Would you like to inspect the original subtitles? These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated:
1
00:00:28,278 --> 00:00:29,571
Oh, my God, that's so cute.
2
00:00:31,656 --> 00:00:33,491
My Instagram, it's all cats.
3
00:00:33,742 --> 00:00:37,203
Every single one.
Cat memes of like little cute cats.
4
00:00:38,913 --> 00:00:41,249
So, when I started the Instagram account,
5
00:00:41,416 --> 00:00:44,210
I was like, "Just to make things clear,
I'm not a crazy cat lady."
6
00:00:47,172 --> 00:00:48,631
Make him look up again.
7
00:00:50,675 --> 00:00:52,677
He makes me laugh
even when I'm stressed,
8
00:00:52,761 --> 00:00:54,596
just because of the little things
he does, right?
9
00:00:54,679 --> 00:00:55,889
Even the way his face looks.
10
00:00:56,056 --> 00:00:58,516
He looked-- Oh, oh, yeah.
11
00:00:58,600 --> 00:01:01,102
I feel like if they have
the ability
12
00:01:01,186 --> 00:01:04,105
to bring so much happiness
to people, why not?
13
00:01:09,611 --> 00:01:10,987
Try dancing in the back a bit.
14
00:01:12,030 --> 00:01:13,490
He looks bored.
15
00:01:13,907 --> 00:01:15,075
He's too used to this!
16
00:01:17,327 --> 00:01:18,328
He's falling asleep!
17
00:01:18,787 --> 00:01:20,205
Yeah, he's falling asleep!
18
00:01:20,705 --> 00:01:21,915
People are obsessed with cats,
19
00:01:22,123 --> 00:01:23,875
and cats on the Internet, specifically.
20
00:01:24,042 --> 00:01:26,586
Cats have captured
our imagination
21
00:01:26,669 --> 00:01:29,589
because we really don't
understand them,
22
00:01:29,964 --> 00:01:32,258
but we want to so badly.
23
00:01:32,509 --> 00:01:33,843
She's the diva.
24
00:01:33,927 --> 00:01:36,513
I am sure she knows she's famous.
25
00:01:36,596 --> 00:01:38,973
She's very special.
She's one of a kind.
26
00:01:39,432 --> 00:01:42,936
Now, there's this whole world
of Insta-cats,
27
00:01:43,353 --> 00:01:45,772
and people trying to make
their cats famous.
28
00:01:45,855 --> 00:01:48,358
If someone was upset that we
were dressing up our cat,
29
00:01:48,441 --> 00:01:49,818
-I'd say, "Well--"
-Have you seen her?
30
00:01:50,026 --> 00:01:51,194
Eleganza!
31
00:01:53,196 --> 00:01:55,156
I'd love to hit 100K.
32
00:01:55,240 --> 00:01:57,117
If you have a large following,
you can make a living.
33
00:01:57,200 --> 00:01:59,202
We have clients that do it full-time.
34
00:01:59,661 --> 00:02:01,913
Social media
is like my gallery.
35
00:02:01,996 --> 00:02:04,207
We posted a picture,
and it literally just...
36
00:02:04,749 --> 00:02:06,376
...blew up!
37
00:02:07,210 --> 00:02:10,088
I have around 19,000 followers.
38
00:02:10,171 --> 00:02:13,091
We have 87,000 followers now.
39
00:02:13,174 --> 00:02:15,093
238,000.
40
00:02:15,176 --> 00:02:16,553
330,000.
41
00:02:16,761 --> 00:02:18,012
One million around the world.
42
00:02:18,096 --> 00:02:19,430
6.3 million.
43
00:02:19,597 --> 00:02:22,308
Over ten million followers strong, easily.
44
00:02:22,976 --> 00:02:24,894
My personal account's got 40!
45
00:02:27,730 --> 00:02:29,607
You could be sitting next
to a co-worker
46
00:02:29,691 --> 00:02:31,234
who you think is totally normal,
47
00:02:31,317 --> 00:02:33,319
and then, find out that
they have seven cats,
48
00:02:33,403 --> 00:02:35,530
one of which has 500,000 followers.
49
00:02:35,905 --> 00:02:36,823
You wouldn't know.
50
00:02:37,198 --> 00:02:38,992
People really get crazy about it,
51
00:02:39,284 --> 00:02:40,910
almost like they're meeting a celebrity.
52
00:02:41,202 --> 00:02:43,538
When we do meet and greets,
there's people crying,
53
00:02:43,746 --> 00:02:45,456
lots of people crying.
54
00:02:45,623 --> 00:02:47,959
We are bringing the cat community together
55
00:02:48,167 --> 00:02:51,087
to spread the love
for these amazing creatures.
56
00:02:51,254 --> 00:02:54,591
It isn't just about likes,
it isn't just about followers.
57
00:02:54,799 --> 00:02:57,635
I always say he's not
a meme cat, he's a message cat.
58
00:02:57,719 --> 00:03:00,722
I don't know what you are,
but I love you.
59
00:03:01,097 --> 00:03:02,807
The Internet's built with cats.
60
00:03:03,224 --> 00:03:05,602
If you have a cat,
pure content gold.
61
00:03:26,915 --> 00:03:28,333
This is my cat, Bub,
62
00:03:29,459 --> 00:03:31,294
and she's very special to me
63
00:03:31,753 --> 00:03:33,546
and to a lot of people, actually.
64
00:03:36,132 --> 00:03:36,966
I'm Mike.
65
00:03:37,634 --> 00:03:39,135
We're really good friends.
66
00:03:40,929 --> 00:03:43,765
She makes funny sounds quite a bit.
67
00:03:44,265 --> 00:03:45,850
She's one of a kind.
68
00:03:47,185 --> 00:03:50,271
One in a trillion, genetically,
69
00:03:50,605 --> 00:03:54,734
and one in a trillion
energetically and spiritually.
70
00:03:55,193 --> 00:03:57,904
She has a rare bone condition
called osteopetrosis.
71
00:03:57,987 --> 00:03:59,405
She's the only cat in recorded history
72
00:03:59,489 --> 00:04:01,282
to have been born with this condition.
73
00:04:01,407 --> 00:04:03,034
Her teeth never grew in.
74
00:04:03,201 --> 00:04:05,536
She has an underdeveloped lower jaw.
75
00:04:05,828 --> 00:04:08,248
She only weighs 3.7 pounds.
76
00:04:08,331 --> 00:04:11,668
Bub is, she's not just
a funny-looking cat.
