Will Your Child Get a Zhu Zhu Pet This Christmas? [Updated]

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Filed Under: Lessons

2009 December, 4th

Laura Spencer

[Update - December 6, 2009, Mihaela Lica] In recent reports, Zhu Zhu Pets may pose a health hazard for your children. We see ourselves compelled to remove all direct links to any Zhu Zhu Pets website featured on our site.

Zhu Zhu Pets are one of the “hot” toys for this Christmas season. If you have a child under 12 around, you’ve probably already heard of this new, fuzzy way to empty your wallet (or you will be hearing about it soon).

(For those of you who don’t happen to have a child handy to ask, Zhu Zhu Pets are cute robotic hamsters that apparently do nearly everything that a real hamster can do — except make the mess. There are also a number of accessories that parents can buy to go with this toy.)

What’s interesting about the rise in popularity of Zhu Zhu Pets is the way that this product was promoted. According to a post over at SocialMedia Today [link removed] Cepia L.L.C., the company behind the toy, relied heavily on bloggers and YouTube to build up interest in their product.

It has proven to be a brilliant strategy.

My own research shows that there is already a Zhu Zhu Pet finder quiz [link removed] on Facebook based on the cuddly toy as well as a Facebook game. There are also quite a few tweets about Zhu Zhu Pets.

In fact, lately the blogging world has been just filled with references to these furry little moneymakers. Consider these recent posts about the robotic hamsters:

• From Lin Burress at Telling It Like It Is, Zhu Zhu Hamster Pets Black Friday Madness – Where to Find Zhu Zhu Pets [link removed]
• From Caitlin Giles at Wee Windy City, Zhu Zhu Pets insanity on Cyber Monday [link removed]
• From Jeff at Craziest Gadgets, Zhu Zhu Pets: Electronic Hamsters [link removed]

Even the popular Huffington Post found the furry new trend to be blogworthy. Check out this post by Mae Anderson,   Robotic Hamsters: Holidays’ Unlikely New Craze[link removed].

I haven’t personally examined a Zhu Zhu Pet closely, so I can’t really say whether I think that these toys are worth all of the hype. Other than the photos published on blogs and in newspapers and magazines, I haven’t even seen one. (However, I CAN tell you that the photo accompanying this story is of a real hamster, and not a toy.)

Fortunately, my own kids are a little too old to demand this toy for themselves (or at least, I hope they are). So, a Zhu Zhu Pet won’t be coming to our house this Christmas season.

The PR lesson, however, is that social media is a key element when introducing a new product into the marketplace. Most companies would love to have the kind of coverage that Zhu Zhu Pets is getting, but they won’t realize that goal unless they acknowledge the importance of social media in the marketplace.

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About the Author

About the author: Laura Spencer is a freelance writer from North Central Texas with over 19 years of professional business writing experience. Laura blogs at Freelance Folder and WritingThoughts. In addition, Laura has written an e-book, How To Start A Freelance Writing Business.

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There Are 10 Responses So Far. »

1. 

   Comment by Kelly on 4 December 2009:

   Zhu Zhu Pets marketing campaign worked really well. I noticed that the prices have moved down to around $20 now, they used to be $60. I finally bought my from here http://www.zhuzhupetsinstock.net
2. 

   Comment by Laura Spencer on 4 December 2009:

   Thanks Kelly!

   I believe they were selling on Amazon for around $60.00. Of course, if you can find one in stock in a retail store, the price is supposed to be much lower.

   Then again, demand dictates price.
3. 

   Comment by Lovethebargains on 4 December 2009:

   Check out this site http://www.GoGrabber.com , it’s saving my procrastinating butt! lol

   Rather than wait outside a Toys R Us freezing my fanny off, I had GoGrabber watch Amazon for me, which was perfect because I also got free shipping. Worked like a charm, and unlike some of the other sites that do the same thing, there was no membership fee or “participation required” with third party scams.

   So perfect! As soon as Amazon had more in stock at regular price (not the $70 independent sellers are asking), I hopped on my pc and bought two for my kids. Now I have GoGrabber watching a bunch of stuff I want for myself!
4. 

   Comment by Laura Spencer on 4 December 2009:

   Thanks for the tip Lovethebargains!
5. 

   Comment by zhu zhu pets on 5 December 2009:

   Yes Zhu Zhu Pets are great, my kids love them. They actually have been around since October.
6. 

   Comment by Ron on 5 December 2009:

   The Zhu Zhu pets remind me of the Wii last year. Hard to find one for sale and even harder to find one at a reasonable price. I think its cool that the internet gives consumers ways to fight back against these pricemarkups. Last year it was the proliferation of Wiifinder websites that gave people a chance to get a Wii at a reasonable price.

   Now it seems like there are intrepid programmers doing the same for Zhu Zhu Pets. To add to the list of sites above, I found robothamsterfinder.com. I’m watching and waiting, because I don’t want to make the repeated cross town drives I made last year looking for a Wii and a WiiFit!

7. Pingback by Most Popular Christmas Gifts on 5 December 2009:

   [...] and mechanical responses to various habitat stimuli. A perfect learning toy, fun for all ages. Will your child get a Zhu Zhu Pet this year? If you didn’t buy it yet, hurry up! You can still find some at [...]
8. 

   Comment by Laura Spencer on 5 December 2009:

   Thanks Ron!

   I think Zhu Zhu Pets are pretty much the “in” toy this year, much like the Wii was last year.

   Good look with finding one.
9. 

   Comment by KellyP on 5 December 2009:

   A friend of mine was frantically looking for one for his daughter and finally found one for around $10 on Amazon. He told me he used a site called amzfinder.com that keeps checking for an item until it is in stock. Sounds much better than trying to beat the crowds at the big box stores.
10. 

    Comment by Laura Spencer on 5 December 2009:

    Thanks KellyP!

    That does sound like a handy tool. I’m glad that your friend was able to find one so that their child will not be disappointed this year.