He is sitting on the shelves of your local CVS and strutting past your Instagram Reels in a blue puffer coat. He is traveling to space and thinking another witty remark about life. He is the moment.

While Snoopy has been a cultural icon for many generations, he has recently found an uptick in popularity with Gen Z. In April 2023, Snoopy encouraged more than 70,000 new donors to give blood in exchange for an exclusive “Be Cool, Give Blood” t-shirt. In December 2023, CVS began selling $13.99 plushies of Snoopy in a puffer jacket, and they flew off the shelves, selling for $100 on eBay.

But why do teens love Snoopy so much? If you need to ask the question, chances are, you haven’t seen him in action. 

According to the Peanuts website, Snoopy is “not your average beagle”—he has an “unstoppable imagination,” and he loves writing and imagining his life as the Flying Ace and Joe Cool. 

Despite this, Snoopy S. “It’s not Christmas until I see Snoopy eating 37 human femurs.” Woodstock still loves to indulge in the simple delights of suppertime and naps. 

Through Snoopy’s down-to-earth genuinity, feistiness and slightly childish behavior, he’s connected with millions of people.  

In a schoolwide survey, students viewed Snoopy as “cute and lovable” and a “pretty cool guy.” Others mentioned his impact on their childhood, watching Peanuts when they were younger. 

Margaret Thompson, senior and possibly “the biggest Snoopy fan in the school,” had watched Peanuts when she was little. However, she only really started to love Snoopy last year. By chance, she changed her phone background to Snoopy, and over time, due to seeing him day in and out, she became more fond of him. It was not long til people began buying Snoopy-related items for her birthday and she began to be known as “the Snoopy girl.” In an interview with her, she wore a Peanuts t-shirt featuring her favorite cartoon character.

Thompson finds Snoopy’s dramatic behaviors, vulnerability, friendship with Woodstock and pure emotional qualities make him lovable. 

“As we’re growing up in a generation that has the internet, we become a lot less innocent from a much younger age,” Thompson said. “We learn about things [and] see things that are pretty upsetting. I think that the character of Snoopy is nice because he’s not quite as childish as Elmo, where you feel like you’re looking at something that’s super young… The nice thing about Snoopy is that all ages like or watch him.”

Part of his universal appeal is his balance between childhood and maturity. He cries when his supper is two minutes late, but he’ll be fighting another harrowing battle with the Red Baron in a moment. Despite a corrupt world, Snoopy continues his childlike wonder.

“Snoopy is really happy; he doesn’t represent the terrible things happening in the world. He’s just a dog who wants to eat food and hang out with a yellow bird,” Thompson said.

Snoopy’s appeal extends beyond his simple joy—Henry Dong, a freshman, has different ideas about the army of Snoopy groupies. To him, Snoopy is a representation of something more complex.

“Snoopy represents the Average American. From the scenes in which Snoopy is mad at Charlie Brown for not feeding him on time, the reflections of the thoughts of the American public can be seen, as during the publication times of Peanuts, America was in the midst of the Cold War, and still feeling the effects of the war efforts in WW2,” Dong said.

Dong believes Snoopy is a relatable character who struggles with but still achieves. 

“He has a lot of issues, but he’s still bright and happy. I think that’s why the popularity of Snoopy has persisted across the last 60 years that Snoopy has existed,” he said.

Since Snoopy’s creation during the Cold War, the “Average American” Dong refers to has evolved. However, feelings of tension still exist in teens of these years– in a Meta-Gallup poll taken in 2023, nearly 1 in 4 adults feel very or fairly lonely, with the highest rates of loneliness for young adults from 19-27. Rates of anxiety and depression are increasing in youth. In such times, Snoopy remains as static and stubbornly joyful as ever.

“Snoopy’s whole personality is a little bittersweet. But he’s a very strong character,” Charles Schultz said on Peanuts.com. “He can win or lose, be a disaster, a hero, or anything, and yet it all works out.”