I’m willing to bet that after birthday cakes, teddy bears are probably the most requested amenity onboard Singapore Airlines flights.
These adorable little critters, somewhat unimaginatively named Beary (last name: McBearface), are the airline’s de facto mascot. The extremely Instagrammable boy-and-girl plushies sport a rotating wardrobe to mark special milestones, and have become staples of those annoying “SIA hacks” videos on TikTok. In short, people love them because (1) they’re cute and (2) they’re free.
Since there’s so much interest in this topic (bears are asked about so often that the SIA subreddit has a bot which automatically points users to a dedicated thread!), I wanted to share more about SIA’s bear policy, how Beary has evolved over the years, and the variants you may find in the wild.
Who gets a bear?
The official policy regarding Singapore Airlines teddy bears is that they’re offered to passengers who meet all of the following criteria:
- Child aged 12 and below
- Travelling in First or Business Class
- On a medium or long-haul flight (>5 hours)*
*Sometimes you might be lucky and get an aircraft that has just completed a medium or long-haul turn, with leftover bears still onboard.
However, a cursory scroll through Instagram will show dozens upon dozens of bear-toting passengers, many of whom look decidedly past the age of puberty.
So it’s better to think of this policy as dictating who gets priority for bears. There’s nothing wrong with requesting for one even if you don’t meet the criteria, so long as you understand that you don’t have priority, and this isn’t an entitlement. If you get one, great! If not, please don’t be that guy who has an inflight meltdown over a teddy bear, or the crew will have no choice but to give you some warm milk and put you down for an early nap.
You can generally expect the crew to be more strict with the rules for flights out of Singapore, because the stock has to last the round-trip (bears are only uplifted in Singapore).
By the way, if you’ve requested a cake to mark a special occasion like a honeymoon, anniversary or birthday, bears are sometimes included as part of the presentation. However, this again is not an entitlement, and if you don’t receive them, it’s probably because the crew need to conserve them for the return leg to Singapore.
tl;dr: if you’re not a child in First or Business Class, please don’t complain about not getting a bear!
A brief history of Beary
Beary 1.0
Singapore Airlines first introduced Beary back in June 2007, as a bedtime teddy bear for children travelling in First Class and Business Class.
The first-generation Beary had a gender-neutral design, and came in several shades of fur with a t-shirt sporting the SIA logo in various colours. These are arguably the most collectible of all SIA bears, since the entire range has long been discontinued.
Beary 2.0
In 2013, Beary received a major redesign to the version we know today, which saw the introduction of boy and girl variants.
With Beary 2.0, SIA also started placing a greater emphasis on seasonal outfits to mark special occasions, such as SG60, SIA’s 70th anniversary, and the inaugural flights of the Airbus A350-900ULR and Boeing 787-10. Some bears are part of limited-edition collaborations with other companies, such as the Disney 100th anniversary series. Outfits are overseen by a team within the SIA Customer Experience Division—that’s one heck of a feather to put on your LinkedIn profile!
Beary’s packaging has also progressively evolved. While they were previously provided in plastic wrapping, this was eventually phased out during the COVID period, as part of the airline’s sustainability initiatives.
Beary now arrives unwrapped, with an explanation message printed on Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified paper.
Beary 3.0
More than a decade has passed since Beary 2.0 debuted, so can we expect a refresh soon? Well, Singapore Airlines has shared with me that Beary 3.0 is in the works, which will “highlight its evolution as it ‘grows up’ together with our young customers”.
Yes, I can picture the line-up now: WFH bear, mid-life crisis bear, burnout bear, LinkedIn Lunatic bear, TPPS DYKWIA bear…the possibilities are endless.
Watch this space!
Where does Beary come from?
When a Mama Bear and Papa Bear love each other very much…
Well actually, no. If you examine the tag at the bottom of each bear, you can find some interesting information. Each Beary has its own serial number: boy bears always end in 09, while girl bears always end in 10. You’ll also see that the bears are designed by Buzz Products in Abbotsford, a suburb of Melbourne Australia (for obvious reasons, the actual manufacturing is done in China).
