In the quiet arithmetic of retail planning, Woolworths launched a small collectible figurine promotion expecting children to lead the charge — and found instead that adults across New Zealand were the ones most swept up in the hunt. By early August, two-thirds of the Ooshies stock had disappeared from shelves, a result that surprised even those who designed the campaign. The episode is a reminder that the most powerful market forces are not demographic but emotional — that nostalgia, completion, and the simple joy of collecting do not observe the age boundaries that spreadsheets assume.
Woolworths' Disney Ooshies craze exceeded expectations with surprising adult appeal
It's an emotional connection people can't predict with data alone
Mark
When Woolworths planned this campaign, why did they think it would only appeal to kids?
Mimi
That's the standard assumption in retail—collectibles aimed at children draw children. But they didn't account for how nostalgia and the completionist impulse work across age groups. Disney characters carry weight for people who grew up with them.
Mark
So adults were buying these for themselves, not just for their children?
Mimi
Exactly. Some were buying for kids, sure, but plenty of adults were hunting them down for their own collections. That's the surprise Lynch kept emphasizing—the emotional connection wasn't age-specific.
Mark
Two-thirds of stock gone by August 7 seems extraordinary. Did Woolworths run out intentionally to create scarcity?
Mimi
There's no evidence of that in what Lynch said. He actually emphasized they were running competitive specials during the campaign, not jacking up prices. The depletion seems to have been genuine demand outpacing supply.
Mark
What does Woolworths actually win from this beyond the immediate sales?
Mimi
New customers walking through the door. Lynch was explicit about that—they're now trying to keep those people coming back with good deals on regular groceries. One successful campaign can shift shopping habits if you handle the follow-up right.
Mark
Is there a risk that the next campaign disappoints after this?
Mimi
Almost certainly. Ooshies hit something unpredictable—that emotional chord Lynch kept mentioning. You can't manufacture that. The next campaign will be planned carefully, but lightning in a bottle is hard to catch twice.
The Pulse
- A promotion designed for children became a nationwide adult obsession almost overnight, catching Woolworths entirely off guard.
- By August 7, 90 percent of display cases were empty and two-thirds of total stock was gone — weeks before the campaign officially ended.
- Woolworths pushed back against price-gouging accusations, pointing to half-price specials and 99-cent avocados as evidence it tried to reward the surge in foot traffic.
- The emotional engine behind the frenzy — nostalgia, collectibility, the pull of completing a set — proved impossible to predict from data alone.
- With the Ooshies gone and shelves bare, Woolworths now faces the harder task of turning a collectible craze into durable customer loyalty.
- The next major promotional campaign is already in development, with Woolworths treating the Ooshies phenomenon as a blueprint for replicating that rare emotional spark.
In the quiet arithmetic of retail planning, Woolworths launched a small collectible figurine promotion expecting children to lead the charge — and found instead that adults across New Zealand were the ones most swept up in the hunt. By early August, two-thirds of the Ooshies stock had disappeared from shelves, a result that surprised even those who designed the campaign. The episode is a reminder that the most powerful market forces are not demographic but emotional — that nostalgia, completion, and the simple joy of collecting do not observe the age boundaries that spreadsheets assume.
When Woolworths launched its Disney Ooshies promotion in mid-July, the plan was straightforward: small collectible figurines, children as the target audience, a modest boost in foot traffic. What unfolded was something else entirely. By early August, two-thirds of the stock had vanished from shelves across New Zealand, and 90 percent of display cases sat empty — many stores running dry well before the campaign's official close.
Oliver Lynch, Woolworths' brand and marketing lead, described the outcome as "a bit of a surprise." The company had expected younger shoppers to drive interest, but parents, grandparents, and adults with no children at home had joined the hunt in numbers that overwhelmed initial projections. Lynch credited the phenomenon not to clever data modelling but to something harder to quantify: emotional connection. "People can look at all the data they like," he said, "but this is an emotional connection" — one rooted in nostalgia, collectibility, and the deeply human desire to complete a set.
Woolworths also moved to counter suggestions that the promotion had masked price increases, pointing to half-price promotional weeks and discounted avocados at 99 cents as evidence of competitive pricing during the Ooshies run.
Now the figurines are gone and the displays are bare, leaving Woolworths with the more difficult work of converting a collectible frenzy into lasting loyalty. Lynch confirmed the focus has shifted to retention — keeping the new shoppers coming back for everyday groceries. A major promotional campaign typically takes more than a year to design, meaning the next push is already quietly taking shape. The question Woolworths is sitting with is whether lightning, once studied closely enough, can be made to strike again.
When Woolworths launched its Disney Ooshies promotion in mid-July, the supermarket chain expected children to line up for the small collectible figurines. What actually happened surprised even the people running the campaign. By early August, two-thirds of the stock had vanished from shelves across New Zealand, and 90 percent of the display cases sat empty. The frenzy had become something far larger than a kids' collecting craze.
Oliver Lynch, Woolworths' brand and marketing lead, described the phenomenon as "a bit of a surprise" when he spoke about it publicly. The company had anticipated strong interest from younger shoppers, but the reality proved dramatically different. "We thought it was going to be firmly kids," Lynch said, but the campaign had turned out to be "much broader than that." Parents, grandparents, and adults with no children in their households had gotten caught up in the hunt for Ooshies, driving demand to levels the supermarket had not fully anticipated.
The promotion ran for roughly six weeks before wrapping up at the weekend, though many stores had already run dry well before the official end date. By August 7, the scale of the success was undeniable. Lynch acknowledged that Woolworths did not release weekly sales figures, but he confirmed the chain had enjoyed "a good few weeks" of trading. The emotional pull of the campaign seemed to transcend the usual demographic boundaries that retailers typically rely on when planning promotions.
Lynch attributed the unexpected breadth of appeal to something that data alone could not predict. "It's an emotional connection," he explained. "So people can look at all the data they like, but this is an emotional connection and it's just been amazing to see how much people have been loving Ooshies all across New Zealand." The comment reflected a reality that even sophisticated market analysis sometimes misses—the power of nostalgia, collectibility, and the simple human desire to complete a set.
The supermarket also pushed back against any suggestion that it had used the campaign's popularity as cover for price increases. Lynch said the opposite had occurred. "We've got new customers coming in so we're making sure we've got some incredible specials going on," he said, pointing to half-price promotional weeks and discounted avocados at 99 cents as examples of how Woolworths had tried to keep prices competitive during the Ooshies run.
Now the challenge shifts. The Ooshies are gone, the displays are bare, and Woolworths faces the task of converting the surge in foot traffic into lasting customer loyalty. Lynch said the focus had moved to retention—keeping the new shoppers who came in for the figurines coming back for regular groceries. He noted that designing and planning a major promotional campaign typically takes more than a year, meaning the next big push is already in development. In a retail market where competitors are constantly testing similar strategies, Woolworths views the Ooshies success as a template worth studying. The question now is whether the supermarket can replicate that emotional spark with whatever comes next.
Notable Quotes
We thought it was going to be firmly kids, but it turned out to be much broader than that— Oliver Lynch, Woolworths brand and marketing lead
It's an emotional connection. People can look at all the data they like, but this is an emotional connection and it's just been amazing to see how much people have been loving Ooshies all across New Zealand— Oliver Lynch
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