Chinese brands are cashing in on horse-related wordplay for Spring Festival celebrity endorsements.
They’re hiring celebrities with the family name, Ma (马 “horse”), which is a common surname in China:
“The whole internet is “drama-ing” or ‘chasing the horse’.
The hottest products right now are horse-themed, and zodiac collectibles are solid investments as usual.
Anything vaguely related to the horse is guaranteed to go viral.”
马年来了，全网都在”抓马”。最近火爆的商品也大多跟”马”有关，传统类的”马年生肖产品”依旧能有”理财”的效果。总之，现在沾”马”就要火。
Note: 抓马 is borrowed from the English, “drama” which sounds similar. It usually has nothing to do with “horse”, but here it’s a play on words. We explain in the RTM podcast.
The best example of a horse celebrity endorsement is table tennis player, Ma Long (马龙 — “Horse Dragon”):
Two years ago in the Year of the Dragon, he picked up plenty of brand deals thanks to his nickname “Team Dragon” captain.
Now in the Horse Year, brands are still coming for him. But the smartest move belongs to Nanfu Battery, who has kept him on since the Dragon Year.
前两年是龙年，他凭借”龙队”的外号，收到了不少代言。马年依然有大量品牌找他，还是南孚电池聪明，从龙年一直合作到现在。
Elsewhere, dairy giant, Yili Group (伊利集团), hired three Horse brand ambassadors, Ma Yili (马伊琍), Ma Sichun (马思纯), and Ma Dong (马东) for its Horse Year “homophone meme” (谐音梗) adverts.
Actress Ma Yili (马伊琍) ads had the tagline: “I’m Ma Yili — I choose Yili in the Year of the Horse (Ma)” (我是马伊琍，马年喝伊利).
While Ma Sichun (马思纯), also an actress, plugged the milk brand with: “I want to have pure milk in the Year of the Horse” (马年思念纯牛奶) — a clever play on all three characters in her name.
Yili rival, Mengniu (蒙牛), countered with a surprising hire, who:
Fast-tracked a deal with football’s ultimate dark horse: Spanish footballer, Lamine Yamal.
蒙牛火速官宣了”足球黑马”，西班牙足球明星——亚马尔，做代言。
Yamal’s Chinese name is Ya Ma’er (亚马尔) — with Ma (horse) as the middle character. His tagline wrote itself:
“Ya! The horse is here!” (呀！马儿来了).
International celebrities were also unexpectedly dragged into the Horse Year meme machine included Harry Potter villain, Draco Malfoy, whose Chinese name is Ma Erfu (马尔福), which contains the characters for “horse” (马) and “fortune” (福). Add in the villain factor and you’ve got Chinese New Year meme gold!
Related
But the definitive Horse Year meme was a sad-faced toy.
“Crying Horse” (哭哭马) is a red toy horse with a downturned sad-looking mouth. It’s the result of a defect caused by a worker in an Yiwu factory which made the festive toys. What should have been a “Happy Horse” (笑笑马) had its smile sowed on the wrong way up so looks like it’s about to burst into tears.
Unaware of the mistake, the factory distributed a small number of the faulty toys, which made it into the shops. A buyer in Hangzhou posted an image of one online with the caption:
“This totally looks like me on a Monday morning”
这表情像极了周一上班的我。
The post went viral, and Crying Horse sold out instantly.
The Yiwu factory saw sales surge 300% in just three days, and now has orders backed up until March. On January 23rd, the factory owner announced she would reward the worker responsible with a bonus of 8,888 yuan every year for 12 years.
In the meantime, netizens got to work on the wordplay, with a fresh take on a traditional Horse Year idiom:
‘Turning the smile upside down brings success to the Year of the Horse’”
马倒成功
Crying Horse was given more relatable and grumpy work-related nicknames like:
“Monday Horse” (周一马)
“Overtime Horse” (加班马)
“Client-from-Hell Horse” (甲方马)
Because, according to one commenter:
“This horse is looks exactly like me when I don’t want to go to work!”
像极了不想上班的我！
The arrival of Crying Horse gave permission for less seasonal and more cynical horse-related new Year greetings, repurposing common phrases like:
“Give yourself a break” (放自己一马).
“Workhorse spirit” (牛马精神).
The popularity of Crying Horse is part of a bigger shift towards “emotional buying” (情绪消费). China “emotional consumption” market hit 2.72 trillion yuan (nearly $4 billion) in 2025, and is estimated to exceed 4.5 trillion yuan ($6.5 billion) by 2029.
That’s because according to one piece of research, over half of China’s Gen Z consumers (56%) now say they are willing to pay more for “emotional value” (情绪价值), while 78% say they’ll pay 20% more for products they feel an emotional connection to.