77
00:04:12,126 --> 00:04:15,672
She's an inspiration,
sort of a beacon of hope.
78
00:04:16,297 --> 00:04:19,300
She has more will and determination
79
00:04:19,384 --> 00:04:22,178
than any living thing in the world.
80
00:04:23,304 --> 00:04:25,473
They predicted she'd only live
a few months,
81
00:04:25,556 --> 00:04:27,934
and she's now seven years old.
82
00:04:29,811 --> 00:04:31,896
And the most famous cat in the world.
83
00:05:02,510 --> 00:05:05,972
I don't like looking at pictures
of cats or videos of cats,
84
00:05:06,472 --> 00:05:09,309
but they were inundating my life online,
85
00:05:09,392 --> 00:05:13,396
and it became such a persistent
issue that I was like,
86
00:05:13,479 --> 00:05:14,981
"What's going on?"
87
00:05:16,607 --> 00:05:17,692
My name is Jason Eppink.
88
00:05:17,775 --> 00:05:19,277
I'm the curator of digital media
89
00:05:19,360 --> 00:05:21,321
at the Museum of the Moving Image.
90
00:05:21,404 --> 00:05:23,906
I organize events and
exhibitions about art,
91
00:05:24,115 --> 00:05:26,784
play, participation
and vernacular culture
92
00:05:26,868 --> 00:05:28,036
as they relate to the moving image.
93
00:05:28,119 --> 00:05:30,288
So, that's video games, interactive arts,
94
00:05:30,705 --> 00:05:32,623
club cultures, animated GIFs,
95
00:05:32,707 --> 00:05:35,084
and of course, part of that
is Internet cats.
96
00:05:42,592 --> 00:05:43,926
I organized an exhibition called
97
00:05:44,010 --> 00:05:46,137
"How Cats Took Over the Internet."
98
00:05:46,763 --> 00:05:48,639
I think the central question
started as like,
99
00:05:48,973 --> 00:05:50,183
"What the hell's going on?"
100
00:05:50,767 --> 00:05:52,101
But it evolved into what is it about us,
101
00:05:52,185 --> 00:05:53,728
what is it about humans,
102
00:05:53,811 --> 00:05:55,646
what is it about the sort of
contemporary moment?
103
00:06:02,153 --> 00:06:03,362
You might be surprised to think
104
00:06:03,446 --> 00:06:07,075
that the first famous Internet cat
was not a photo of a cat.
105
00:06:18,086 --> 00:06:20,963
It was 1998.
Its name was Giko,
106
00:06:21,047 --> 00:06:24,050
and it was a cat built out of Shift JIS,
107
00:06:24,717 --> 00:06:26,636
which is the Japanese form of ASCII.
108
00:06:27,637 --> 00:06:29,555
It was a little cat with, like, carets
109
00:06:29,639 --> 00:06:32,600
and squiggly lines and parentheses,
110
00:06:33,142 --> 00:06:36,646
and people would use Giko
to illustrate their feelings
111
00:06:36,729 --> 00:06:38,272
or pose it.
112
00:06:38,564 --> 00:06:41,776
This is really the first
iteration of a cat meme online.
113
00:06:42,401 --> 00:06:44,946
My name is Amanda Brennan,
and I work at Tumblr.
114
00:06:48,241 --> 00:06:50,159
In my personal Internet time,
115
00:06:50,243 --> 00:06:53,329
I run the blog
"Boys with Beards with Cats."
116
00:06:53,704 --> 00:06:58,126
And it's just photos of boys
with beards and cats.
117
00:06:58,751 --> 00:07:01,337
I'm known online
as the Meme Librarian.
118
00:07:11,848 --> 00:07:15,893
I'm the only meme librarian
that I know of.
119
00:07:18,563 --> 00:07:20,815
Many people think of memes
as just an image
120
00:07:20,898 --> 00:07:22,817
or something that they share
on social media,
121
00:07:22,900 --> 00:07:26,529
but the real idea of a meme is the idea,
122
00:07:26,612 --> 00:07:29,824
and the act of the thing
you're participating in.
123
00:07:30,366 --> 00:07:33,035
It's a piece of content, a word, a phrase,
124
00:07:33,119 --> 00:07:35,246
anything that is posted to the Internet,
125
00:07:35,329 --> 00:07:36,831
and is spread from person to person,
126
00:07:36,914 --> 00:07:38,458
and changes along the way.
127
00:07:41,210 --> 00:07:44,172
Early Internet was a space
for weird things to happen.
128
00:07:44,964 --> 00:07:46,883
One of the projects that I
highlighted in the exhibition
129
00:07:46,966 --> 00:07:48,676
was Infinite Cat Project.
130
00:07:49,177 --> 00:07:50,344
Are you familiar with it?
131
00:07:52,972 --> 00:07:55,308
Mike Stanfill found a photo
of a cat
132
00:07:55,475 --> 00:07:58,561
looking at a photo of itself
on a monitor.
133
00:07:59,979 --> 00:08:01,230
I'm Mike Stanfill.
134
00:08:01,314 --> 00:08:03,107
Um... I'm a commercial illustrator,
135
00:08:03,191 --> 00:08:05,234
and a champion of justice, too,
by the way.
136
00:08:05,359 --> 00:08:06,819
This is such a clever project.
137
00:08:07,403 --> 00:08:10,156
I have to take you back to 2003
when this began.
138
00:08:10,323 --> 00:08:13,451
I found a picture of a cat
smelling a rose,
139
00:08:13,534 --> 00:08:15,036
and somebody took a picture of a cat
140
00:08:15,119 --> 00:08:16,954
growling at the cat smelling a rose.
141
00:08:17,955 --> 00:08:19,540
So, I took the photo of
the growling cat
142
00:08:19,624 --> 00:08:21,167
and put it on a website,
143
00:08:21,250 --> 00:08:24,587
and people took pictures of
their cats growling at that cat,
144
00:08:25,546 --> 00:08:27,757
and then, I put those pictures
on the Internet.
145
00:08:27,840 --> 00:08:29,884
I'm surprised people
even found the site,
146
00:08:30,134 --> 00:08:32,803
because Google was still sort of
kind of fresh and new back then.
147
00:08:34,096 --> 00:08:37,558
But then, right about late 2004,
it took off.
148
00:08:39,101 --> 00:08:41,812
As of today, there are 1801 cats
149
00:08:41,896 --> 00:08:44,398
all looking at each other into infinity.
150
00:08:45,650 --> 00:08:49,237
You see technology evolve
over the length of that project.
