If you’re a netizen, you’re probably familiar with “Grumpy Cat” and chances are, there was a time you asked yourself this question, “Why has Grumpy cat become so popular?”
So, let’s get the cat out of the bag, or shall we say, out of the Internet.
Hundreds of people wouldn’t mind waiting in line in the pouring rain just to see this very famous internet celebrity, or if luck allows, have a picture taken with her.
Why though? What makes people so interested in seeing this one cat? Is she different from other cats out there– aside from the fact that you regularly see her on the Internet.
For those who don’t know who Grumpy Cat it, let us give you a short bio and her rise to stardom.
Why Did Grumpy Cat Became so Popular?
For starters, Grumpy Cat is a feline with a sour face, making it seem like she’s always grumpy and hates life. Though, this isn’t quite true. In fact, because of this, she became a very popular Internet meme and managed to build thousands of followers on Twitter and other forms of social media.
On YouTube, she has over 20 million views and followers that are close to 130,000. Grumpy Cat’s fame even gave her the privilege of having an online store where personalized merchandise of her can be bought. Not just that, she even has an agent and rumors have it, there might even be a movie where she’ll be the star. Though, what’s really the big deal?
Who Is Grumpy Cat?
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INscMGmhmX4]
This cat’s real name is Tardar Sauce, but she’s better known as ‘Tard.’ Despite her popularity, she’s still your typical cat, which means she cannot tweet nor talk. Obviously, this is done by the person who owns her, namely” Tabatha and Bryan Bundensen. This grumpy, yet lovable cat was born on April 4, 2012 and her mother was adopted by Tabatha. Seeing Tard’s unique appearance, Bryan thought of taking pictures of her and uploading them to Reddit just for fun.
The Story behind
According to Bryan, while Tard was lying on his lap, he noticed that this feline looked extremely grumpy. Therefore, it should be captured and posted on Reddit. Though, little did he know that it would be viral. Like what they always say, the rest is Internet history.
People started reposting the photo with funny captions on top of it. With that, Bryan started the ‘grumpycats.com.’ Likewise, there are other non-official sites, such as the twitter account, @ItsTheGrumpyCat and believe it or not, it has more than 300,000 followers.
Grumpy Cat in Real Life
In real life, Tardar can’t stop herself from having a grumpy face. However, it’s not because she hates her life, but because she has feline dwarfism. It’s a condition that causes a cat to produce small sighs and stiff back legs. Nonetheless, she’s a completely happy and healthy cat.
Internet to Real Life Fame
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skwUUiDtKpA]
Tardar’s fame wasn’t limited to just the virtual world, but even to real-life as well. If you’re not aware, Grumpy Cat is a commercial model of Friskies now and you’ll be seeing her in commercials very soon. Not just that, she also has a manager that organizes her ‘interviews’ with the press.
Traveling
Unlike other pets, you could say that Grumpy Cat is well behaved. She could travel perfectly fine and you wouldn’t experience any problems just in case she tags along with you. According to her owners, even though they’ve only traveled with her in a few occasions, they noticed that she just sleeps all throughout the trip.
Final Thoughts
Despite this stardom, you can’t help but feel bad for the cat that’s often exposed to the camera lens. With that, some animal advocates thought that it’s time to free the cat. Though, according to Bryan, there’s no need for that and they’re doing this to help the other cats as well. Even though a lot of Internet users think that Grumpy Cat is being exploited, the owners assured that it’s not true. In fact, she’s just a regular cat 90% of the time and Brian and Tabatha love her dearly.
Lastly, if you’re interested in seeing what she looks like (just in case you haven’t), you could easily find videos and photos of her circulating around the web. She’s a grumpy kitty that would definitely take your grumpiness away.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dx7wApW1aGw]
