “review”, 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 “a dangerous and predatory monster who is the main antagonist of the horror video game Poppy Playtime”.
It is also stated that the story of “danger” originates from the lyrics of the song “that comes with” this plush toy. The article states that it is about a song called “Free Hugs”.
The article is equipped with a video of the song HUGGY WUGGY SONG “Free Hugs” (Poppy Playtime), published on November 18, 2021, on TryHardNinja‘s 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:
“My name is Huggy Wuggy,
body shaggy and cuddly.
Won’t 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.
Don’t 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.
Don’t you know I’ll find you?
Wherever you go,
I’m waiting in the dark.
There is no way out, there is no escape!
Don’t you know I’m right behind you?
Closer than you think…
This is my factory,
this is my house,
this is my home.
For ten long years, I walked these corridors,
I’m waiting all by myself.
So, will you come play with me?
So won’t you come and play with me?
Stay a little longer,
I promise I won’t bite this hard.
Just trust my smile!
My name is Huggy Wuggy.
I’m glad you came to play.
Stay till the night becomes day,
play all night,
my name is Huggy Wuggy.
Although I’m not hungry,
I still want to taste you…”
According to the article, what is horrifying about the stuffed toy is “its story”, 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 “from a horror game”:
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 “with which the toy comes”, 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 “horror toy threatens children with hugs to death”:
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 (PEGI’s counterpart in the US and Canada).
The association of the video game and stuffed toy with the song “Free Hugs” is unfounded – the claim that the stuffed toy comes with the song published in the article is not true.
Namely, the mentioned song is not the “official” 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. I’ve 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 “Huggy Wuggy sings” 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 “from the game” has no basis in reality.
In a follow-up comment, TryHardNinja addressed earlier claims that his song could be found on YouTube’s children’s platform – YouTube Kids – 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 “Free Hugs” can be found on the YouTube Kids platform, as well as on the TikTok platform for younger audiences – 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 “Free Hugs”. It is a translation of another song called “Huggy Wuggy (Poppy Playtime Song)”, 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 “threatens” 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 “predatory” can have on children’s 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 children’s culture at the end of the 20th century, using the examples of the purchase and exchange of children’s cards, Pokemon cards and Beanie Baby stuffed toys, author Daniel Thomas Cook states that this phenomenon involves claims that “sacred values” 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 child’s school.
In the email, according to Snopes, parents were informed of “a teddy bear with razor-sharp teeth who sings disturbing songs about hugging and killing”. The claims refer to the lyrics of the song “Free Hugs”, and the lyrics “I could hug you here forever, until you take your last breath, together” 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 “lean into a spine-crushing hug”. 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 that’s 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 “Huggy Wuggy” songs with problematic lyrics appear on YouTube and TikTok platforms aimed at children.
You can read about examples of false moral panic that “spread” in our speaking area in the analyzes on the links (1, 2, 3).
Given all the facts, the claims that the Huggy Wuggy toy “comes” 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 “Huggy Wuggy (Poppy Playtime Song)” as the lyrics of the song “Free Hugs”, 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 “sings” 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.