151
00:08:49,695 --> 00:08:52,281
Back then, a 15-inch monitor was hot shit.
152
00:08:54,408 --> 00:08:56,118
Seventeen meant you were rich!
153
00:08:58,120 --> 00:08:59,997
Nineteen meant you worked for NASA!
154
00:09:01,082 --> 00:09:02,750
Ooh, this guy's got money!
155
00:09:05,336 --> 00:09:07,338
I do remember the first
cell phone that showed up,
156
00:09:07,421 --> 00:09:09,298
and it's just a cat,
cell phone on the ground,
157
00:09:09,382 --> 00:09:11,425
cat looking into it
and we're like, "Oh, how cute!"
158
00:09:11,842 --> 00:09:13,970
You know, this is the last one
of these I'll get!
159
00:09:15,179 --> 00:09:16,264
No!
160
00:09:17,640 --> 00:09:21,269
This was at a really sort of
great moment on the Internet,
161
00:09:21,352 --> 00:09:24,146
before it was, like, totally taken over
by capitalism, right?
162
00:09:24,897 --> 00:09:27,233
I also brought
the Infinite Cat Calendar.
163
00:09:27,608 --> 00:09:30,111
This was really sort of utopian
vision and space
164
00:09:30,194 --> 00:09:32,655
where this kind of stuff
could proliferate.
165
00:09:32,738 --> 00:09:34,198
I did this in 2005,
166
00:09:34,615 --> 00:09:36,325
and it was such a big,
fat pain in the keister,
167
00:09:36,409 --> 00:09:37,535
I didn't do another one.
168
00:09:37,618 --> 00:09:41,163
I think it's an unsung hero
of Internet cat humor.
169
00:09:42,331 --> 00:09:43,666
I just like the fact
170
00:09:44,000 --> 00:09:46,669
that people all around the world
can do this.
171
00:09:47,378 --> 00:09:49,088
I thought I was alone in the cat world,
172
00:09:49,171 --> 00:09:50,965
but, hey, people like kitties.
173
00:10:01,976 --> 00:10:03,311
In the early 2000s,
174
00:10:03,394 --> 00:10:06,772
we started to see a lot of
nameless famous cats.
175
00:10:13,571 --> 00:10:15,281
It was the time of the Internet
176
00:10:15,364 --> 00:10:17,950
where you didn't want anyone
to know who you were.
177
00:10:18,117 --> 00:10:21,329
So, people would share these
photos on forums, on websites,
178
00:10:21,412 --> 00:10:23,623
and a lot of that boiled down
into 4chan.
179
00:10:24,206 --> 00:10:25,875
4chan, as you probably know,
180
00:10:25,958 --> 00:10:27,126
is the cesspool of the Internet.
181
00:10:27,209 --> 00:10:30,838
It's the place where all the brilliant
Internet comes from,
182
00:10:30,921 --> 00:10:32,548
and also all the shit.
183
00:10:33,090 --> 00:10:37,803
On 4chan is where we first
started to see the LOLcat,
184
00:10:38,346 --> 00:10:41,057
which is your cat image
with some Impact font.
185
00:10:42,391 --> 00:10:45,394
And here is where we started
to see LOLspeak.
186
00:10:51,317 --> 00:10:53,194
It's a very natural thing
to do, I think,
187
00:10:53,319 --> 00:10:56,447
to, like, to put yourself
into the mind of your pet
188
00:10:56,530 --> 00:10:58,366
and, like, imagine what they're
thinking or saying,
189
00:10:58,449 --> 00:11:00,451
or like what they might sound like
or how they might talk.
190
00:11:01,577 --> 00:11:03,120
And I guess the Internet decided
191
00:11:03,204 --> 00:11:06,457
that cats talk like these deranged babies.
192
00:11:08,834 --> 00:11:10,461
Let me go, human!
193
00:11:18,594 --> 00:11:19,512
My name is Jack Shepherd,
194
00:11:19,678 --> 00:11:22,932
and I am the editorial director
at BuzzFeed.com.
195
00:11:23,015 --> 00:11:26,185
I am also the site's
first beast master,
196
00:11:27,812 --> 00:11:30,439
which is an official title
that I made up for myself
197
00:11:30,523 --> 00:11:31,607
and they let me keep.
198
00:11:32,900 --> 00:11:37,113
I started BuzzFeed's animal
section in 2012,
199
00:11:37,196 --> 00:11:40,032
after having taken a real interest
200
00:11:40,116 --> 00:11:41,951
in cats on the Internet.
201
00:11:42,034 --> 00:11:43,994
It was so funny at the time.
202
00:11:44,370 --> 00:11:47,957
That's what, like, the teen who, like,
doesn't remember the LOLcats
203
00:11:48,833 --> 00:11:50,418
wouldn't be able to get,
204
00:11:50,501 --> 00:11:53,379
is like it was so funny!
205
00:11:54,130 --> 00:11:56,674
And if you look at it now,
it's like, "I don't get it."
206
00:11:56,757 --> 00:11:58,342
Like, they spelled "has" wrong?
207
00:11:58,426 --> 00:12:00,219
Like, cats don't eat cheeseburgers.
208
00:12:00,803 --> 00:12:05,057
But, like, that language is the beginning
209
00:12:05,141 --> 00:12:08,686
of, like, a really, really
interesting and wild era
210
00:12:08,769 --> 00:12:11,355
for how we related to animals
on the Internet.
211
00:12:14,984 --> 00:12:17,570
So, LOLspeak is gearing up
212
00:12:17,653 --> 00:12:19,989
right around the time
that YouTube is launched.
213
00:12:22,783 --> 00:12:24,493
Around the time that YouTube originated,
214
00:12:24,577 --> 00:12:25,953
there were actually two things happening
215
00:12:26,036 --> 00:12:27,746
that were important in technology.
216
00:12:27,913 --> 00:12:30,708
The first was that we were
having this new ability
217
00:12:30,791 --> 00:12:32,626
to distribute things online,
218
00:12:32,710 --> 00:12:35,504
to connect and upload
and share video.
219
00:12:35,588 --> 00:12:37,214
We also had mobile devices
220
00:12:37,298 --> 00:12:39,258
that could record and capture
those videos.
221
00:12:39,508 --> 00:12:40,759
My name's Kevin Allocca,
222
00:12:40,843 --> 00:12:42,636
and I'm the Head of Culture
and Trends at YouTube,
223
00:12:42,720 --> 00:12:44,346
and the author of Videocracy.
