Grumpy Cat inspired the meme culture of today in a way only a cat could- by detesting everything.
Early Friday morning, the Grumpy Cat Twitter account, announced that its star had died. Tardar Sauce, the cat with the permanent frown due to a type of dwarfism and an underbite, passed away on Tuesday due to complications with her urinary tract infection at age 7. She is survived by her human family, Tabatha, Bryan, and Chrystal, and the millions of memers and cat lovers that have been enchanted by her “grumpiness” since 2012. In fact, Grumpy Cat was one of the pioneers of meme culture and much the creativity, popularity, and new problems we see today with meme creation start with the story of her viral meme.
Tardar Sauce became Grumpy Cat because of a few posts on Reddit showing off the cat’’s disdainful-looking mug by owner Tabatha Bundesen’s brother, Bryan. The Reddit audience quickly posted their own takes on this grumpy cat, photoshopping sardonic text and backgrounds, spreading the cat’s popularity. According to Know Your Meme, within 24 hours, the Grumpy Cat Reddit page received over 25,000 upvotes and, within 48 hours, its Imgur page received over a million views. Grumpy Cat was causing an internet stir, and this internet stir would soon break into the mainstream.
Funny cats were by no means novel on the internet or the mainstream (YouTube was practically built on cat videos). However, Grumpy’s popularity was not only stable but growing. Soon, Grumpy was meeting famous celebrities, guest starring in televisionshows, writing (well… inspiring) her own books, and starring in her own Lifetime Christmas movie. She was given her own wax statue at Madame Tussaud’s, and at SXSW Interactive, she outdid the likes of Steve Carell and Elon Musk in drawing in crowds.
At the core of her popularity was her loyal following on social media and the thousands of creators that produced new Grumpy Cat memes daily. Grumpy Cat was one of the first internet sensations to straddle the real and online worlds, known by both your tech-addicted 9-year old brother and your cat-loving aunt. The meme was so widely known that even President Obama made an allusion to the meme at the 2015 White House Correspondent Dinner. Grumpy really did, as her owners stated, help “millions of people smile around the world.”
Grumpy Cat also made money and lots of it, putting millions in the hands of her owners. According to the Washington Post, Bundesen’s company, Grumpy Cat Limited, monetized the cat, bringing in between $1 million and $100 million through merchandising, Grumpy’s books, and her various appearances. With this new money and business opportunity, Bundesen was able to quit her job waitressing at Red Lobster. But, reminiscent of the famous Notorious B. I. G song, with more money came more problems.
The monetization of memes often tends to destroy them. Leaving memes as free to use is the bedrock of the collaborative process that creates them. Grumpy Cat never could have achieved the success that it did without the thousands of creators being able to freely use her image to create new and interesting content without being compensated.
