The Sad Nuggie Effect

One parent’s tool that helped teach her children emotional intelligence.

Written by Jaime Burnham

As a mother of four who is always on the lookout for new books to help her family overcome the emotional hurdles of childhood development she was elated to stumble upon a new tool that would change her household dynamics- the viral emotional support chicken nugget known as Sad Nuggie. Sad Nuggie is Canadian-owned and operated business known to bring smiles and laughter to people of all ages. The small chicken nuggets is proof that comfort can come in the softest (and silliest) forms.

The viral sad chicken nugget - the Sad Nuggie.

Last year while I laid on my couch doomscrolling, I stumbled upon an Instagram page filled with adorable, teary-eyed chicken nuggets. Each one was accompanied by anecdotal quips and silly puns about the ups and downs of mental health. It was engaging and cute, as well as supportive and encouraging. Diving deeper, I discovered that these digital nuggies also came in stuffed form, adorned in different costumes, mostly animals… enter cat nuggie, sloth nuggie, bee nuggie, and chicken nuggie (and beyond!). Having four children, all of whom were stuffed animal connoisseurs, it was crucial we enter the land of the Sad Nuggie. 

We were super stoked to uncover that the official Sad Nuggie headquarters was just 20 minutes from our home. More importantly, headquarters was also known as The Sad Nuggie Adoption Centre, located in Strathroy, Ontario, just off Highway 402. Our first trip to Sad Nuggie was such a delightfully delicious trip!  After selecting which nuggies the kids wanted to adopt, the employees packaged them up in take-out trays (think your favourite fish & chip take-out), complete with side dish and dipping sauce stickers.  Each nuggie also comes with its own glossy collector card and health card. Our visit was a 10/10.  The quality of the product and the service from the ‘nug dealers’ was fantastic.

Since our first visit last fall, my youngest child, Ollie, has continued to grow his Sad Nuggie collection. He has shared his joy of the sweet‘n sour life of a Sad Nuggie with his friends, family, and classmates. He is well known by the owners of this small town Canadian success story.

Ollie with his Sad Nuggies

This school year, Ollie coined the idea of Sad Nuggie Fridays. Students are welcome to bring in their nuggie friends to read with and share in their school day. After all, the nuggies were created with the idea of being emotional support tools.

My Ollie does not like school typically, but with the help of his amazing teacher and the gift of Sad Nuggie Fridays, he has been given incentive…in the shape of a chicken nugget.

The hot and crispy story continues as Ollie and I were concerned that not all of his school friends owned a nuggie to bring on fun Fridays. We approached Ryan Thompson, owner and creator of Sad Nuggie, to help us provide every child in Ollie’s class with a nuggie buddy.  Thompson’s response was amazing: “You can tell Ollie we will do anything to help out the other kids in class. What Ollie has started is awesome!”

The Sad Nuggie team went above and beyond without a second thought, and Ollie, his sister Lillie, and I were able to select and distribute hot and ready nuggies for all of his classmates. The joy in the class on adoption day and the first full Sad Nuggie Friday was palpable.

In a full circle (or full oval as nuggies typically are) moment, Ryan reached out to us recently to discuss the idea of launching a Sad Nuggie give back school program, called ‘The Ollie Project'.

“This will allow people to donate Nuggies to specific classrooms, and we will use his classroom as the story behind how it all started,” Thompson said.

Jaime’s children preparing to gift Sad Nuggies.

We are incredibly excited to play a small part in expanding the world of Sad Nuggie to kids who may need a sweet ‘n sour supportive friend.  Because like Sad Nuggie teaches, “life can be sweet'n  sour.”

To learn more about The Ollie Project, please visit The Ollie Project – Sad Nuggie.

If your classroom would like to get involved in The Ollie Project, please contact Ryan at Sad Nuggies at info@sadnuggie.com.