Aldi Christmas Rat
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About
The Aldi Christmas Rat or the Gingerbread Rat is a plush Christmas decoration sold exclusively at Aldi grocery stores in the U.K. resembling a rat with a long nose, red and green buttons on its stomach, a Santa-like hat, a red bowtie and red shoes with white trim. The Gingerbread Rat is part of Aldi's "Gonk" line of decorative plushes and was first released for the 2023 holiday season and was put back on sale for the 2024 holiday season. That year, the rat went viral on TikTok as users filmed themselves purchasing and interacting with it.
History
Aldi's[1] plush Gingerbread Rat Christmas Gonk first went on sale sometime in November 2023.[2] Shortly after they were released, the rat plush became the subject of content on social media. The earliest known example is a video by TikToker[3] @thefashiondaily on November 11th, 2023, set to the he really quiet for real audio, garnering over 1.1 million views in a year.
@thefashiondaily Ratty ✨ #fyp #aldi #aldirat #christmasrat #gingerbreadrat ♬ original sound – Uli Lepe
Online Presence
2024 Virality
In November 2024, Aldi put the Gingerbread Rat back on sale for the holiday season. That month, TikTokers began uploading videos of themselves purchasing the rat and interacting with it. On November 5th, 2024, TikToker[4] @maisyyandrea posted a video of two girls going to buy the Christmas rat, garnering over 1.1 million views in 10 days.
@maisyyandrea BEST NIGHT EVER @annamoritzen #aldi #christmas #rat #fyp #foryouu #christmasrat ♬ son original – Christmas songs
On November 10th, TikToker[5] @abi.bradleywells posted a video where she and a friend go to Aldi to get the rat, followed by them driving the rats home and tucking them into bed, garnering over 100,000 views in five days. On November 12th, TikToker[6] @lifewfaye posted a video in which they shower the rat, make it watch videos about itself then tuck It into bed, garnering over 250,000 views in three days.
On the same day, u/Weird-libraian-4740 made a post to /r/aldi[7] titled "I'm the rat dealer" in which they offer to buy and ship the rat to anyone not in the U.K. who is interested, due to the large number of people who want the rat but don't have access to Aldi's, garnering over 130 upvotes in three days.
@lifewfaye Thqbk you guys so mych for all the likes and new followers #christmas #christmasrat #fyp #aldirat #aldi #fyppp #goviral #christmastiktok ♬ Chemtrails Over The Country Club Lana Del Rey – Ghazellela
Search Interest
External References
[1] Aldi – Extendable Plush Christmas Figures
[2] The Sun – Aldi drops brand new Gonk characters
[3] TikTok – thefashiondaily
[4] TikTok – maisyyandrea
[5] TikTok – abi.bradleywells
[7] Reddit – The Rat Dealer
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