Viral TikTok superstar Dunkin Ducks earns $4,500 a month

The internet is “quacking” up over this duck.

Meet Munchkin, an influencer pet in Milford, Pennsylvania, with 2.7 million followers on TikTok. The Chinese social media app has launched the careers of Charli D’Amelio, Addison Rae — and now one very lucky duck.

“Munchkin is a bit of a sweetheart with a little dash of diva in there,” owner Krissy Ellis, 20, opened up to The Post about her fine, feathery friend. The “most spoiled duck in the world” loves filming and starts posing as soon as the camera comes out.

Fans flock to Munchkin and Ellis’ pages, under the moniker Dunkin Ducks, to see the thirsty bird slurping down ice water in the drive-thru lines at Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks and more. The satisfying splashing sound has been dubbed “Duck ASMR.”

Other web-footed adventures include going on walks on a purple leash with a matching harness, carrying the animal in a clear ventilated backpack, playing dress-up with tiny hats and trying new snacks such as strawberry water. This summer, Ellis took Munchkin kayaking with her in the Adirondacks. 

The cute content is bringing home the breadcrumbs. The Dunkin Ducks duo rakes in a minimum of $4,500 a month from TikTok and Instagram, or roughly $54,000 in annual income.

“Eventually brands started reaching out to me. I did negotiate my first-ever paid brand deal [on Instagram]” she revealed. “I made more money in about a half an hour creating and posting that content than I was making working over 40 hours a week at a grocery store.”

Ellis’ primary source of cash comes from TikTok’s Creator Fund, which pays popular users with “at least 100K authentic video views in the last 30 days,” according to the company’s website — although the exact metric is kept a mystery by the platform, nothing that creators should expect “funds will ebb and flow.”

Sponsored posts on Instagram, where Munchkin boasts a whopping 245,000 followers, pay big bucks as well. The hard-working duck also makes abstract paintings that sell on Etsy. Pretty soon she might be richer than Scrooge McDuck.

Munchkin’s journey to fame began when Ellis was 16, working a “miserable” grocery store job in her small Pennsylvania town with one traffic light. 

“One day the thing that you are bullied for is going to be the reason people love you.”

Terry Ellis

She started posting photos of her life with Munchkin online where the teen found happiness connecting with people who shared similar interests and hobbies. By July 2018, the account hit a milestone of 5,000 followers on Instagram. That’s when Ellis’ influencer dreams took flight.

“In my mind, even the popular girls at school don’t have 5,000 followers,” she said. “A lot of people made fun of me for having a duck in high school, but those same people want to be my friend now because the duck is internet famous!”

Ellis’ message to those facing the haters is clear: “It’s never too late to find your place on the internet.” 

“One day the thing you are being bullied for is going to be the reason that people love you,” she shared. “It might take a long time, and it might be really hard getting there, but it’s absolutely worth it, 100 percent.”

Bad vibes? Water off a duck’s back.

source: nypost.com