Much-loved cartoon character Peppa Pig made the news in China over the weekend when an exasperated parent took to social media complaining that the show was leading her child towards rowdy behaviour.

The British animated show, aimed at a preschool audience, features a pig named Peppa who goes on adventures with her family and a cast of various farm animal friends.

The cartoon character Peppa Pig. [File photo: IC]

“I want to remind every mum out there: don’t let them watch Peppa Pig!” stressed the Weibo user in a much-circulated post.

“Every day (my child) is bouncing up and down on the bed, the sofa, on the ground, in puddles,” she complained, referencing the ever-cheerful Peppa’s favourite activity.

Aside from a new-found enthusiasm for reveling in muddy puddles, the frustrated mother said her child had learned to copy Peppa’s signature snort: “It’s been pig noises every day for over a year now! It’s an addiction!” she exclaimed.

Some fellow parents share the microblogger’s pain. “My family also has the curse of Peppa,” related one commenter. “(My child) sees a puddle and says to her little sister ‘come and jump in the puddle - mum isn’t watching!'”

Others disagreed, saying that people were getting into a flap over nothing. According to ECNS, Wang Jing, parent of a two-year-old child, pointed out: "we often ask children how chicks and ducklings make noises. So why can't they learn how to grunt like a pig?”

Peppa Pig has achieved impressive fame in China in the last few years. The British animated series has had over 34 billion views on Chinese video platforms iQIYI, Youku and Tudou since launching in 2015.

The little pig has also been doing very well in the Chinese book market, selling over 18 million copies of her storybooks, according to an article by the BBC earlier this year.