If you want people to fall in love with you

I never thought I’d care so much about an eight-month-old snow monkey in Japan. But here I am.

Surely, you’ve been following Punch? Or have you been doing the very reasonable adult thing of paying attention to wars, politics, and the general state of the world, while I’m out here emotionally adopting a monkey at a zoo in Japan?

Every morning this week, I’ve had a new slightly unhinged routine: coffee, check my phone, and see how Punch is doing. It feels like waiting for news from a niece at summer camp, hoping she’s made a friend.

Punch’s mother abandoned him at birth. The keepers at Ichikawa City Zoo took over and raised him by hand. Then they did the hard part: introducing him to the troop, where everyone already knew the rules and the social scene.

It wasn’t easy. He was bullied and pushed around. So the keepers gave him comfort: a big IKEA orangutan plushie. Punch held onto it like it was his mother, sleeping with it, eating with it, and carrying it everywhere.

Punch dragging his plushie around the enclosure became the internet’s group project. Strangers across the world, cheering for this tiny guy like it’s a grand final. I watched those updates with an embarrassing amount of tenderness.

And now the plot twist we all needed, Punch is starting to be accepted. Making friends, messing around, finding his place. Still devoted to his plushie. Big shout-out to the hero zookeepers.

What I can’t stop thinking about is what IKEA did next. They could have turned this into a flashy campaign with Punch as a mascot, but instead, they understood the moment.

IKEA Japan’s president visited Ichikawa City Zoo and donated a batch of plush toys. Instead of a flashy ‘buy the toy’ campaign, IKEA focused on belonging: plushies hugging, simple messages about family, and a quiet promise that you’re safe here. In Malaysia, every plushie sold will help support orangutan conservation.

Brand lesson of the week, and honestly, a life lesson: If you want people to fall in love with you, don’t shout. When culture hands you a tender story, don’t barge in wearing a billboard. Show up quietly. Show up with care and heart.