Pretend for a minute that you are the consumer culture of an entire country in Asia. You really like key-chains that contain live fish or turtles, but those are starting to bore you. What do you do next? Thats right: you make neon frogs by coloring them with industrial dye! If the dye sounds a little dangerous and borderline horrific, don’t worry, you can also use lasers, somehow. These flagrantly florescent frogs have garnered a lot of popularity in China and are in high demand at aquariums, ponds and for personal ownership. The coloration is reported to last four to five years, which implies that the frogs last that long too, unless the coloration lives on as some kind of crazy, neon-color-ghost of its own, and you know what, I wouldn’t be entirely surprised.
Naturally, the ethics of dyeing frogs for fun and profit are questionable. It definitely sucks for the frogs who, so far, have failed to exhibit any accompanying superpowers. On top of that, there are concerns that the dyes could have dangerous effects on the people exposed to them, either by holding and playing with the frogs, or actually administering the dye (or lasers). For the moment however, none of those concerns seem to trump the “colored frogs are just plain awesome” effect and their popularity continues to boom. I am equal parts intrigued and horrified to see where this trend goes next. More photos after the jump.
(via Oddity Central)
