What's Up With Chiitan And What Did He Do? Chiitan's Twitter (X) Ads And The Memes About Them Explained

Mascots are practically everywhere in Japan. Each of the country's 47 prefectures has a mascot, and many businesses and corporations also use mascots to promote themselves. Chiitan, an unofficial mascot of the Japanese city of Susaki, has a peculiar story and tons of memes on the internet since 2019.

Who's the enigmatic mascot and why some Twitter (X) users are blocking Chiitan? Let's explain.

Who Is Chiitan?

Chiitan is a self-described "0-year-old fairy baby" otter who wears a turtle as a hat (seen below). The mascot once declared itself an unofficial representative of the city of Susaki in 2018, although in 2019, the city's officials rejected their association with the mascot over the controversial nature of Chiitan's chaotic videos.

How Did Chiitan Went Viral?

Chiitan built an online presence on YouTube and X based on antics including silly stunts, falling, and mild violence. One of the character's most popular YouTube videos is a compilation of some of these moments, posted July 29th, 2018, which garnered over 5.6 million views (shown below, left). Its second most popular video with 4 million views shows it trying exercises to lose weight (shown below, right).

What's The 'Chiitan Twitter (X) Ads' Controversy And Why Are Twitter (X) Users Blocking The Mascot?

In late November 2023, Chiitan's management company started purchasing advertisements on X / Twitter to increase the mascot's online presence for newer audiences. Chiitan's ads contained clips of the mascot's shenanigans with the description introducing Chiitan as "the god of advertising who was born to drive out advertising in the world."

I'm Chiitan, Japan's crazy mascot.
I'm the god of advertising who was born to drive out advertising in the world.
I don't have any products or information to recommend, so please watch the video and laugh.
I hope you have a good day today.pic.twitter.com/MnytHdfNxB

— ちぃたん☆／Chiitan (@chiitan7407) November 24, 2023

The amount of repeated Chiitan ads on X divided opinions on the platform, as is reflected in various memes since February 2024, For example, user @ferbyderb posted the earliest meme about the ad campaign (shown below, left) using a Jujutsu Kaisen panel. On February 29th, X user @kareemmpie made the earliest notable negative post about the ads, posting a screenshot of Chiitan's blocked X account.

The negative comments towards Chiitan's ads gained traction in May 2024, as X user @Akumabat made a PTSD Dog meme about seeing Chiitan ads (shown below, left). Later on May 30th, X user @SittinGengar replied with an "I'll kidnap a thousand children" meme that garnered over 400 reposts and 8,400 likes in the same period (shown below, right).

For the full history of Chitan's Twitter and memes, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.