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Hands holding NeeDoh toy in front of a traffic jam
A squishy cube known as a “NeeDoh” has emerged as one of the biggest fads of 2026 after taking the internet by storm. The craze has died down a bit since reaching a boiling point earlier this year, but it’s still going very strong based on the scenes we were treated to after a coffee chain gave away an off-brand version on Labor Day.
The toy industry in the United States can be a very lucrative one, as that particular sector moved more than three billion items while generating over $45 billion in revenue over the course of 2025.
The companies in that space are always on the hunt for the Next Big Thing, but identifying toys that have the potential to spark the kind of craze that the brands behind smash best-sellers like Beanie Babies, Cabbage Patch Kids, and Tickle Me Elmo were able to reap the benefits of is easier said than done.
We were treated to a similar frenzy when fidget spinners took the world by storm in 2017, and one company based in Massachusetts has found some unanticipated success in a similar space thanks to the viral sensation that is the NeeDoh.
NeeDoh is essentially a stress ball that’s been produced by Schylling since 2017, but it became a bona fide sensation toward the start of 2026 thanks in no small part to viral videos that sparked a shortage as people around the country flocked to stores to scoop them up.
There have been some issues linked to kids who can’t resist the urge to throw them in the microwave. However, that hasn’t done much to diminish the hype, which is still very much alive based on what happened when a coffee chain held a giveaway featuring a NeeDoh dupe.
People spent hours lined up outside 7Brew locations over a “Brew Doh” giveaway
7 Brew is a rapidly expanding drive-thru coffee chain that opened its first location in Arkansas in 2017 and has managed to grow to close to 800 stores across 38 states in less than a decade.
It attempted to drum up some business on Labor Day with the “Brew Doh” promotion, as any customer that order two medium or large drinks was able to score a limited-edition “Cultivate Kindness” and “Rise and Grind” NeeDoh knock-off featuring its logo.
It is safe to say the giveaway worked as intended, as 7 Brews around the United States were inundated with customers who were willing to spend hours waiting in some massive lines to score a free, off-brand squishy toy.
I noticed a mile-long line by the 7Brew near me; apparently, it was because of a NeeDoh dupe drop! So, all these people are wasting their holiday mornings for a squishy toy!
I don’t get it? pic.twitter.com/8SYt5hxFhx
— Vince Langman (@LangmanVince) September 7, 2026
A local outlet that covered the scene that unfolded in Lexington, Kentucky spoke to one woman who said she waited two and a half hours, and another in Sioux Falls, South Dakota counted up to 70 cars in a line that took more than two hours to get to the front of.
Police were needed to direct traffic near a 7 Brew between Cincinnati and Dayton in Ohio, and drivers were threatened with tickets in the vicinity of another outpost in the state after things got out of hand.
What a world.