224
00:12:45,639 --> 00:12:49,643
I spent eight years studying
trends in video at YouTube,
225
00:12:49,727 --> 00:12:51,854
and trying to understand
why things are popular,
226
00:12:51,937 --> 00:12:53,022
and why we like them.
227
00:12:56,734 --> 00:12:58,194
In the early days of this medium
228
00:12:58,277 --> 00:13:00,279
as people are trying to figure out
what to do with it
229
00:13:00,362 --> 00:13:01,405
and how it works,
230
00:13:01,489 --> 00:13:03,449
it was one of the first times
where you had people
231
00:13:03,532 --> 00:13:04,950
from all over the world having access
232
00:13:05,034 --> 00:13:07,495
to all of the same types of things
in that type of way.
233
00:13:07,745 --> 00:13:09,830
So, naturally, things that
transcend language,
234
00:13:09,914 --> 00:13:12,708
things that transcend cultural mores
235
00:13:13,167 --> 00:13:14,752
are going to rise in popularity
236
00:13:14,835 --> 00:13:16,629
because they're accessible
to more people.
237
00:13:16,712 --> 00:13:19,173
And it was the first time that
we saw that dynamic playing out,
238
00:13:19,256 --> 00:13:22,718
and the sort of unexpected
victors, perhaps, were our pets.
239
00:13:46,367 --> 00:13:47,826
When Instagram first launched,
240
00:13:48,077 --> 00:13:50,788
at the time, you would just
sign up for an account,
241
00:13:50,871 --> 00:13:52,748
you would start following your friends,
242
00:13:52,831 --> 00:13:55,376
you'd start following your family.
Basically, people you know.
243
00:13:56,085 --> 00:13:59,964
Then, you'd start discovering
people who did stuff you liked,
244
00:14:00,506 --> 00:14:03,801
and I think that was so game-changing.
245
00:14:04,552 --> 00:14:05,678
My name is Pamela Chen.
246
00:14:05,761 --> 00:14:07,846
I'm a creative director
here at Instagram.
247
00:14:08,764 --> 00:14:11,475
I spend a lot of time on Instagram,
248
00:14:11,559 --> 00:14:13,811
studying Instagram accounts
249
00:14:13,894 --> 00:14:16,981
and learning about interspace
communities on the platform.
250
00:14:19,024 --> 00:14:22,278
In those early days, it was
simply a picture, a caption,
251
00:14:22,361 --> 00:14:25,656
and sometimes the caption was
in a language that was not your own
252
00:14:25,823 --> 00:14:29,577
and yet, you could look
at a profile of a cat account
253
00:14:29,660 --> 00:14:31,662
and say, "I would like to follow this cat,
254
00:14:31,745 --> 00:14:34,331
because every day
I will get a picture of a cat
255
00:14:34,874 --> 00:14:36,125
that will make me happy,
256
00:14:36,375 --> 00:14:38,878
and it will just connect me
to a community of people
257
00:14:39,169 --> 00:14:42,840
who I may never meet,
but I know get me."
258
00:14:44,633 --> 00:14:47,136
Right there in your pocket
was this whole group of people
259
00:14:47,219 --> 00:14:48,345
who liked what you liked,
260
00:14:48,554 --> 00:14:50,347
but you may not know them
in real life.
261
00:14:50,431 --> 00:14:54,310
And that concept in itself
was so special,
262
00:14:54,685 --> 00:14:58,731
and cats were one of those
interests from day one.
263
00:15:01,025 --> 00:15:05,029
Instagram has unlocked a way
for cat owners
264
00:15:05,112 --> 00:15:08,365
to share everything they love
about cats with each other
265
00:15:08,741 --> 00:15:10,576
in a very visual way,
266
00:15:10,659 --> 00:15:13,954
in a way that is very hard
to describe in words,
267
00:15:14,079 --> 00:15:17,833
but once you see it, you're
like, "My cat is just like that,
268
00:15:17,917 --> 00:15:20,753
and I get you, and you get me."
269
00:15:24,757 --> 00:15:26,008
The cat explosion,
270
00:15:26,091 --> 00:15:28,177
I think, happened when people
started getting phones,
271
00:15:28,260 --> 00:15:29,803
and people started getting excited
272
00:15:29,887 --> 00:15:31,597
about posting their own cats,
273
00:15:31,972 --> 00:15:33,807
and everyone wanted to follow
274
00:15:33,891 --> 00:15:35,935
all of the cats at the same time.
275
00:15:36,644 --> 00:15:37,937
If you look at Instagram,
276
00:15:38,020 --> 00:15:40,147
there's the #catsofinstagram,
277
00:15:40,230 --> 00:15:42,775
as well as the corresponding profile,
278
00:15:43,776 --> 00:15:46,946
and tons of people just creating
awesome content.
279
00:15:48,739 --> 00:15:50,699
Yeah, when people ask,
it's a little weird to say
280
00:15:50,783 --> 00:15:53,786
that, yeah, I make money off
posting cats on the Internet.
281
00:15:58,749 --> 00:16:01,293
My name's Eli. I'm one half
of Cats of Instagram.
282
00:16:03,963 --> 00:16:06,256
And I'm Kady, the other half
of Cats of Instagram.
283
00:16:08,467 --> 00:16:10,636
You might think that
Cats of Instagram
284
00:16:10,719 --> 00:16:12,554
is more than just the two of us,
285
00:16:12,638 --> 00:16:14,348
but that's really all it is.
286
00:16:14,723 --> 00:16:17,351
We don't have a communications department.
287
00:16:17,434 --> 00:16:19,311
It's us in our pajamas
looking at cat videos.
288
00:16:19,395 --> 00:16:20,562
Yup!
289
00:16:21,355 --> 00:16:24,942
Me on the treadmill at the gym
going through submissions.
290
00:16:25,442 --> 00:16:27,069
-Maybe in the bathroom.
291
00:16:28,988 --> 00:16:30,531
I am so jealous of you guys.
292
00:16:33,867 --> 00:16:36,829
Honestly, I started it in 2011
as just kind of a hobby
293
00:16:37,162 --> 00:16:39,123
back when Instagram
was kind of growing.
294
00:16:44,378 --> 00:16:46,630
It was simply supply and demand.
295
00:16:46,964 --> 00:16:49,299
We would get people
that would submit
296
00:16:49,508 --> 00:16:51,719
when they were just making
an account,
297
00:16:52,011 --> 00:16:55,389
and feature them, and we'd see
their accounts grow.
298
00:16:56,473 --> 00:16:59,727
I mean, I still get giddy
when a video goes viral.