You might not have heard of the company, but Buzz Products is a big name in the world of airline amenities. It’s behind a lot of the tie-ups that airlines have with luxury brands, including Giorgio Armani serviceware, amenity kits and sleeper suits for Etihad, Tumi and Le Labo for Delta Airlines, Jason Wu pyjamas for EVA Air, Jurlique skincare products for Cathay Pacific, and Byredo for Emirates.
SIA has a longstanding relationship with Buzz, whose work for the airline includes The Laundress amenity kit that the airline trialed between 2017 and 2019, the now-discontinued Penhaligon’s amenity kit, as well as the Kid’s Kit, packed in FSC-certified kraft paper.
Are bears available for sale?
Not officially, at least.
Even though KrisShop sells teddy bears, they are different from the ones offered onboard, both in terms of design and outfits (is this a preview of what Beary 3.0 might look like?).
| 🏠 Exception: SIA@Home |
|
The only instance I can find where SIA officially sold its onboard teddy bears comes from the dark days of 2021, as part of the SIA@Home initiative. Add one of our flying mementoes, the limited edition Singapore Airlines teddy bear, to your collection. These adorable teddy bears dressed in a limited edition green outfit are great gifts for any occasion or for giving your little ones a special surprise. The boy and girl bears, clad in standard green SIA t-shirts and dresses, sold at S$20 each. |
But of course, there’s a secondary market for everything, and on Carousell you’ll find hundreds of Beary listings, averaging around S$10-15 for a single bear.
I personally feel a bit uncomfortable seeing these, because they kind of go against the spirit of things. These are meant to be keepsakes to remember a special flight, not to make a quick buck. That said, willing seller willing buyer…
The bear-stiary
Singapore Airlines has some “classic” Bearys that have been consistently in circulation for many years, which sport a generic SIA logo t-shirt or dress.
However, the most sought-after Bearys are those which celebrate special occasions, or sport seasonal outfits.
I’ve compiled the ones I know about below, but if you have other editions of Beary which aren’t featured here, I’d love to add them to the collection. Do share your photos on Telegram, along with your best recollection of when you received it!
October 2017: SIA 70th anniversary Beary
March 2018: B787-10 inaugural flight Beary
October 2018: A350-900ULR inaugural flight Beary
January 2020: Olympic Beary
This was a part of a social media contest encouraging followers to vote for their favourite design to mark the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Given the COVID-19 pandemic, I don’t know if this ever went into production (and in any case, the Olympics were delayed till 2021).
July 2023: Chef Beary
January 2024: Disney100 Beary
June 2024: Batik Beary
February 2025: World’s Best Cabin Crew Beary
This is a special edition bear that was only distributed to SIA staff.
March 2025: Travel Beary
August 2025: SG60 Beary
Conclusion
Singapore Airlines may not have been the first airline to offer teddy bears, but that hasn’t stopped Beary from becoming something of a cultural icon in his own right. It’s a remarkably effective branding tool for the airline, come to think of it, and inherently more “displayable” than an amenity kit, sleeper suit or a purloined piece of silverware.
With Beary 3.0 reportedly on the way, it’ll be interesting to see how SIA updates a mascot that already inspires such devotion.
What other Beary designs have you seen?
I’ve a special memory of beary 2.0 where me and the mrs were flying Suites to Auckland. When it was time to land, the crew come back with a special package that had the boy & girl bears with our names stitched on the back. While we have collected a bunch of bearies over the years, these personalized ones take the cake!
Even further back, Singapore Airlines used Sasha’s bears. My youngest son still has one in a blue T-shirt with an SIA plane embroidered on the front, and likes to carry it with him on trips. Some of the more senior flight crews remember the design
I’ve flown with my kid in SQ biz class for 10 legs over the past 2 years and happy to report that she only got the bear during 1 flight (yes, 1 out of 10). I’m sure for the other 9 flights, the bears have gone to Solitare PPS members with kids, and there was nothing left for a lowly PPS member
There is this set of Kristoff bears in the 2000s.