Fridgeezoo: the coolest kitchen friends, literally

When you open your fridge, the light comes on. Unless your fridge isn’t working, but let’s just say that it is.

Does anything else happen?

Pop a cute, carton-shaped Fridgeezoo animal on one of the shelves, and you’re in for a surprise every time you reach for the milk.

Bringing the zoo to you!

Fridgeezoo fridge pets have been around since 2010. Over 600,000 have been sold in Japan alone.

The backstory for Fridgeezoo is… not as cheerful as you’d expect.

Global warming, deforestation, pollution, and a lack of food led these mini animals to look for a new home. They found it: your fridge. For critters that don’t like hot climates, the refrigerator’s the perfect place to live. And now that they’re in close contact with humans, they’re trying to make conversation.

They’re homeless little cartons with nobody to talk to! Taking one in would be the kind, generous thing to do.

Many of these shelf-friendly animals are known for loving cold climates. There’s a polar bear, a penguin, and a walrus. And then there are animals that just want to hang out in your kitchen. The ‘Fridgeezoo friends’ (cow, pig, and lion) can put up with being chilly if it means spending quality time with you.

Honesty you can rely on, anytime

Fridgeezoo animals know when you opened the fridge door, how long you spend deciding what to eat, and if you forget to shut the door properly afterwards. And they’ll tell you about it.

Sure, it might seem like nagging, but it saves energy. These little critters already had to migrate to survive – they appreciate it if you consider the environment. Leave the fridge door open too long, and it’ll complain that it’s getting too warm.

The ‘conversation’ changes depending on the time of day. When you’re making breakfast, your Fridgeezoo will greet you with a cheerful ‘good morning!’ When you’re making a cheeky midnight snack, it’ll ask you why you’re up so late.

Each animal has a personality, which affects how it speaks to you. The penguin’s full of energy, the tiger is super honest with you but has a terrible memory, and the hamster loves to chat.

Getting a Japanese Fridgeezoo gives you options. You can practice your listening skills, or you can ignore it and just appreciate the cuteness. It’s definitely worth finding out what your Fridgeezoo is saying, if you can. Expect takes on these phrases, at least:

• Hello!
• Good morning!
• Good afternoon!
• Good evening!
• It’s getting warm in here…
• Still looking?

There’s a friend for every fridge

Because this is Japan we’re talking about, some Fridgeezoos are voiced by anime seiyuus and voice actors. There are also ‘HOGEN’ Fridgezoos with regional Japanese accents. They look more like old-school milk bottles than cartons, with a cork-style topper. We want the Osaka version to say ‘Maido!’ whenever we reach for something cool.

The newest range is the Fridgeezoo 24 series. It’s the first one to have an English version, following the Fridgeezoo Nihao that can speak Mandarin Chinese. Interestingly, the English animals get slightly different personalities.

And if that’s not enough fridge conversation, give Fridgeezoo Extreme a try. These take weird characters to their limits – the ‘Beast’ is voiced by Bob Sapp. The ‘Reporter’ penguin will interview you when you open the door, and turn your lunch into breaking news.

Half-awake when you open the fridge each morning? Not any more! (To be honest, if you’re sleepy enough to forget it’s there then any of the Fridgeezoos will scare you. Try not to slosh milk down your pyjamas.)

Feeding time at the zoo…

If there isn’t a Japanese Fridgeezoo friend waiting in your fridge already, order one online now.