299
00:16:59,810 --> 00:17:00,936
-Yeah.
-Yeah.
300
00:17:04,523 --> 00:17:05,357
Back in the day, I mean,
301
00:17:05,441 --> 00:17:07,609
there was a few famous cats
who were up-and-coming.
302
00:17:07,693 --> 00:17:09,570
Our success was reliant
on their success,
303
00:17:09,653 --> 00:17:12,489
and we all kind of came up
together, including Pudge,
304
00:17:12,948 --> 00:17:15,909
Nala, Oskar.
305
00:17:16,493 --> 00:17:19,455
We kind of evolved into these
more famous cats,
306
00:17:20,080 --> 00:17:22,374
and then, we started seeing
cat celebrities.
307
00:17:22,458 --> 00:17:24,376
So, this is when Lil Bub entered.
308
00:17:32,760 --> 00:17:34,970
The reason I started
a Tumblr blog
309
00:17:35,054 --> 00:17:37,514
was just a friend of mine
was like, "You have to do it.
310
00:17:37,598 --> 00:17:39,975
It'd be so fun, and people want
to see it."
311
00:17:40,059 --> 00:17:42,144
I was like, "Okay, yeah,
for my friends, you know."
312
00:17:44,605 --> 00:17:47,357
And even then, you know, I had
like five followers friends,
313
00:17:47,441 --> 00:17:49,193
and then, they just told their friends,
314
00:17:49,276 --> 00:17:51,528
and so, and then, we had 20 followers,
315
00:17:51,612 --> 00:17:53,530
and I was like, "This is crazy!"
316
00:17:53,697 --> 00:17:56,366
And then, like 3,000
on Instagram.
317
00:17:57,201 --> 00:17:58,744
My personal account's got 40!
318
00:18:04,708 --> 00:18:06,460
I assumed it would end in a few months,
319
00:18:07,002 --> 00:18:08,212
but it's still going.
320
00:18:10,255 --> 00:18:12,966
At this point,
she's received iconic status.
321
00:18:14,510 --> 00:18:17,137
Bub's total combined followers
322
00:18:17,221 --> 00:18:20,599
across her social media platforms
is about 6.3 million.
323
00:18:41,411 --> 00:18:43,247
Hi, my name is Pookie.
324
00:18:43,622 --> 00:18:45,624
This is Nala, @nala_cat,
325
00:18:45,833 --> 00:18:48,043
and this is Luna,
@hello_luna_rose.
326
00:18:50,754 --> 00:18:51,880
What's going on, Nala?
327
00:18:52,339 --> 00:18:54,341
She's mad that Luna is here with her.
328
00:18:54,424 --> 00:18:57,136
Normally, it's just, you know,
she needs a spotlight.
329
00:18:57,761 --> 00:19:01,974
Everyone to just focus on her,
not some other animal.
330
00:19:03,016 --> 00:19:03,976
She's too much.
331
00:19:04,935 --> 00:19:07,479
So, what you gonna do?
You gonna just stay here and complain?
332
00:19:16,655 --> 00:19:18,282
- Okay, she left.
333
00:19:18,991 --> 00:19:20,075
She's the diva.
334
00:19:20,159 --> 00:19:22,828
I am sure she knows she's famous.
335
00:19:24,580 --> 00:19:26,290
What did you just do?
336
00:19:26,373 --> 00:19:28,876
So, I adopted her in 2010,
337
00:19:29,042 --> 00:19:32,129
but I didn't start her social
media until 2012.
338
00:19:34,214 --> 00:19:36,383
I started her account
just to share photos
339
00:19:36,466 --> 00:19:38,177
with like my friends and family.
340
00:19:38,760 --> 00:19:41,597
I remember, like, I went
snowboarding with my friend,
341
00:19:41,680 --> 00:19:45,100
and that day,
we hit 500 followers,
342
00:19:45,184 --> 00:19:46,476
and it was like, "Oh, my God."
343
00:19:46,560 --> 00:19:49,605
Like, I imagine like a full room
of 500 people,
344
00:19:50,564 --> 00:19:53,942
and it was like, "Oh, my God,
500 people following Nala!"
345
00:19:55,694 --> 00:19:57,487
When she hit 500,000 followers,
346
00:19:57,571 --> 00:19:59,323
that's when people start wishing,
347
00:19:59,406 --> 00:20:02,034
"I would want to do, like, sponsor ad."
348
00:20:02,868 --> 00:20:05,370
So, Nala got a Guinness World Record
349
00:20:05,454 --> 00:20:07,915
for the most popular cat
on Instagram.
350
00:20:08,749 --> 00:20:11,293
She was in a Forbes article,
351
00:20:11,376 --> 00:20:14,630
top-ten most influential animal.
352
00:20:15,297 --> 00:20:18,842
We were on Steve Harvey's show,
the daytime talk show.
353
00:20:19,092 --> 00:20:23,222
She's on movie with Jennifer Garner
called Nine Lives.
354
00:20:23,472 --> 00:20:28,185
She was named Kids' Choice Award
nominee on Nickelodeon channel.
355
00:20:29,311 --> 00:20:31,563
She's my baby, so I love her,
356
00:20:31,813 --> 00:20:35,150
but I'm happy to get to share
her cuteness with everyone
357
00:20:35,234 --> 00:20:36,526
and make everyone happy.
358
00:20:39,696 --> 00:20:40,989
-Thanks so much.
-Thank you!
359
00:20:49,539 --> 00:20:51,041
Nala, why?
360
00:20:51,124 --> 00:20:52,251
Are you mad at me?
361
00:21:00,092 --> 00:21:01,802
I think we're sort of
in the second generation
362
00:21:01,885 --> 00:21:02,970
of celebrity pets.
363
00:21:04,054 --> 00:21:06,974
This is Evey,
she's a long-haired calico.
364
00:21:07,641 --> 00:21:08,892
This is Toto.
365
00:21:08,976 --> 00:21:11,144
This is our troublemaker Scottish Fold.
366
00:21:11,353 --> 00:21:14,648
First generation was sort of
a bunch of accidental Internet stars.
367
00:21:15,440 --> 00:21:17,317
And then, entrepreneurial
pet owners took note,
368
00:21:17,401 --> 00:21:19,069
and tried to replicate the successes
369
00:21:19,152 --> 00:21:20,570
with making a lot of effort
370
00:21:20,654 --> 00:21:22,781
that the first generation
of Internet pets didn't.
371
00:21:23,282 --> 00:21:24,908
Can you make her look this way?
372
00:21:26,868 --> 00:21:28,161
Hey, here!
