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Watch out for kangaroos when you’re crossing the street!
Image: Carbonbrief.org
Nope, you’re not in Australia, but actually in China.
Chinese Kangaroo
Image: Visual China
Well, you can’t find any real kangaroos leaping on the road in China, but you can spot motorbike drivers wearing kangaroo helmets in yellow uniforms with kangaroo logos in every major city—they are delivery staff working for Meituan (美团), one of the duopolies dominating 90% of China’s food delivery market. These delivery workers may not resemble real kangaroos, but their actions epitomize and enliven everything that Meituan’s versatile kangaroo mascot encapsulates—it is a logo, a meme, a cultural symbol, and an evolving identity.
Image: ifanr.com
Rendered flat with an awkwardly arranged face and a clumsy body in profile, the Meituan kangaroo caricature in a 2018 commercial with a mischievous-looking red cap conveys an amusing, lovable naivety. His head is squarely shaped, the eyes white and black circles stacked, the nose a tiny triangle outstretched, and the mouth a red circle halved. His cylindrical arms have no paws or claws, and his chubby belly is a smooth curve portrayed with an air of insouciance.
The Meituan kangaroo’s cuteness and resourcefulness are reminiscent of Doraemon, a kawaii (cute) Japanese animation character possessing a magical pocket that is full of surprising gadgets satisfying all wishes. Similar to Doraemon’s pocket, the Meituan kangaroo’s pouch accommodates everything. The kangaroo becomes the takeout agent in the video, carrying all things including food, medical supplies, fresh fruits, a bouquet, and even feminine hygienic products. These delivery kangaroos stand against pastel-colored backgrounds and hold the products in their round, curvy arms as if cradling a baby. Aren’t they sweet?
Image: Youku
Click to see the images
Image: Youku
Towards the end of the commercial, a yellow semicircle with a pink bowtie representing the kangaroo’s pouch appears in front of a dusty, soft pink backdrop. These feminine touches again render the kangaroo as a caring, gentle sweetheart. The yellow bowl patiently awaits abundant items falling from somewhere off screen. These assorted stuffs descending from different directions all gravitate towards the yellow pouch; unlike the naughty M&M's chocolates that refuse to get in the bowl, the Kangaroo bowl here draws all things in like a magical magnet.
However, the Meituan kangaroo is not your typical kangaroo found in Australia or the zoos, and it doesn't merely rely on its lovely look. Recently, the Meituan’s kangaroo ears helmet for their motorbike drivers went viral in China. The big, floppy ears attached to the helmets have brought the flat Meituan kangaroo darling to life, offering a multisensory engagement with the kangaroo’s cuteness. Those who order from Meituan are welcome to rub the squishy, soft ears “growing” from the driver’s head. In China's bleak recovery from the pandemic, Meituan’s kangaroo ears become therapeutic, selling its cuteness unapologetically to the public.
Meituan also released kangaroo ear hair bands for sale. A portion of the revenue generated from these hair bands goes into Meituan’s Baby Kangaroo foundation, a national charity supporting delivery riders’ children. In this way, Meituan transforms the generic kangaroo ears into an embodiment of love and care. The company keenly and wittily advertises itself as the biggest factory of kangaroo ears in the world in a set of posters. By inventing a narrative through and around its kangaroo ears, Meituan reorients itself as a beneficent "manufacturer" and distributor of kindness and compassion.
Image: ifanr.com
Image: Meituan
Kangaroos have been widely associated with masculinity and strength, following the global fame of Roger the kangaroo (Roger was known for his impressive muscular physique, and he passed away in 2018. RIP). Meituan’s cartoony kangaroo mascot, portrayed as a gentle character with explicit feminine touches in the commercial, seems to have no association with a tough-looking kangaroo like Roger. Despite this, the drivers’ actions made a visually cute mascot into a heroic symbol amid the pandemic. Time’s March issue featured Meituan delivery drivers in China, praising them as heroes putting their health at risk to ensure thousands of families sustenance when the country suddenly froze. The delivery rider on the cover—mask, helmet, and yellow jacket on—is fully geared up, getting ready to fight on the frontlines of the outbreak. Indeed, without the seven million delivery drivers that helped to distribute daily necessities and medical supplies during quarantine, the whole country would be in despair. Where the Meituan kangaroos were seen, there was hope.
Image: Time's Magazine
Now the “kangaroos” have flooded in every major city in China, spreading quickly just like the self-replicating kangaroo ear memes circulating online. Like the high-speed 5G internet and railways, Meituan’s leaping kangaroo is another example of “the China speed”—the forward-driven, unstoppable momentum accelerating in unceasing motion.
Image: Sohu
Image: Sohu
Image: Sohu
Meituan expresses the pursuit of speed in its tagline, “Meituan delivery, everything delivered with speed (美团外卖, 送啥都快),” yet this desire has incurred deadly consequences. The Meituan riders are notorious for breaking traffic rules to deliver on time. Their audacious driving is largely a result of the company’s rigid algorithms that penalize late delivery without fully factoring in weather, traffic, and mechanical issues, putting the drivers' lives at risk. Within the first six months of 2019, food delivery leaders accounted for nearly 70% of the accidents in a record of 325 injuries and deaths involving food and parcel delivery in Shanghai alone. Where the Meituan kangaroos were seen, there was jeopardy.
Let’s go back to where we have begun—this is not Australia, yet you find “kangaroos” everywhere: Meituan kangaroos made in China. As the country resumes economic growth after the pandemic, the Meituan kangaroos leap on the recovery frontline tenaciously. These delivery “kangaroos” in bright yellow jackets gallop like the flash while also flashing like yellow traffic signs, signaling the irreversible impact of their unleashed speed.
