The horn supremacy: How unicorns are taking over the world

IT has been dubbed “the year of the unicorn”.

From stuffed toys to stationery, lights to lunchboxes, the magical horned horses are taking over.

Santa’s sack will be stuffed, with unicorn-themed toys making up a third of those on Argos’s top 10 toy list for 2018, there are hundreds of unicorn-based gift items on Amazon, and Asda are even selling a unicorn garden gnome.

The rainbow creatures are also huge in food trends, with unicorn cupcakes, toast and Starbucks even make a unicorn Frappuccino.

Now a new Glasgow cafe is cashing in on it. Okashi is serving up unicorn lattes, ice creams and candy floss.

Owner Leila Chan, 30, said: “The unicorn-themed products are probably our best sellers, not only with kids but ladies too.

“People are going crazy for it.

“It’s such a big trend at the moment that it’s no surprise – but they’re just so pretty.

“There’s just something about the idea of magic that people love and it makes them happy. I’m glad to be able to bring a smile to people’s faces.

“In fact, the unicorn drinks and snacks have been so popular that I’m thinking about branching out and adding a few more to the menu already.”

The unicorn craze started in 2016, and escalated last year, following hype on social media.

Pictures of the England football team on inflatable unicorns at their hotel pool last summer are thought to have caused a massive upsurge, as well as Taylor Swift’s Fourth of July pool party, where the blow-up mythical creatures were out in force.

On Instagram, #unicorn has been posted 1.8 million times. And on Google, there are now 20 times more searches today than 10 years ago.

Searches for “unicorn” were up 108% last year on 2016.

This year, figures are up by more than a quarter already, and it’s predicted unicorns will be as big as they’ve ever been at Christmas. Tara Mortimer, Argos Toy buying manager, said: “Social media trends are influencing toys more than ever before. In July last year the search term ‘unicorn’ overtook ‘mermaid’ in popularity on Google for the first time and has been continuing to sky-rocket ever since.

“This year is the year of the unicorn and they have become one of our most popular trends. We currently stock over 100 unicorn-inspired products.

“Four unique unicorn toys are expected to top Christmas wish lists, including the My Lovely Unicorn Electric Ride-On which makes a great high-impact gift, and the quirkier Poopsie, the unicorn who poos glitter and combines 2018’s major trends of slime, glitter, poo, surprises and unicorns.

“These inventive toys show just how much toymakers are innovating and evolving to keep up with current trends.”

Last month, a new magazine, Unicorn Universe, was launched in response to the popularity of the horned horses.

Lee Harrow, editor-in-chief of children’s magazines at DC Thomson, said: “You only have to look around the retailers to see that the unicorn trend is going nowhere. While it feels that it should only resonate with younger consumers, it appeals to all ages.

“This led us to publish a unicorn magazine which has been well received.

“The content has everything that a unicorn fan would want – activities such as unicorn baking and crafts to tips on how to create unicorn hair.

“There’s also pugicorns and caticorns… what’s not to love about that?”