Copyright © Françoise Herrmann
On May 20th, 2025—amidst re-escalating tensions in the Middle East, the fragile onset of the Ukraine-Russia peace negotiations, and in the aftermath of Pope Francis’s death—the popular press and broadcasting networks were proud to announce the birth of Evie*…! Evie?
Peppa Pig’s baby sister! A breath of fresh air, and very popular British children’s cartoon character, Peppa Pig is four years old. She lives with Mummy Pig, Daddy Pig and her little brother George, in Peppatown, in the United Kingdom.
Just shy of two weeks before the Peppa Pig meets the Baby motion picture release (on May 30th), Evie promises to add to the multi-billion dollar Peppa Pig industry for the five-and-under crowd. A multibillion-dollar industry that includes theme parks and a television channel, in addition to all the licensing and merchandising of the cute little pig and her family.
Newsworthy indeed, Peppa Pig has had her fair share of surprising controversies, since 2004 when she was first aired in the UK. In May 2018, for example, she made headlines when she and her whole family, including the hashtag #PeppaPig, were censored in China (Qin, 2028). Assumed slovenly, the bossy big sis piggy and her familly ran counter to the desired cultivation of young generations.
Then again, she made headlines during the pandemic when she became the second most-watched children’s television cartoon in the US after SpongeBob SquarePants, surpassing audience demand in the UK by 112% (Yang, 2021). Popularity that was feared to result in giving American children a posh British accent. A Peppa effect that was causing American children to start calling their Moms “Mummy” instead of Mommy, and “biscuits” instead of “cookies”.
Finally, most recently in 2024, Peppa Pig was accused of making American children “rude” (Leiber, 2024). Picking up on Peppa’s reactions, parents heard their kids say “Yuck” when served new (surely unpalatable) foods. A “no, no” indeed among parents who see Peppa as brash, too direct and berating her father when she chides him about his big belly. A bit of a backlash, according to the Wall Street Journal, for all the self-assertiveness, self-confidence and authenticity that the multinational Hasbro conglomerate professes in response.
Luckily for this blog, Peppa Pig is also a US registered Trademark and logo, with Evie sure to follow. The included Peppa Pig US Trademark was filed on July 9th, 2005, and granted on Sept 23, 2008 to HASBRO, and then renewed. Below, an image of the US registered Trademark No. 3506452 and of the cartoon logo.
* Evie pronounced "eevee".
References
HASBRO
https://shop.hasbro.com/en-us
Leiber, C. (Feb. 25 2024). ‘Peppa Is a Brat’: Parents Turn on the Cheeky Preschooler Pig. Wall Street Journal.
https://www.wsj.com/business/media/peppa-pig-brat-backlash-kids-cartoon-12a51cbfPeppa Pig World
https://peppapigworld.co.uk/pages/peppa-pigPeppa Pig meets the baby (2025) - Official Trailer.
https://youtu.be/-yVb7BPaHYQQin, A. (May 1, 2018). Peppa Pig, Unlikely Rebel Icon, Faces Purge in China. New York Times.
https://tinyurl.com/3hm7pa8vYang, M. (July 19, 2021). Having a go: US parents say Peppa Pig is giving their kids a British accent. The Guardian.
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/jul/19/peppa-pig-american-kids-british-accentsnull
