These Fish-Shaped Jugs ‘Gurgle’ When You Pour Water, and the Internet Is Understandably Obsessed

Have you heard about — or maybe even heard — the GurglePot? It’s a cute, colorful, fish-shaped pitcher that makes glugging sounds when you pour water from it — and people are obsessed with it.

What is the GurglePot?

It’s a reinterpretation of a classic fish-shaped pitcher that dates back to the late 1800s. Designer Matt Ellison says he first came upon a similar pot when he attended his brother’s wedding in the South of France. Since the wedding took place in a small town with no hotels, the guests stayed at homes with hosts who spoke little to no English.

Ellison, meanwhile, spoke no French, so dinner conversation became “a challenge,” Ellison explains on the GurglePot website. To alleviate the awkward silences and to elicit smiles, Ellison kept pouring water from the fish-shaped gurgling pitcher on his hosts’ table.

After Ellison returned home to the U.S., he set out to design a modern version of the fish-shaped gurgling water jug. He tells HGTV he wanted to reinterpret the antique form “with simple, graceful lines” and yet retain the original spirit of the French jug.

Ellison launched his reinterpretation as the GurglePot in 2006. The whimsical pitcher quickly caught on and its popularity has grown steadily ever since.

Now available in 31 colors and three sizes, ranging in price from $7 to $47, the GurglePot is, Ellison says, a great hostess, housewarming or wedding gift, ideal for the “person who has everything.” Everything, that is, except a lustrously colorful fish-shaped stoneware pitcher that makes a “gurgling” sound when trapped air escapes from the tail following a pour.

Why is the GurglePot so popular?

Ellison attributes the GurglePot’s overall success — built through retailers, social media and word of mouth over the course of 19 years — to the way it combines a “functional art piece” and a “bit of whimsy.”

“The low-tech sound mechanics are a refreshing and smile-inducing experience for consumers who are buried in novelty products that rely on sound chips and batteries,” he says. “Because of the cheerful sound’s effects, our products lend themselves to be featured on social media.”

Does the company that makes the GurglePot make anything else?

Yes, GurglePot, Inc. has patented two other cute, noise-making products. The ChirpyTop is a colorful, bird-shaped, dripless wine pourer that fits all standard-size wine bottles and “chirps” when you pour. The ChirpyPot is a bird-shaped ceramic tea pot with a stainless steel infuser that makes it, too, “chirp” when you pour.

Ellison says all three of the sound-making products put out by his small, family-owned business — along with a line of fish- and bird-themed serveware and salt-and-pepper sets — “put the fun in functional — adding a touch of whimsy and joy to your everyday routine.”