Frog frenzy: Inflatable costume sales soar ahead of protest

If you plan to purchase an inflatable costume for Halloween, you’d better get hopping.

“I’m pretty sure we don’t have much left,” Victoria Champion, owner of Champion Party Supply in Seattle, said.

After a protestor wore an inflatable frog costume outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) center in Portland, it garnered national attention. Costumed crusaders multiplied within days, even as President Donald Trump ordered National Guard troops to deploy and protect the federal ICE facility.

The requests started coming in.

“Just tons of calls about inflatable costumes, web orders for inflatable costumes,” Champion said.

Champion told KIRO Newsradio she didn’t have inflatable frog costumes on hand. She placed her holiday orders from manufacturers months ago.

Inflatable costume sales surge before ‘No Kings’ protest

But sales of the store’s inflatable unicorns, dinosaurs, and other whimsical costumes doubled ahead of the recent “No Kings” protest.

Customers told her they were dressing up to make a point.

“This is not a situation that deserves the National Guard. We’re dressed as like- unicorns and babies, and stuff,” she chuckled.

Last Saturday’s nationwide “No Kings” rallies were meant to protest what demonstrators called a move toward authoritarianism under Trump.

Republicans called the gatherings “Hate America” rallies, but the vast majority of the demonstrations were peaceful and even festive.

Champion said Americans appear to be craving the latter.

“People were just coming in (to the store) in good spirits, trying to kind of make light of all the dark going on right now,” she said.

Costumes have been worn to make political points for decades, but a run on inflatables? Champion said that might be a “new one” for the nearly 90-year-old, family-owned store.

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