The weepul (also known as a weeple, wuppie, or ) is a small, spherical, fluffy

pom-pom A pom-pom – also spelled pom-pon, pompom or pompon – is a decorative ball or tuft of fibrous material. The term may refer to large tufts used by Cheerleading, cheerleaders, or a small, tighter ball attached to the top of a hat, a ...

toy, with large, plastic

googly eyes Googly eyes, or wiggle eyes, are small plastic crafting items used to imitate eyeballs. Googly eyes traditionally are composed of a white plastic or card backing covered by a clear, hard-plastic shell, encapsulating a black plastic disc. The comb ...

, and no limbs. come in various colors. Usually possess antennae and also large paper feet, with an adhesive layer on the bottom, which is protected by a layer of plastic that is peeled off before deployment. According to Rick Ebel, the weepul was created in 1971 by the Oklahoma City promotional firm, Bipo Inc. It was named by owner Tom Blundell after a stuffed doll his parents had taken to market several years earlier. Blundell figured the little-people stick-on would only be a flash in the pan, “but it just got a life to it, and it still isn’t ready to die.” In the Netherlands the weepul was introduced as a marketing tool in the 1980s by the name of ''Wuppie''. The Wuppie was created by Tom Bodt and Eduard van Wensen, two promotion salesmen, who had been inspired by Weeples- which he discovered during a trip in the US in the 1970s. The became popular after Father Abraham featured the in one of his songs. "World unique promotional product identity and emotion" is a

backronym A backronym is an acronym formed from an already existing word by expanding its letters into the words of a phrase. Backronyms may be invented with either serious or humorous intent, or they may be a type of false etymology or folk etymology. The ...

for ''wuppie''. The became extremely popular in the summer of 1981. were often given out as a prize from 1–900 numbers in the 1980s.

Netherlands comeback

Twenty-five years later, made a comeback in

the Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. In 2006, the Dutch supermarket chain

Albert Heijn Albert Heijn (), often abbreviated to AH () and informally to Appie (), is the largest supermarket chain in the Netherlands with a market share of 37.7% in 2024. It was founded in 1887, and has been part of Ahold Delhaize since 2016. History Th ...

re-introduced in a new campaign connected to the

FIFA World Cup 2006 The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams represe ...

under the motto ''Wup Holland Wup'', a variation of ''Hup Holland Hup'' (''Go Holland Go''), a Dutch

football chant A football chant or terrace chant is a form of vocalisation performed by supporters of association football, typically during football matches. Football chanting is an expression of collective identity, most often used by fans to express their ...

. Albert Heijn used produced in

orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower ** Orange juice *Orange (colour), the color of an orange fruit, occurs between red and yellow in the vi ...

, red, white and blue as a collectible

trading stamp Trading stamps were small paper stamps given to customers by merchants in loyalty programs in the United States, Canada and the U.K. which predated the modern loyalty card-based and online programs. Like the similarly-issued retailer coupons, these ...

, functioning as part of a

loyalty program A loyalty program or rewards program is a marketing strategy designed to encourage customers to continue to shop at or use the services of one or more businesses associated with the program. Single-company vs. coalition programs Loyalty progr ...

. Three and a fee of €2.49

Euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

could be exchanged for a "mega wup". Albert Heijn's wuppie campaign with the World Cup Wuppie Song ("With a Wup, we will win the World Cup") proved popular. Dutch media reported that cars which displayed such "mega wup" on their dashboards were sometimes broken into. ("Don't leave your wuppie alone in your car") by Gert Onnink, ''Algemeen Dagblad'', 20 June 2006 A classroom of an elementary school in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

was burgled for its many on display in the window sills.

References

1970s toys 1980s toys Novelty items Promotion and marketing communications Stuffed toys Culture of the Netherlands

Netherlands comeback

See also

References