Corporations are forever perfecting the art of prodding primal emotions — greed, lust, hunger — to make us buy stuff.
But is it possible to market malaise? In Japan at least, the answer is yes.
Meet Gudetama, the anthropomorphic embodiment of severe depression.
Gudetama is a cartoon egg yolk that feels existence is almost unbearable. It shivers with sadness. It clings to a strip of bacon as a security blanket. Rather than engage in society, it jams its face into an eggshell and mutters the words, “Cold world. What can we do about it?