The pug whose mug is an online sensation

CHEN Zhe, 31, who runs an ad company in Jing’an, was hard at work during the Spring Festival holidays.

He was involved in a campaign to promote online celebrity A Guai, who will be appearing through March 2 on Wujiang Road.

A Guai, which literally means “freak,” is Chen’s four-year male pug dog.

“My friend sent him to me four years ago,” Chen said. “He looks strange, and his voice sounds like grunting pig.”

Despite the dog’s somewhat unfortunately demeanor, Chen said he fell in love with the pug.

“He is an optimist who lives a carefree life,” Chen said. “He is afraid of nothing, and never flees from bigger dogs. He can always find the most comfortable place, anywhere, to lie down for a rest. And he loves to eat.”

Early last year, Chen decided to share his pet with others. He created a set of emoticons, inviting people to download them on WeChat.

The emoticons, with a cartoonish A Guai in different poses, quickly went viral, downloaded tens of millions of times. Encouraged by the growing fan base, Chen opened a WeChat account for A Guai, which now has more than 500,000 followers.

“They can download wallpaper for mobile phones and buy related products, like A Guai stuffed toys,” Chen said. “The event on Wujiang Road will be our first offline promotion.”

Cardboard cutouts of A Guai will be placed there for people to take pictures. Traditional handicraftsmen have been invited to open stalls, making dough and sugar figurines and doing paper cuts.