373
00:21:28,245 --> 00:21:29,496
Is this what you're looking for?
374
00:21:31,206 --> 00:21:32,624
Oh, there you go, there you go.
375
00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:34,918
-I'm Tiffany.
-And I'm Pouria.
376
00:21:35,002 --> 00:21:39,172
When I started the Instagram
account around 2012,
377
00:21:39,506 --> 00:21:43,135
I definitely did not expect
a huge following.
378
00:21:43,218 --> 00:21:44,678
It was more like a hobby.
379
00:21:45,304 --> 00:21:46,638
But today on Instagram,
380
00:21:46,763 --> 00:21:50,892
Evey and Toto have around
19,700 followers.
381
00:21:54,980 --> 00:21:56,148
Yes!
382
00:21:57,441 --> 00:21:58,734
Such a good girl.
383
00:22:00,944 --> 00:22:04,656
In the next year, I think 50,000
followers is a realistic goal,
384
00:22:05,157 --> 00:22:07,367
and then, when they get to 50,000,
385
00:22:07,451 --> 00:22:09,286
I think 100,000 is not that far off.
386
00:22:10,078 --> 00:22:11,371
Would you call yourself
an influencer?
387
00:22:11,455 --> 00:22:12,998
No, I wouldn't.
388
00:22:13,165 --> 00:22:14,958
I just don't feel like I'm big enough yet.
389
00:22:17,502 --> 00:22:20,547
What has changed is maybe
more a function
390
00:22:20,630 --> 00:22:21,882
of the Internet changing
391
00:22:21,965 --> 00:22:26,053
than it is of cat media changing
in a specific way.
392
00:22:26,636 --> 00:22:30,098
You get these cats that have,
like, massive followings
393
00:22:31,641 --> 00:22:33,935
on, like, Instagram or on YouTube,
394
00:22:34,644 --> 00:22:37,314
but it's become increasingly siloed.
395
00:22:37,481 --> 00:22:40,025
They don't break out from that platform.
396
00:22:40,650 --> 00:22:43,820
I think the last truly,
truly famous cat was Lil Bub.
397
00:22:45,072 --> 00:22:49,743
Now, there's this whole world
of Insta-cats
398
00:22:49,826 --> 00:22:52,329
and people trying to make
their cats famous,
399
00:22:52,412 --> 00:22:54,790
and there's, you know, like, accounts
with this many followers
400
00:22:54,873 --> 00:22:55,999
and this many followers.
401
00:22:56,083 --> 00:22:57,459
You know, a lot of people
message me like,
402
00:22:57,542 --> 00:22:58,668
"How do I make my cat famous?"
403
00:22:58,752 --> 00:23:01,379
And I'm really kind of against all of it.
404
00:23:02,339 --> 00:23:03,882
But you're one of them, though.
405
00:23:03,965 --> 00:23:06,259
Sure, but I didn't--
I never sought out to do this.
406
00:23:26,613 --> 00:23:30,492
Currently on Instagram,
we have 18,300 followers,
407
00:23:31,409 --> 00:23:33,078
so we're getting close to that 20.
408
00:23:36,706 --> 00:23:38,375
I'd love to hit 100K,
409
00:23:38,834 --> 00:23:42,671
not for any other reason other
than I just think it looks cool,
410
00:23:42,754 --> 00:23:45,006
and it would make me seem cool.
411
00:23:49,094 --> 00:23:52,514
And now that I've vocalized that,
I don't feel cool!
412
00:23:55,100 --> 00:23:56,476
My name is Erika.
413
00:23:56,726 --> 00:23:57,769
I love you.
414
00:23:58,103 --> 00:24:00,564
And my cat is Fat Cat Hercules.
415
00:24:01,731 --> 00:24:03,108
He's called Fat Cat Hercules
416
00:24:03,191 --> 00:24:06,945
because it's literally exactly
what you think when you see him.
417
00:24:07,195 --> 00:24:11,491
You're just like,
"Damn! That is a fat cat!"
418
00:24:13,326 --> 00:24:15,579
Hercules is a hard-hitting,
419
00:24:16,246 --> 00:24:18,665
fast-talking, foul-mouthed,
420
00:24:19,499 --> 00:24:22,085
smooth with the lady cats,
421
00:24:22,460 --> 00:24:24,504
Internet-tainer on a diet.
422
00:24:28,967 --> 00:24:31,303
I decided to start an Instagram
for Hercules
423
00:24:31,970 --> 00:24:34,014
the same day that we decided
to put him on a diet.
424
00:24:39,311 --> 00:24:41,771
The primary reason was because
I wanted to be
425
00:24:41,855 --> 00:24:43,690
accountable as a pet owner.
426
00:24:46,526 --> 00:24:48,320
But it is quite expensive
427
00:24:48,403 --> 00:24:50,280
to be getting this fancy food
from the vet
428
00:24:50,363 --> 00:24:51,615
and to keep him on a diet.
429
00:24:52,866 --> 00:24:55,827
So, I'd love to be able to have
compensation from that
430
00:24:55,911 --> 00:24:58,747
to help offset the cost of his diet
and all the check-ups.
431
00:24:59,873 --> 00:25:02,250
Last time he was 27.9 pounds.
432
00:25:08,632 --> 00:25:10,425
I think to get to that 100K,
433
00:25:10,508 --> 00:25:14,262
what we need is, we need like
a good viral post.
434
00:25:14,346 --> 00:25:17,265
We need something that ends up
on Cats of Instagram.
435
00:25:17,599 --> 00:25:19,768
We need something that could
even be picked up
436
00:25:19,851 --> 00:25:21,478
on a local news channel,
437
00:25:21,811 --> 00:25:23,897
and I think having some sponsorship
438
00:25:23,980 --> 00:25:26,816
and getting behind
with some good brands
439
00:25:26,900 --> 00:25:28,443
would really help us.
440
00:25:35,200 --> 00:25:37,244
I think a repost from
Cats of Instagram
441
00:25:37,327 --> 00:25:39,496
-would be very, very good for us.
-That would be phenomenal.
442
00:25:39,579 --> 00:25:41,039
-Phenomenal, of course.
-Yeah.
443
00:25:41,373 --> 00:25:43,083
They have a huge following.
444
00:25:43,166 --> 00:25:44,376
We get a lot of submissions,
445
00:25:44,459 --> 00:25:47,587
like 2,000 or so a day
just through our website.
446
00:25:48,129 --> 00:25:52,008
There are some themes that we
see repeating similarities with.
