There are few television characters who are ruder, bossier and more annoying than Peppa Pig.
The gruesome pink pig, star of the children’s series of the same name, now a global phenomenon worth a billion pounds, spends her days putting down her brother, talking back to her parents, being mean to her friends – and making fun of her dad .
Even if you can get past that grating, high-pitched squeaky voice (and don’t get me started on the snorting), there’s no denying it: Peppa is a spoiled, entitled little brat.
In our house, where my two- and four-year-old sons would love nothing more than to watch back-to-back episodes of the show, just like all their friends, Peppa Pig is banned.
And while it may sound unnecessarily harsh, there is a method behind the sanction.
There are few television characters who are ruder, bossier and more annoying than Peppa Pig
SARAH RAINEY: I hate the title Peppa Pig…she’s banned in our house
For the uninitiated (and oh, how I envy you), Peppa is a four-year-old cartoon farm animal who lives in a house on a hill in Peppatown with her brother George, two, and their parents. Yes, you can already see how narcissistic the piggy is.
Each five-minute episode follows Peppa, her family and friends doing something mundane: jumping in puddles, getting on the train, having a picnic – you get the idea.
When Peppa doesn’t get her way, she starts to sulk. When she gets food she doesn’t like, she says, “Yuck.” When she loses a game, she throws a tantrum. When she is reprimanded for bad behavior, she screams, “You’re not my friend anymore!”
As any parent knows, these are fairly common traits in preschool-aged children, but are they traits I want to endorse – or worse, encourage – in my own children? Absolutely not.
It turns out I’m not the only one. While many British children under the age of five may be addicted to this sweet foam, American parents are aware that Peppa is a terrible role model for their children. As one mother told the Wall Street Journal this week, “Peppa is rude and impatient, and the show teaches kids that this is who she is and that’s OK.”
Another described the British cartoon – which turns 20 this year – as ‘misleading’, adding that the characters are ‘rude and stupid’ with ‘bad values’.
As an example, in an episode entitled Whistling, Peppa tries (but fails) to whistle and when she discovers that her friend Suzy Sheep can do it, she interrupts her mid-conversation by hanging up the phone.
Then she goes outside with a noose and stomps her feet until her mother comes by with a plate of chocolate chip cookies. I don’t know exactly what the moral of this tiresome story is supposed to be. And poor Suzy Sheep never gets an apology.
The gruesome pink pig, star of the children’s series of the same name, now a global phenomenon worth a billion pounds, spends her days putting down her brother, talking back to her parents, being mean to her friends – and making fun of her dad
The Peppa Pig brand has exploded around the world, with entire theme parks dedicated to it
In The Tree House, another disgusting episode, Grandpa Pig builds a tree house for Peppa and George – and Peppa comes up with a secret phrase you have to say to get in. The password – eye roll here – is “Daddy’s big belly.” Have everyone breaking down in snorts over Daddy Pig’s obesity. Except for Daddy Pig, of course, who seems deeply upset about being mocked by his entire family.
Peppa herself isn’t the only part of the show to receive criticism either. Over the years, viewers have accused the cartoon of endorsing gender stereotypes, reflecting a middle-class worldview, and encouraging children to talk back—not lessons I want blaring from my living room TV.
Hating Peppa makes me realize I’m very much in the minority. To date, 374 episodes of the series have been shown in 180 countries.
As the show exploded (sorry, Daddy Pig, not a thinly veiled fat joke), so did its reach: it now generates £1 billion in global merchandise sales and boasts theme parks as far away as Shanghai and Hampshire.
Bold, brutish Peppa trudges along, unstoppable and seemingly unstoppable.
Fortunately, her pointless sniffing will never invade my house – and my children are all the better for it.