This story was originally published on Passionfruit.
TikTok is perhaps one of the only places you will hear someone enthusiastically say, “Ooh, some Axe deodorant!” in the year of our Lord 2021.
It’s not what you’d think, however, since it’s not really Axe deodorant. It’s a shrunken-down version, packaged in a tiny capsule ball—a Mini Brand. And a hard-to-find one at that, as the line it comes in—series one balls—has been discontinued. So, avid Mini Brand collectors will understand the excitement this particular get can create.
Mini Brands, the hit toy from New Zealand company ZURU, has only grown in popularity since its launch in 2019. Mini Brands was one of the first toys in its category to capitalize on TikTok’s potential, and it has paid off. Tags for Mini Brands-related content have billions of views—with the main #MiniBrands hashtag garnering 2.2 billion views alone. In August, ZURU released its series three collection which has been a hit on the platform, with content for it racking up over 150 million views in just over a month.
