Is Blahaj the shark plushie really 'going extinct'? Ikea Singapore says otherwise

What's something that can cause more panic than a pandemic or the Evergrande crisis? A blue plushie shark from Ikea called Blahaj.

Over the past few days, the internet has gone haywire over news that the popular toy will be discontinued next year and Chinese microblogging platform Weibo has been stormed with distressed comments. 

However, Singaporean fans don't have to worry too much — in response to AsiaOne's queries, Ikea Singapore confirmed that the plushie "is still in [their] range and will not be discontinued". 

The whole saga started on Sept 26, when Ikea UK responded to a query on Twitter regarding Blahaj's whereabouts on the furniture giant's website.

Apart from saying that Blahaj is currently not available "due to supply issues", Ikea UK also mentioned that the iconic one-metre-long shark toy "may only be available for a short period of time as it is set to be discontinued from April 2022".

On Sept 28, Ikea Ireland also told a concerned Twitter user that Blahaj is "currently on a supplier delay until mid/end October" and is "due to be discontinued April 2022".

This was enough to send the internet into a frenzy.

Worldwide panic over a one-metre shark plushie

The panic spread overseas, prompting other netizens to badger Ikea outlets in their own country to enquire about the plushie.

It turns out that the discontinuation is regional — a tweet from Ikea US confirmed that it "doesn't have current plans to discontinue this product".

As for Singapore, the plushie is currently still in stock at Ikea's Jem outlet at the time of writing.

While there is currently no news that Ikea outlets in China will be discontinuing Blahaj, distressed Chinese netizens flooded Weibo with the hashtag #PopularIKEAToyToCeaseDevelopment, which has since amassed over 300 million views.

And it seems like they are panic buying Blahaj there too. One Weibo user said that they saw many people purchasing the shark and decided to follow suit despite having to lug the shark home in the pouring rain.

Another user encouraged everyone to get three sharks before it's discontinued.

Blahaj fans are so dismayed that there's even an online petition on Change.org in hopes of getting Ikea to change their mind. At the time of writing, the petition has 4,536 signatures.

On Reddit, a subreddit thread called r/savetheblahaj was also created.

A Reddit user even came up with a list of places around the world where Blahaj is "under threat of extinction" — talk about dedication.

So, what is Blahaj?

For the uninitiated, Blahaj — which is Swedish for  "blue shark" — is a soft toy that's sold exclusively at Ikea.

It has been around for quite some time, but it gained popularity in 2019 when netizens started posting photos of it doing human-like activities like reading a book, cooking and having a meal with its friends.

毎日毎日暑すぎ!
そんな日はスイカを食べよう
みんなで食べれば涼しくなるよ pic.twitter.com/9GYz8HAIl6

— IKEAのサメ用アカ@ワタザメ (@IKEAsame) August 2, 2019

melissateo@asiaone.com