Some viral trends require interventions.
Jenna Ortega has a nice little streak going for herself right now, particularly in the “whimsically dark” subset of modern entertainment. In other words, she’s been working with Tim Burton a lot.
Aside from her role in the recent box office smash Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Ortega starred in the Netflix series Wednesday, based on The Addams Family, which premiered in November of 2022. And there was merch made. So begins our story.
What’s going on with Wednesday dolls?
A plush doll of Wednesday (from the show Wednesday) currently sits on the shelves of your local Target, Walmart, Five Below, and/or (probably) Hot Topic. A feature of the plush, as it turns out, is that its hair can be flipped to make Wednesday appear bald. A recent TikTok trend has seen folks doing just that!
“Just doing Gods work,” writes one TikTok flipper.
@dumbwaystodie hair holds memories @Billy #wednesdayaddams #wednesdaytoy ♬ escape – Kilgore Doubtfire
As you might imagine, a lot of people are doing the Wednesday flip.
And honestly, who could blame them? It looks not only very satisfying but results in a very hilarious-looking little guy. Who doesn’t love hilarious-looking little guys?!
Store employees are left to deal with Wednesday’s hair
However, the trend has real-world repercussions for the poor employees who have to de-flip.
@zirelle.__ can yall stop plz #fivebelow ♬ escape – Kilgore Doubtfire
The trend has gotten so popular that stores have even had to ask people to not flip, sign-style. “Do not flip Wednesday’s hair, you will be asked to leave,” one store posted.
Jenna Ortega responds to the trend
The phenomenon eventually inspired intervention from the plush herself. On one of the TikTok posts of these store signs, Ortega commented, “Please don’t.”
We’ll see if the plea is effective, as making life harder for hourly retail workers is not ideal. Ortega hasn’t yet taken to TikTok to post a video request to all the flippers in the wild, but if the situation intensifies, who knows what the future holds?
However, Ortega’s sending a bit of a mixed message, as she also commented, “This is so cute,” in regards to the Wednesday flips. Which is it, Jenna? Which is it?! Either way, Wednesday season 2 premieres on Netflix in 2025. I’m guessing the tie-in merch won’t be as hair-flippy.
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