So a defective sad-looking toy horse, it turns out, is galloping with a very large consumer trend.
Which is what we’re exploring this week!
Favourite Five
1. 抓马 zhuā mǎ
over-the-top drama; chasing the pony in the Year of the Horse
马年来了，整个互联网都成了巨大的“抓马”现场 - The Year of the Horse is here, and the whole internet is “chasing the pony”. [3]
Note: One of my favourite Chinese words ever… The transliteration of the English word, “drama”.
2. 丑萌 chǒu méng
ugly but cute, adorably ugly
既保留了画中马匹生动的姿态，看起来也更显“丑萌” - It retains the lively posture of the horse in the painting while making it look even more adorably ugly. [3]
Related:
反差萌 fǎn chā méng – gap moe, cuteness arising from a contradictory discrepancy between two of a person’s attributes
3. 马倒成功 mǎ dào chéng gōng
turning the smile upside down brings success to the Year of the Horse
“手工限量版”的哭哭马恰恰寓意着“马倒成功” - This Crying Horse with its unintended frown is the limited handmade edition that carries the symbolic meaning of “turning the smile upside down brings success to the Year of the Horse”. [3]
Note: Newly coined version of the original idiom “when horses arrive, success follows” (马到成功)
4. 画风清奇 huà fēng qīng qí
quirky, bizarre, eccentric
这两个开局爆火的马年单品一个不高兴、一个独自潦草，实在是画风清奇 - These two breakout hits of the Year of the Horse certainly aren’t your typical mascots: one is visibly depressed, while the other embraces an unpolished charm. [3]
Note: internet slang
5. 一战成名 yí zhàn chéng míng
become famous in one move, rise to fame overnight
可能连包师傅本人也没想到，自己干了一辈子的活，竟因为一次失误一战成名 - Even Master Bao himself probably didn’t expect that despite years of craftsmanship, he would become an overnight sensation because of one human error. [4]
Related:
一夜爆红 yí yè bào hóng – become wildly popular overnight
红极一时 hóng jí yì shí – extremely popular for a time
网红爆品 wǎng hóng bào pǐn – viral internet product
🎧RTM Podcast Preview
This week on the RTM Advanced podcast, we explain three “horse” phrases. And two of them aren’t even Chinese!
Tune in at 7 minutes where we break down what they mean and the stories behind them…
How native speakers use them…
And how you can use them in real conversations right now and show off your amazing Chinese!
Consuming the Conversation
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Consuming the Conversation
Useful words
6. 走俏 zǒu qiào
sell well, be in great demand
最近几个月，“姓马”的明星特别走俏 - In recent months, celebrities with the surname Ma have been highly sought after. [1]
Related:
走红 zǒu hóng – become popular
爆火 bào huǒ – suddenly go viral
爆单 bào dān – receive a surge of orders
顶流 dǐng liú – top-tier celebrity, top influencer
7. 治愈 zhì yù
heal
它回应的是人们被理解、被陪伴、被治愈的心理渴望 - It responds to people’s psychological desire to be understood, accompanied, and emotionally healed. [2]
8. 委屈 wěi qu
feel wronged, aggrieved
“哭哭马”的走红，正源于它作为“委屈”“疲惫”等情感的具象载体 - The popularity of the Crying Horse comes from it becoming a vehicle for emotions like feeling wronged and exhausted. [2]
9. 出马 chū mǎ
make an appearance, step in publicly
去年，马龙的“出马”广告就疯狂刷屏 - Last year, Ma Long’s appearance in an advertisement where he rode a horse went viral on the internet. [3]
10. 黑马 hēi mǎ
dark horse, unexpected winner
25元/只的玩偶哭哭马成了2026开年最红的“商业黑马” - The 25-yuan Crying Horse became the biggest commercial dark horse at the start of 2026. [3]
11. 嘴替 zuǐ tì
spokesperson (informal), someone who says what others feel
把“哭哭马”奉为“打工人专属嘴替” - The Crying Horse has been hailed as the spiritual animal for the weary corporate workers. [5]
12. 玩梗 wán gěng
joke using internet memes
通过造梗、玩梗，难以承受的“重”，变成了可以传递、消费、调侃的“轻” - Through the creation and sharing of memes, the unbearable weight of reality is transformed into a digestible, shareable, and playful “lightness”. [5]
Related:
爆梗 bào gěng – viral meme
造梗 zào gěng – create a meme
Three-character phrases
13. 心头好 xīn tóu hǎo
favourite, cherished favourite
凭借下拉的嘴角、潦草的发型成了网友们的心头好，走红后直接卖爆了 - With its drooping mouth and messy hairstyle, it became netizens’ favourite and an overnight bestseller after going viral. [3]
