The archive · Marketing & Growth · Marketing decision · 2018–2020
Meituan's rider 'kangaroo ears' turn delivery helmets into a national meme
Meituan hands riders floppy kangaroo ears for their helmets; the look goes viral, Ele.me answers with propellers, and Meituan sells the ears for 6.9 yuan.
Meituan (美团) · Ele.me (饿了么)
What it had to solve
Meituan's kangaroo mascot had little street presence, but its yellow-clad riders were everywhere. Since 2018 the company had given riders helmets decorated with floppy ears at its July 17 'Rider Festival' (and at Christmas and New Year for full-time riders), printed with the safety reminder '送餐再忙，安全不忘' — an internal morale gesture that only exploded on social media in 2020.
How it works
Since 2018, Meituan had given its delivery riders helmets decorated with floppy ears modeled on its kangaroo logo, handed out at the July 17 'Rider Festival' and at Christmas and New Year for full-time riders, printed with the safety reminder '送餐再忙，安全不忘' (busy delivering, don't forget safety). It started as internal motivation for frontline staff — not a consumer campaign.
In 2020 the look went viral: photos of ear-wearing riders flooded Weibo and Douban, a Douban group dedicated to 'Meituan rabbit ears' sprang up, and some netizens signed up as riders just to earn the ears. The hashtag #外卖小哥皮肤大战 (rider costume battle) drew 290 million reads and 36,000 discussions, with riders from Meituan and rival Ele.me posing together in fans' favorite shots.
Meituan leaned into the moment: it sold the ears for 6.9 yuan each on its virtual gift shop and ran deadpan Apple-style copy ('Meituan, redefining ears'; 'one wear, instant cuteness — essential for tough guys'). Ele.me answered with Doraemon-style propellers color-coded by rank. Caixin Global covered the episode as 'selling cuteness' — a face for big delivery platforms in a tough pandemic year.
Why it lands
- Riders are already on every street, so the accessory turned thousands of employees into always-on brand placements at essentially zero media cost.
- The ears were photogenic and self-referential — a meme that photographs itself from every angle.
- Meituan let the phenomenon develop, then monetized it with 6.9-yuan merch, converting audience demand into revenue and earned coverage.
- The safety message printed on the ears gave the cute gesture a responsible undertone, softening corporate branding.
What it did
The hashtag #外卖小哥皮肤大战 (#Rider Costume Battle) drew 290 million reads and 36,000 discussions on Weibo; a Douban group collected ear photos, some netizens registered as riders to obtain the ears, and the 6.9-yuan ears became official merch. Caixin covered the trend as 'selling cuteness' on the frontline of the Meituan–Ele.me delivery war.
What you can take
A photogenic on-brand accessory turns frontline employees' daily routes into an unpaid media network; when the audience asks for it, sell it — the meme becomes merch.
Since then
The ear meme became part of Meituan's brand lore and a frequently cited example of China's 'meng economy' (cute economy) and internal marketing spilling into external brand love. Rival platforms kept iterating on helmet decoration — Ele.me's color-ranked propellers and later imitators like Monkey King and Hello Kitty helmets followed — and the episode is routinely referenced in Chinese marketing commentary as a small-cost, high-reach social campaign.
Sources
- Trending in China: How Cute Rabbit Ears Are On the Frontline in Fight Between Delivery Firms
- 为什么外卖小哥，可以重新定义头盔？
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