Summary
Recently, there’s been a decline in spambots and adult-rated ads, specifically onTwitter. While most didn’t immediately recognize the change, a steady presence is making its way in as an alternative. Enter, Chiitan (ちぃたん☆): Japan’s Crazy Mascot! Being designed in 2017, the “baby otter with a turtle on its head” was demonstrated as a fun mascot that frequently appeared in TV programs beside Shinjo-kun, the official mascot for Susaki in Koichi, who’s also an otter. In 2016, the city of Susaki named a real otter, “Chiitan”, which is where the name came from. As of 2024, Chiitan has 1.9 million followers onTwitter.
God of Advertising
Though Chiitan hasbeen around for quite some time, it wasn’t until the end of 2023 did they start gaining more publicity through ads. Each ad has a short video of Chiitan doing a funny stunt with a caption.
“I’m Chiitan, Japan’s crazy mascot. I’m the god of advertising who was born to drive out advertising in the world. I don’t have any products or information to recommend, so please watch the video and laugh. I hope you have a good day today.”
Chiitan’s posts usually consist of a clip of the mascotdoing specific things, such as crossing rivers, reenacting moments from TV shows, holding a cat, working out at the gym, and more.
What’s more, Chiitan’s account also responds to tweets made by fans, whether it’s a simple retweet, like, or even an occasional comment. Because of Chiitan’s versatile nature, users have opted to make tweets asking about specific topics. Within minutes, a response from Chiitan along with a corresponding short shows up. This has led fans to joke that Chiitan isa time travelerand has prepared a video clip for every tweet that comes its way in advance.
A Positive Role Model
In 2020, Chiitan posted a tweetsupporting theBlack Lives Mattermovementand has repeatedly backed the LGBT community, even including a trans flag on theirTwitterhandle. This has led to a favorable response from most, but has gained controversy from others, arguing that political stances do not have a place in entertainment.
Recently,Twitterusers have begun taking their own creative liberties andcreating memesbased off Chiitan itself. A piece byArtsu_kaidepicts Chiitan as a muscular man, inspired by the popular “Chad” aesthetic.
Meet Chiitan Japan’s crazy SHREDDED mascot!
Another user,texcritter,recreated a visual from a dream they had, where someone insulted Chiitan, and they replied with animage of them holding a metal batand outside the former’s house.
had a dream last night that someone posted “f*** chiitan i hate chiitan” & chiitan replied with a photo of it outside their house with a metal bat. artist’s rendition:
In June,sillypupjiggycreated and posted an edited image of “The Rumbling” fromAttack on Titan, and drew Chiitan over Eren. Which earned a response from Chiitan.
