Cartoonist stunned as ‘crying kiwi’ reaches millions
Today’s front-page image of a crying kiwi, drawn by Invercargill cartoonist Shaun Yeo after he heard of the Christchurch terror attacks, has reached millions of people online.
Yeo created the illustration within 30 minutes of listening to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern speak on television after a gunman walked into two Christchurch mosques and killed 50 people on Friday.
Yeo wanted to express his feelings about the tragedy.
‘‘I was shaken and sad . . . we were all in shock.
‘‘I had a blank sheet of paper on my desk. It took me 20 minutes to draw the kiwi . . . I was trying to convey the sadness.’’
He posted the crying kiwi on his Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts before going out for a meal with friends. Soon after meeting them, one asked if he had seen the response.
Yeo was amazed at the rapidly increasing number of views on his social media accounts.
‘‘It was just going bing, bing bing . . . it was going nuts.’’
Yesterday, the crying kiwi had been shared 41,000 times from Yeo’s Facebook account and had reached more than 3.4 million people.
‘‘I’m lost for words . . . it’s just incredible.’’
Yeo has received hundreds of written messages and been interviewed by a French news agency.
‘‘Ninety nine per cent of the messages said, ‘thank you for drawing it’ ... it’s quite humbling.’’ However, he is disappointed several companies are selling T-shirts online with the crying Kiwi printed on them.
Some have altered the kiwi’s appearance slightly and removed Yeo’s signature.
‘‘It’s distasteful. It’s gone beyond me owning it [crying kiwi] . . . I’ve lost control of it.’’
He is heartened some people have asked if they can use the illustration for stickers.