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Devin Silva was at her local CVS in Washington shopping for some late-night ice cream when she spotted it.
Cookie was hanging from a shelf and, unbeknownst to Silva, she was about to make the “ugly” stuffed gingerbread keychain from the toymaker Ty, which keeps selling out nationwide, a sensation.
After purchasing the plushy for a few bucks, she documented the creepy-looking plushie’s day-to-day life on X — alternating between gorging on junk food and bedrotting and bringing it along to her job.
Her posts unexpectedly went viral and caused the toy to sell out, earning Cookie the title of “most wanted stuffed toy of 2024.”
“I never imagined it would get this big,” Silva, 18, told The Post. “It’s so crazy.”
Cookie, which is part of Ty’s seasonal Beanie Belly collection and typically retails for $4.99, is adorned with a goofy smile, blue eyes, a red gumdrop nose, multi-colored buttons and white trim made to look like icing.
While she admittedly found the five-inch toy “ugly” at first — prompting a chorus of “ew”s both aloud and in a post online — she had a change of heart after her sister accused her of hurting Cookie’s feelings, she explained.
“Saw this guy and said Ew ew ew ew ew ew ugly and then felt so bad I cried and bought him,” she wrote on X alongside a photo of Cookie.
She took Cookie home, sharing photos of the stuffed animal lounging on bags of marshmallows, chowing down on Taco Bell and tucked into bed, turning the gingerbread stuffed animal into an Elf on the Shelf of sorts.
“Once I saw people loved Cookie so much, I thought everybody would enjoy seeing more of him,” Silva said. “I simply just posted what was going on in my life! With Cookie by my side of course.”
Cookie and Silva, who gained over 25,000 followers on X in a matter of days, became overnight internet celebrities, as hoards of users swarmed local drugstores to find their own.
The new fans of the ugly-cute plushy, which costs $4.99, caused Cookie to sell out in a single day online, the brand announced on X this week. The company even gave Silva a shoutout online “for showing the internet the cuteness of Cookie.”
“Spent four hours looking for him for my daughter,” one dejected Redditor wrote in an online forum.
“Tried CVSes, Circle Ks, Michaels, Barnes & Nobles, Party City, two Hallmarks, a candy store that had his Elf friend instead and all the other xmas beanies.”
“I’ve been to about 10+ CVS’s, 4 Walgreens, and one JoAnn’s before I gave up and just bought him on the TY website,” another desperate user said.
Krystal Ssonko, 25, went to two different CVS locations in the Boston area before resorting to ordering the plush keychain online. She did, however, purchase Cookie’s cousin, Nutmeg, a larger gingerbread stuffed animal, in the meantime.
“I don’t go out of my way to buy holiday trinkets or stuffed animals,” Ssonko, who posted her hunt for Cookie on TikTok, told The Post, adding that she thought the doll was “cute.”
“I grew up with Beanie Babies, but that’s just not something I would purchase.”
But Cookie was different. Inspired by the virality of the doll and the bag charm trend — after all, it can be clipped onto bags, keys and more — Ssonko was convinced she did “need Cookie.”
“I kind of fell for the viral craze and wanted to be able to say, ‘I have my own Cookie,’” she said.
The Cookie mania has also inspired memes, fan art and even an embroidery design from small business owner and artist Chantal Strasburger.
“The X community has warmly embraced Cookie as their new friend, and we couldn’t be more thrilled!” Ty Warner, the CEO and owner of Ty Inc., said in a statement obtained by USA Today, expressing “gratitude” to Silva for creating a “vibrant community” rallying around Cookie.
“It’s a joy to see such a diverse display of talent and holiday spirit,” Warner continued.
“We are thankful to everyone who has shared their creativity and love for Cookie. We hope this festive spirit continues, spreading joy and Christmas cheer far and wide!”
