Unicorns are everywhere… and this time millennials really are to blame

Parents, brace yourselves. Argos has announced this year’s must have toys… for Christmas. And if the declaration doesn’t get your head spinning, prepare for a nausea-inducing festive period, because 2018 is the year of the (peak) unicorn.

Among the top 10 toys are a ￡230 ride-on electric unicorn; an interactive, multicoloured robot that walks and flaps its wings; and, most intriguingly, the Poopsie Unicorn Surprise, a toy that excretes glitter - presumably useful for teaching kids to pick up after their pooch.

Unicorns are on the march, and their popularity is driven by millennials - who else? - who are now reaching parenting age themselves.

Last weekend, Kim Kardashian held a unicorn-themed birthday party for daughter North West, posting a pony with a colourful horn attached to its head on Instagram. “Social media trends are influencing toys more than ever, such as the unicorn craze,” says Juliet Ward, Argos's head of toy buying.

An Instagram search for #unicorns serves up almost nine million posts - and you’re just as likely to find women in their 20s swimming with unicorn inflatables or wearing spiral horn headbands as children playing with unicorn toys.

The foodie world is inundated, too. Unicorn noodles are a garish concoction of purple and pink squiggles sprinkled with yellow stars - imagine Barbie on a rainbow diet. There’s a unicorn bagel which, let’s be honest, looks like Play-Doh. And last year Starbucks was sued after its Unicorn Frappuccino was deemed similar to a New York cafe’s unicorn latte.

A unicorn and prosecco festival was held in Leeds last weekend, promising the “World’s Largest Inflatable Unicorn” and “Unicorn cocktails”. And a colleague, 26, who’s on board with the trend, has a unicorn pencil case. “My stepsister gave it to me, it’s pink and blue. I love it,” she explains. “No swimming pool is complete without unicorn inflatables.”

Unicorn love isn’t new. The creature is the national animal of Scotland, used on royal coats of arms since the Middle Ages.

“They represent every happy dream that we’ve ever clasped our little hands together and tried to wish into reality,” writes one poetic internet forum user.

No matter how corny (sorry) they can be, unicorns are everywhere - one more thing millennials have taken to its peak.