447
00:25:52,425 --> 00:25:53,635
Things like cats
with their tongues out.
448
00:25:55,136 --> 00:25:56,137
Cats yawning.
449
00:25:57,555 --> 00:25:59,099
Cats wearing clothes.
450
00:25:59,557 --> 00:26:00,475
See a lot of those.
451
00:26:00,558 --> 00:26:02,769
We see cats with bowties.
452
00:26:02,852 --> 00:26:04,020
There's a lot of those, yeah.
453
00:26:04,271 --> 00:26:05,313
Outdoor cats.
454
00:26:05,397 --> 00:26:07,107
Yeah, that's a big one.
455
00:26:07,190 --> 00:26:08,817
Cats laying upside-down.
456
00:26:09,401 --> 00:26:11,528
All those things
tend to be big hitters.
457
00:26:11,611 --> 00:26:14,489
I also have a pirate theme,
which is, you know...
458
00:26:14,823 --> 00:26:15,824
Yeah!
459
00:26:15,907 --> 00:26:17,284
You know, one-eyed cats.
460
00:26:17,367 --> 00:26:19,452
-Yeah, yeah, yeah.
461
00:26:20,662 --> 00:26:23,456
I don't know if they like
being called pirates,
462
00:26:23,540 --> 00:26:26,293
if that's, you know,
a word that they don't like.
463
00:26:26,376 --> 00:26:28,837
We don't try to have a bias
on what we decide to post.
464
00:26:29,129 --> 00:26:31,548
We don't have a bias
where it's cats with this or without.
465
00:26:31,631 --> 00:26:33,758
But we just find them
adorable either way.
466
00:26:33,842 --> 00:26:34,759
Yeah.
467
00:26:34,843 --> 00:26:37,178
Use this, "This belly
isn't gonna rub itself."
468
00:26:37,846 --> 00:26:39,931
That one seems like
it's the best choice.
469
00:26:41,099 --> 00:26:43,685
I think one of my favorite
things about working
470
00:26:43,768 --> 00:26:47,063
for Cats of Instagram is
discovering these new stars,
471
00:26:47,147 --> 00:26:49,649
and kind of pushing them
into the light.
472
00:26:54,362 --> 00:26:55,655
-Submit.
-Submit!
473
00:26:56,448 --> 00:26:57,991
We're either gonna get them
474
00:26:58,074 --> 00:27:00,452
to post us within the next few days,
475
00:27:00,535 --> 00:27:02,203
or we're just not gonna get anything.
476
00:27:02,287 --> 00:27:03,663
Or tell us to revise our caption.
477
00:27:03,747 --> 00:27:06,958
Yeah! You can get heartbroken,
but it's cool.
478
00:27:11,546 --> 00:27:14,924
If you have a large following,
it can be a full-time job.
479
00:27:15,675 --> 00:27:18,762
As long as there's something
about that cat
480
00:27:18,845 --> 00:27:21,222
that stands out and gets
people's attention,
481
00:27:21,306 --> 00:27:23,099
it has the potential
to take off.
482
00:27:23,558 --> 00:27:24,768
My name is Loni Edwards,
483
00:27:24,851 --> 00:27:27,228
and I'm the founder of the first
talent management agency
484
00:27:27,312 --> 00:27:28,938
to focus on pet influencers.
485
00:27:30,732 --> 00:27:33,651
Pet influencer is a pet
on social media,
486
00:27:33,735 --> 00:27:35,236
usually Instagram or Facebook,
487
00:27:35,320 --> 00:27:36,988
that's developed a large following,
488
00:27:37,072 --> 00:27:40,241
and as a result, is able
to turn it into a business.
489
00:27:42,243 --> 00:27:43,453
If you want it to be a full-time job,
490
00:27:43,536 --> 00:27:45,830
then you need to be creating
really solid content.
491
00:27:46,122 --> 00:27:48,541
and putting in the effort,
engaging with your audience,
492
00:27:50,627 --> 00:27:52,212
and really making it your job.
493
00:27:53,254 --> 00:27:54,964
It's kind of like any business, right?
494
00:27:55,048 --> 00:27:56,341
You're risking it all,
495
00:27:56,424 --> 00:27:58,385
saying that I'm going to put in
more time,
496
00:27:58,551 --> 00:28:00,387
work with the cats non-stop,
497
00:28:00,470 --> 00:28:05,725
and just see if it's possible
to increase their followings,
498
00:28:05,809 --> 00:28:09,020
and then, of course,
get more money per post.
499
00:28:13,066 --> 00:28:15,318
My background's in law.
I went to Harvard Law School
500
00:28:15,402 --> 00:28:17,987
and worked at a big law firm
before becoming an entrepreneur.
501
00:28:21,157 --> 00:28:23,576
I realized that there was this
whole industry starting to grow
502
00:28:23,660 --> 00:28:25,412
around these pet influencers.
503
00:28:26,663 --> 00:28:30,208
And at the time, when brands
wanted to work with cats,
504
00:28:30,291 --> 00:28:32,585
they would be just combing Instagram
505
00:28:32,669 --> 00:28:35,463
and sending out hundreds
of direct messages,
506
00:28:35,547 --> 00:28:37,340
trying to get these cats' attention,
507
00:28:37,424 --> 00:28:39,718
and the whole process
was really disconnected.
508
00:28:40,176 --> 00:28:41,761
So, I created the agency.
509
00:28:43,179 --> 00:28:46,725
And we quickly signed a bunch
of influencers,
510
00:28:46,808 --> 00:28:48,059
and we just took off from there.
511
00:28:51,730 --> 00:28:54,149
It seems at first blush
to be very unusual
512
00:28:54,232 --> 00:28:56,151
that people would be able to make a living
513
00:28:56,234 --> 00:28:58,570
while making videos of
their pets, right?
514
00:28:59,779 --> 00:29:01,823
But if you sort of unpack that
a little bit,
515
00:29:01,906 --> 00:29:03,825
you'll find that it makes
a lot of sense.
516
00:29:05,243 --> 00:29:07,620
Cats, they make people smile,
they make people laugh.
517
00:29:08,246 --> 00:29:10,832
When brands are partnering
with these cat influencers,
518
00:29:11,332 --> 00:29:13,793
they're tapping into those
feelings of their consumer,
519
00:29:14,085 --> 00:29:17,380
and showing that they agree
and they have those same feelings.
520
00:29:28,391 --> 00:29:30,268
Cats of Instagram
is our biggest client.
521
00:29:30,351 --> 00:29:32,020
They have over nine million followers.
