Qai Qai

Qai Qai (/kwaɪkwaɪ/), is a doll of Alexis Olympia Ohanian, the daughter of American professional tennis player, winner of 23 Grand Slam (tennis) titles, Serena Williams and Reddit co-founder and Initialized Capital co-founder, Alexis Ohanian. She has become popular on social media as of 2018, with many pictures of her face digitized and animated to have various expressions.

Qai Qai
Qai Qai digitized

Background

Alexis Ohanian and Serena Williams' daughter, Olympia, was born on September 1, 2017 in West Palm Beach, Florida.[1] [2] When Williams bought the doll for Olympia, she indicated that she wanted her daughter's first doll to be black because growing up, she did not have many opportunities to own a black doll.[3] [4] Qai Qai got her name from Williams's nephew.[5]

Social media presence

Qai Qai's first post on her own Instagram was on August 22, 2018 where she is lying on the floor.[6] She also joined Twitter that month, although the account has not been officially verified.[7]

Popularity and fandom has increased for Qai Qai. While likely run by Olympia's parents, Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian, it is unknown who administers the doll's account.[8] Some Images show Qai Qai being neglected. This spurred public concern where social media fans used the hashtag #QQPS (Qai Qai Protective Services).[9]

Qai Qai has been featured in several USA Today articles,[10][11] Today[12] and Oprah magazine, the last of which she did an exclusive interview.[13]

On August 29, 2019, Alexis Ohanian Sr, wore a shirt with Qai Qai's likeness to the 2019 US Open Match with Serena Williams vs Caty McNally [14]. This same shirt was worn by Ohanian Sr in an Instagram post on December 14, 2018.[15]. Another Qai Qai shirt was featured on Ohanian Sr's Instagram Post [16] This selfie shirt was part of a limited run fundraiser for the non-profit organization Zoe’s Dolls, which was founded by an eleven year old with the mission of giving brown dolls away to brown kids.[17]

On December 2, 2019[18], @realqaiqai announced on Twitter that additional merchandise is available for Cyber Monday 2019 with a portion of proceeds going to Zoe's Dolls.

Digitalization

(Digital transformation)

In addition to the actual doll making appearances, Qai Qai appears animated facial expressions digitally created and inserted into photographs.[19][8] This effect of a doll becoming lifelike is in a similar nature to the Toy Story movie franchise.

References
  1. Hautman, Nicholas; Lupo, Marc (September 1, 2017). "Serena Williams Welcomes Her First Child!". Us Weekly. Retrieved October 17, 2017.
  2. Elise Solé (September 13, 2017). "Serena Williams's baby girl and the meaning behind her name". Yahoo!. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
  3. "Daughter's celebrity doll 'Qai Qai' holds special place in Serena Williams' family". www.msn.com. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  4. https://atlantablackstar.com/2019/01/18/serena-williams-explains-why-it-was-important-for-her-daughters-first-doll-to-be-black/
  5. Darrisaw, Michelle (15 January 2019). "Who Is Qai Qai? Meet the Special Member of Serena Williams's Family". Oprah Magazine. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  6. Conaboy, Kelly (14 September 2018). "Meet Serena Williams's Daughter's Doll, Instagram Influencer". The Cut. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  7. "Qai Qai (@RealQaiQai)". Twitter. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  8. Marine, Brooke. "Who Is the Mastermind Behind @RealQaiQai's Instagram Account?". W Magazine. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  9. "QaiQai has been found safe! Well sorta".
  10. "Venus Williams loves her niece's Qai Qai doll as much as social media does". USA TODAY. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  11. "Daughter's celebrity doll 'Qai Qai' holds special place in Serena Williams' family". USA TODAY. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  12. "Qai Qai, Serena Williams' daughter's doll, becomes Instagram star". TODAY.com. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  13. Davis, Arianna (28 February 2019). "Serena Williams's Doll Qai Qai Just Gave Her First Exclusive Interview". Oprah Magazine. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  14. "Tweet from @mrsmaryallen".
  15. "Instagram Post from Alexis Ohanian Sr". 14 December 2018.
  16. https://www.instagram.com/p/BsumiTPlZ0e/. Missing or empty |title= (help) | title=Instagram Post from Alexis Ohanian Sr | date=16 January 2019|}}
  17. "Twitter post from Qai Qai". 12 January 2018.
  18. "Twitter post from Qai Qai". 2 December 2019.
  19. Weaver, Caity (17 January 2019). "Wait — Is Qai Qai America's Most Important Doll?". Retrieved 19 June 2019 – via NYTimes.com.
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