The history of the origins of the popularity of cats on the Internet
2005 is considered the year when cats began their “offensive” on the Internet.
The popular forum 4chan even coined the term caturday (from the English Saturday - this is “Saturday”). On this day, users shared funny photos of cats. This is how the concept of Lolcat was born (from Lol - “laugh” and cat - “cat”) - this is a picture of a cat, supplemented with a funny phrase, most often written with a grammatical error. The main Lolcat is considered to be Happycat (happy cat). Thanks to him, the most popular site in the meme segment, “I can have Cheezburger,” appeared in January 2007. The idea for the resource came to blogger Eric Nakagawa after he saw a gray smiling cat with a stupid misspelled inscription.
Already in September 2007, a group of investors purchased the site for two million dollars. Thanks to funny photos and stories, it is visited by tens of millions of users every month, which allows the owners to successfully sell advertising. The project brings in about $1,665 per day.
Popularity
Over the course of several years of her career, the cat, which Internet users nicknamed Grumpy Cat, earned her owner $100 million. Videos with her participation on YouTube were viewed by almost 31 million users. Her channel is followed by over 200 thousand people, and more than 8 million users are subscribed to the cat's Facebook page - indicators typical of Hollywood stars.
“Cats attract people more than other animals due to their unambiguous positive emotional connotation,” explains psychologist Anna Mikhailova. — A bear or a dog can be dangerous to humans, cats - to a lesser extent. Birds are not furry or tactile creatures like cats, so they are not suitable either. This is partly fashion - some time ago ferrets were very popular, they were replaced by raccoons, and now by cats. Fluffy, cute and quite harmless animal.”
According to experts surveyed by vc.ru, photographs and videos about cats almost always outstrip economic or political news in terms of the number of views. Pets appear on the pages of even serious public figures or officials on social networks, causing more comments than important topics and questions.
“People are tired of politics and problems, they want to read something positive, simple, even devoid of complex meanings,” says psychologist Anna Mikhailova.
Features of British Shorthair
Of course, like all representatives of the cat world, this breed has its own character traits
.
British cats are almost impossible to train. They do not like to sit in the arms of even their owners. When a cat wants attention, he will come to his owner. And if he is not in the mood, he will simply run away. The Briton does not respond to “kitty-kitty”, he is above it and prefers to be addressed only by name.
Representatives of the British Shorthair breed are very wary of strangers. They do very well alone. They can be without their owners for as long as they want, which is why they received the nickname “businessman’s cats.” A British person can easily sleep 20 hours a day and this is absolutely normal.
The British quickly get used to their place of residence and their owner. They love their owners very much and get along well with all family members, small children and even dogs. But still, you shouldn’t get yourself a British dog as a soft toy. They are very touchy
and do not tolerate rude treatment. If he is scolded, he can go out of sight for a long time, and you should not expect him to be the first to make peace.
The British do not require special education, care or living conditions. These cats have a lot of advantages. They are very calm, flexible and smart. Create comfortable living conditions for your pet and he will reciprocate with affection and devotion.
The success story of the Gloomy Cat
Grumpy Cat was born on April 2, 2012, and already in September it became popular all over the world. It all started with a funny photo on social networks taken by the brother of the kitten's owner. After this, a video appeared on YouTube, which today has almost 19 million views. Users liked this natural feature—the animal’s malocclusion—so much that the pet instantly became the hero of popular memes, which later became the decoration of T-shirts and souvenirs.
Realizing that you can make good money from the expression of a cat's face, his owner created an entire empire under the Grumpy Cat brand: calendars, notebooks, bookmarks, cups, clothes, coasters for hot dishes, posters, toys - this is only a small part of what appears on image of an animal.
In 2013, Grumpy Cat published the book Grumpy Cat: A Grumpy Book, which stayed on The New York Times bestseller list for 10 weeks and was translated into 20 languages. Now the cat already has two books in his arsenal.
Two years ago, the Friskies company invited the furry star for the first time to star in an advertisement for its brand - the cat food manufacturer's videos collect millions of views with the Gloomy Cat.
The popularity of the animal was so great that it allowed him not only to advertise well-known manufacturers, but also to create his own brand - the Grumppuccino coffee drink.
Now Grumpy Cat is featured in films, invited to the opening of charity events and film premieres, and presented with music awards.
Cost and where to look?
Now the cat breeds from the Whiskas advertisement have gained immense popularity in all countries of the world.
, including Russia due to its cute appearance and plush soft coat. Their beautiful faces will not leave anyone indifferent. Many show business stars are happy owners of these beautiful furry creatures. For those who also want to become the owner of a British Shorthair cat, it is best to look for a plush friend in a cattery.
The cost of a Briton depends on the color and class of the kitten (“show”, “breed” or “pet”). Representatives of the first class are the most prestigious and, accordingly, the most expensive. Breed class cats are purebred cats with an excellent pedigree. “Pets” are no less beautiful cats, but with some shortcomings (wrong eye color, broken ear or tail). Representatives of this beautiful breed will cost their owner from 3,000 to 40,000 rubles.
Due to such popularity, there are many offers for the sale of mixed-blooded British dogs.
. The cost of such a cat is low. Amateur breeders sell kittens from 500 rubles. Of course, for such a price you cannot count on the purebred and pedigree of your new pet, but they are in no way inferior in fluffiness and beauty to their elite relatives.
According to many owners of British shorthair cats, this is simply a gift of fate. They are absolutely sure that happiness is measured in cats.
Everyone knows how much images from film and television screens influence the viewer. A beautiful picture makes everything more attractive, from clothes and jewelry on the slender silhouettes of actors, to the most basic household items for everyday use.
