Silly question: who on earth came up with this design concept and why did they think it was a good idea? Does it rub anyone else the wrong way?

… and it’s probably from China, too. A grave insult to American ladybugs.

They want it to look more cute, and bugs aren’t as cute as humans, generally.

Actually Ladybug’s heads are entirely black. A little more difficult to put cutesy expressions on to anthropomorphise them :)

Personally, I’ve seen creepier attempts. That particular one is really kinds cute. Which is obviously their intent.

It’s designed to be on kids’ beds; not as an exhibit at a Natural History Museum, after all :)

I suppose a kid whose a future Entomologist might find fault but the average kid will find it a cuddly companion.

Generally best not to overthink it. I guarantee the kids won’t and that is, after all, the target market for these.

@Blackberry Damn, guess it’s all a matter of opinion then but I think this and this are way cuter and less creepy than this. Am I alone here?

@Buttonstc Good point on the difficulty of adding facial features (usually black thread) to black-headed ladybug toys; hadn’t thought of that!

Also, come to think of it, I guess you could say the same of Mickey Mouse but for some reason it doesn’t bother me so much on him.

But you’ve grown up with Mickey Mouse and have seen him that way from early childhood so of course you’re not bothered (even tho it’s entirely similar).

Likewise, young kids will have these on their beds from a young age so they won’t be bothered by the ladybug’s cute face either.

That is, until they reach their teens or early twenties and start over- analyzing and feeling superior to the most mundane things in life :)

And to answer you’re Q about whether you’re alone here, I would estimate you may have a few others also going thru this stage. jk

:D

Tha fuck?

Lol!

@Mariah I know what you mean. I already know lady bug faces are black so that’s why it look strange to me.

Wow. Pillow Pet. I was so disappointed to find it boobless.

I’ve always liked lady bugs. The are cute and helpful insects. (They eat aphids) I also like other beetles, caterpillars, butterflies, moths and . . . I hate to admit it . . . spiders. I can hear the screams of horror…, but they are fascinating creatures. I don’t allow them in my house, but I like to look at them in their own habitat. As design elements, I say, each to his own.

I find it a bit weird, but not necessarily creepy. I’d agree with the theory that it’s easier to put a cute face on a ladybug with a flesh colored face than a black face, because they usually use black thread and black eyes and it would just blend in.

My little sister has the ladybug pillow pet, along with a couple other ladybug things with flesh colored faces.

Well, it’s a pillow, so automatically, that wins in my book. There are many different types of pillows out there, as well as other art forms. Many worse than this. Some offending, some shocking. But this here, at least to me, is nothing. In fact, this cute looking human faced idea is so common that, if it weren’t all soft and snuggly, it would be the boringest thing ever.

As to why someone thought this was a good idea. Well, I’d love to say something about expression through art and shit, but they probably just thought it would sell good.

But nah it ain’t creepy. What would be actually creepy would be a correct representation of a ladybug in pillow form. They may look cute, but if you take one up close to your eye, or look at it through a magnifying glass, it ain’t all that purty. Imagine a big version of that sitting on your bed.
Of course, if someone made a pillow shaped like an actual bug, I would still think it’s awesome, but you have to agree that it would definitely be a lot more weird than this wussy ass thing.

Also I want one.

I never even thought about this, and I see my daughter’s pillow pet all the time! It is weird, now that you mention it.

I think it’s weird but not creepy. Also, infants instinctively relate better to a humanoid face even when it’s not particularly “realistic”. A baby would find this more appealing than a natural-looking ladybug.

I guess if they gave the ladybug a realistic ladybug head, it would be even more disturbing,

@Fiddle_Playing_Creole_Bastard I may have nightmares now.

I want a big pillow of that nasty insect face.

Lol.

When I was a kid in school, we had to decorate a paper plate in an art lesson. I put a robin in the middle. The teacher said I needed to decorate the rim too. So I put wavy brown worms around the border. Why not lady bugs on a pillow?

[Removed by me, oops!]