One of the many "Honey Bear" murals by San Francisco artist Fnnch, from 2019.

For $150, you can now order a 7-foot-tall inflatable honey bear designed by the controversial San Francisco street artist fnnch. For $5,000, you can order one twice that size. 

The artist is selling the inflatable bears, called “bop bears,” on his website in order to raise enough money for nine of the 14-foot models to be installed at Burning Man 2022. Their name comes from the term bop bag, which describes large, inflatable children’s toys with weighted bottoms that allow them to stand back up when knocked over. 

Fnnch said his goal is for his Burning Man bop bears to act as inflatable, interactive sculptures.

“This project is joyful and interactive in a way I have not been able to achieve before, and it pushes inflatable sculptures in a direction I have never seen them go,” fnnch said in an email newsletter.  

Fnnch noted that his last Burning Man sculpture, a climbable piece of metal shaped and painted like a pair of lips, had to be transported to the festival using heavy equipment and a flatbed truck. This year, he wanted something that could be moved with a cargo van. He found his answer in inflatable bop bears. 

“The plan is to bring nine of these to Burning Man, arranged geometrically,” fnnch said. “This arrangement should allow for several people to play with it at once and enable unexpected interactions.” 

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Fnnch’s honey bears became a contentious topic during the pandemic, turning from an innocent design popping up in every corner of the city to a symbol of the rampant gentrification of San Francisco. Fnnch added fuel to the flames in an April 2021 video filmed by street artist Doggtown Dro in which fnnch claimed to be an immigrant since he is originally from Missouri. 

In March, controversy around the bears continued after fnnch unveiled a honey bear designed after the Ukrainian flag. Half of the proceeds from art that featured the bear were donated to a nonprofit providing emergency aid to Ukrainians, but critics viewed the designs as a marketing tactic, since fnnch pocketed the other half. 

Fnnch is selling his bop bears online for a week, with all of the proceeds going toward the Burning Man installations. 

“Set them up in your living room, bop them around, and have a good time with them,” fnnch said.