Even pets become fashionable when, by the will of man, they turn into stars. Charming Dalmatian puppies from the film of the same name, St. Bernard Beethoven and many others, at one time, bore the title of the most desirable pets. Not long ago, this baton was taken up by wonderful plush kittens from an advertisement for Whiskas food, leaving many to puzzle over what kind of miracle this is and what it is called.
What commercials feature cats?
In 2014, there were more than two million cat videos on YouTube. The cumulative number of views was about 26 billion. Along with the themes of “humor” and “sex,” cats have become another driver of advertising effectiveness.
“Judging by the latest research from advertising and marketing specialists, seeing our furry friends in videos increases the number of views of advertising materials,” says Irina Bavykina, founder of the Cheshire Cat advertising agency. “Cats in advertising allow us to attract greater audience attention to the promoted product or service or a larger audience in quantitative terms.”
In 2011, Canadian advertising company JohnSt released a humorous video about the creation of supposedly the first agency in history to use exclusively cats in its videos. For this purpose, marketers have come up with a special term - catvertising. “Cats are the most popular media on the Internet,” say representatives of JohnSt.
The British milk producer Cravendale tried to advertise its product with the help of people, pirates, Muppet dolls, animated livers, and cows, but success came to the company only when cats were involved in the video. Brand awareness after advertising increased by 10%, sales - by 8%. The video now has almost 8.5 million views.
Cats successfully cope with advertising not only for pet products or milk. In February 2014, the automotive giant Mercedes released a video in which “the most aerodynamic production car in the world,” the Mercedes Benz CLA, is advertised by a lazy cat accompanied by classical music.
The company ended 2014 with a record 1,650,010 vehicles sold, increasing sales by almost 13%.
A year earlier, Toyota also used a cat to promote the Corolla model in New Zealand and Australia. Pets don't always like to travel in cars, so marketers wondered what cats would be willing to do if they fell in love with driving.
In the video, within 90 seconds, the cat spends his nine lives in order to be inside the treasured car. The video has already been watched by more than 1.7 million people. And the Corolla became Australia's best-selling car of 2013.
Cats participated in advertising for the IKEA store, Puma sneakers, Arlistan coffee, KIA Picanto cars and many other products. In 2013, the British telephone operator O2 launched the “Be a Dog!” advertising campaign, the main character of which was a cat. The company encouraged viewers to go beyond their usual boundaries using the example of a cat who suddenly wanted to become a dog.
The video received more than three million views on YouTube and the highest number of shares in the UK in a month. About 40 parodies of it were released.
In 2005, when cats were just gaining popularity, the American mortgage company Ameriquest presented a series of commercials during the Super Bowl - a day comparable in its significance to a national holiday for Americans. Traditionally, this is also the main day for advertising, which will be seen by the whole country. The videos show different situations in which a person can draw incorrect conclusions about what happened.
The campaign slogan was: “Don't jump to conclusions. We wouldn't." With this statement, Ameriquest assured people that it would not judge their creditworthiness too quickly, giving them a better chance of getting a mortgage. The best of the four videos was the one in which the cat took part. In popularity, it overtook the Pepsi advertisement that aired at the same match. The video later won an award at the Cannes Lions festival.
“Cats will have the greatest effect in advertising FMCG (public consumption) goods - everyone needs such products, information and “cuteness” spread across the Internet quickly,” says creator Irina Bavykina. — The audience is not as important here as the product that the cat is advertising. But like any other advertising, videos with cats may not work - it all depends on the creativity and ideas of the authors.”
“If everything is done correctly, then photos or videos of cats will increase the popularity of any blog,” comments blogger Ekaterina Tsoilik (8,976 subscribers). - But a lot depends on the animals themselves - everyone loves fat, fluffy and lazy cats. But not everyone likes bald sphinxes, so it’s unrealistic to get likes with them. The most popular breeds are the British and Scottish Fold.”
Varieties of colors of British cats
There are 5 main color varieties
British shorthair cats:
- Monochrome - solid color without a single inclusion (white, black, blue-gray, chocolate). The most common solid color is blue-gray.
- Marble or tortoiseshell - this color is formed by a combination of black with red and blue with cream. The color of such cats is treated more leniently when choosing them than cats of the same color, since during selection it is impossible to foresee the location and shape of the spots on the cat’s coat.
- Smoky is a unique color of the British cat. They have a completely white undercoat and dark hair tips.
- Bicolors are a combination of color and white. With this color, it is desirable that one ear is painted over or there is a colored spot on the head.
- Colored - only the paws, tail, ears and mask on the face are colored. The main color is white.
- And finally, Tabbies are mostly gray cats with stripes of varying sizes. Tabby color also has many varieties (markel, marbled, spotted).
In the Whiskas advertisement, cats of all varieties of Tabby color are presented, but the main character of the advertisement wears a Markel color. In the search engine you can find many photos and videos of cats from the Whiskas advertisement teaching the British Shorthair breed.
These are real aristocrats
. They walk slowly, do not make noise, can lie in one place for a very long time, they are unhurried and very clean, unpretentious in care.
It is almost impossible to find an adult British cat running around the house at the speed of light or riding on the curtains. All these cat pranks take place in their childhood. Their English upbringing does not allow them to jump on cabinets, peel off wallpaper and sharpen their claws on their owner’s favorite sofa. Due to their short fur, they practically do not shed.
They don't need to be educated. Even as a kitten, learning from their mother cat, the British will go to the toilet and sharpen their claws only in the place designated for this. If the cat wants to eat, he will come to his plate and sit there quietly until he is fed, without making unnecessary sounds. In general, they meow very rarely, only in cases of extreme necessity, for example, when they have to wait too long for their favorite treat.
The Briton is the ideal pet
, with virtually no drawbacks.
- calm friendly character
- cozy softness of fur,
- cutest appearance,
- many varieties of colors,
- ease of care.
