Small businesses in Thailand are booming as "Moo Deng Mania" sweeps the country after the pygmy hippo calf at a local zoo became a viral sensation around the world.
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00:00With her pink cheeks, natural cuteness and irresistible charm, Moodeng is taking social
00:05media by storm.
00:07The pygmy hippo from Thailand has helped the Khao Kieu Open Zoo generate over 500,000 US
00:13dollars in ticket sales since September, boosting local businesses in a wave known as Moodeng
00:19Mania.
00:20In Bangkok, one cafe has been slammed with orders since it began creating hippo-shaped
00:25delights.
00:27Since I started making Moodeng cakes, I haven't been able to sleep or sleep at all.
00:31I've been making Moodeng cakes every day until the morning and I've been able to make
00:36hundreds of them in 10 days.
00:39And it's not just the cake's cuteness, customers also love the taste.
00:44It's delicious.
00:45The cake is soft and has strawberry sauce.
00:50It's delicious.
00:52Meanwhile, other businesses have seized the opportunity to profit from Moodeng Mania,
00:58including the booming blind box art toy market in Thailand.
01:22Thanks to Moodeng's charm, the artist says sales of mystery boxes shot to over 1,000
01:31within a week of the product's launch.
01:33That's a figure that typically takes an entire month to reach.
01:37Now, with Moodeng's influence extending beyond the digital world to consumers overseas, she's
01:43boosting businesses from cosmetics to fashion, bringing significant benefits to her country
01:49in more ways than one.
01:51Haua Zhang, An Sanichi, for Taiwan Plus.