522
00:29:32,103 --> 00:29:34,439
They're probably the biggest
pet account.
523
00:29:38,318 --> 00:29:41,196
The main revenue for us
is still sponsored posts.
524
00:29:41,279 --> 00:29:43,448
That's the bread and butter, absolutely.
525
00:29:44,657 --> 00:29:47,368
The price per post
is a combination of the following
526
00:29:47,452 --> 00:29:48,912
in that engagement.
527
00:29:49,287 --> 00:29:53,208
The smaller influencers
with 20-50,000 followers
528
00:29:53,291 --> 00:29:56,669
are in the hundreds
to around $1,000 per post.
529
00:29:56,753 --> 00:29:58,671
And then, the ones with
millions of followers
530
00:29:58,880 --> 00:30:00,381
are in the 15K range.
531
00:30:02,383 --> 00:30:03,468
On average, yeah.
532
00:30:04,761 --> 00:30:06,095
If you think of how much work
533
00:30:06,179 --> 00:30:08,598
went into building that following
and nurturing that following,
534
00:30:08,681 --> 00:30:11,142
and all the content that's
created day in and day out,
535
00:30:11,684 --> 00:30:13,728
the value they're providing
to the brand is very fair.
536
00:30:23,780 --> 00:30:27,200
I would say on average,
Pudge makes about 50% of my income,
537
00:30:27,617 --> 00:30:29,536
the other 50% being
Cats of Instagram.
538
00:30:32,872 --> 00:30:34,290
This is my cat, Pudge.
539
00:30:35,542 --> 00:30:38,419
Honestly, the weirdest cat,
I think, ever.
540
00:30:41,714 --> 00:30:46,678
Pudge just lays
in the middle of a room like this,
541
00:30:46,761 --> 00:30:48,429
like she's a dog or something.
542
00:30:49,514 --> 00:30:50,765
What are you doing?
543
00:30:51,599 --> 00:30:54,811
I remember when I hit, like,
300,000 followers,
544
00:30:55,353 --> 00:30:56,855
that's when I think it really
started to feel
545
00:30:56,938 --> 00:30:58,982
like she was officially famous.
546
00:31:00,275 --> 00:31:03,069
Today, I noticed she's at over
1.1 million followers.
547
00:31:07,031 --> 00:31:09,367
With Pudge, after becoming famous,
548
00:31:09,951 --> 00:31:12,745
she's now been able
to be in commercials.
549
00:31:13,162 --> 00:31:15,290
She's been in Hollywood films,
550
00:31:15,373 --> 00:31:19,127
works with partners,
food brands, does giveaways.
551
00:31:20,253 --> 00:31:23,548
As far as working with partners
on Instagram and stuff,
552
00:31:23,631 --> 00:31:27,051
I kind of only choose people
that I'll have fun with,
553
00:31:27,176 --> 00:31:30,805
and that I feel like her fans
will appreciate.
554
00:31:31,222 --> 00:31:34,225
That way, the brand sees
the best outcome,
555
00:31:35,768 --> 00:31:40,231
and my followers don't feel
like they're being, like, used.
556
00:31:40,732 --> 00:31:42,233
Oh, yeah, that looks great.
557
00:31:43,693 --> 00:31:45,945
You can't force these things, basically.
558
00:31:46,487 --> 00:31:49,407
When something's genuine,
that's when it does well.
559
00:32:06,841 --> 00:32:09,677
When I first started Suki's page,
it was just purely for the fact
560
00:32:09,761 --> 00:32:12,013
that I didn't want my own
photography page
561
00:32:12,096 --> 00:32:14,223
to get taken over by this cat.
562
00:32:15,892 --> 00:32:17,018
So, I think it's quite funny
563
00:32:17,101 --> 00:32:21,189
that her page has now become
a bigger part of my business
564
00:32:21,272 --> 00:32:24,108
than my original photography page!
565
00:32:26,361 --> 00:32:27,445
My name is Marti,
566
00:32:27,528 --> 00:32:29,322
and this is my kitty, Suki.
567
00:32:31,074 --> 00:32:33,493
Suki's Instagram account, @sukiicat,
568
00:32:33,952 --> 00:32:37,205
has been active for about a year
and three months now.
569
00:32:39,415 --> 00:32:44,212
And she's at one million followers
as of about a week ago.
570
00:32:50,134 --> 00:32:52,428
I actually had a cat before Suki,
571
00:32:52,512 --> 00:32:55,264
and she passed away
at 19 years old.
572
00:32:55,890 --> 00:32:58,935
The house started to feel
really lonely really quick,
573
00:32:59,018 --> 00:33:02,230
so I started to do some research
into different cat breeds,
574
00:33:02,313 --> 00:33:06,275
and I found that Bengals
typically have a lot of energy.
575
00:33:06,484 --> 00:33:07,694
They like to go outside,
576
00:33:07,777 --> 00:33:10,321
and I decided that maybe
I'd have a chance
577
00:33:10,405 --> 00:33:12,615
with this type of cat
to be able to actually,
578
00:33:12,699 --> 00:33:14,409
like, take it with me on my trips.
579
00:33:15,868 --> 00:33:17,662
I think something
that's important for me
580
00:33:17,745 --> 00:33:20,081
is always, like, trying to stay relevant,
581
00:33:20,957 --> 00:33:23,751
and branching out
in as many ways as possible
582
00:33:23,835 --> 00:33:26,754
to sort of find some sort of security.
583
00:33:28,297 --> 00:33:30,258
We're working on a Suki merch line.
584
00:33:31,551 --> 00:33:33,720
All of the artwork
that's on the merchandise
585
00:33:33,803 --> 00:33:36,139
that we'll be releasing on her
new website right away
586
00:33:36,222 --> 00:33:37,807
is actually drawn by myself.
587
00:33:39,392 --> 00:33:41,894
All of the designs are made by me.
588
00:33:42,478 --> 00:33:45,815
A big part of the whole Bub thing
is our merchandise.
589
00:33:49,569 --> 00:33:53,197
At this point, there's almost
nothing we haven't done.
590
00:33:53,614 --> 00:33:56,868
So, we have a plush toy,
glow-and-purr plush toy
591
00:33:56,951 --> 00:33:59,620
where you pet Bub
and it's her actual sounds,
592
00:33:59,704 --> 00:34:01,247
-her purrs and meows.
593
00:34:01,330 --> 00:34:04,876
A bobblehead with sound, pillows.
594
00:34:05,585 --> 00:34:08,004
We do Christmas sweaters,
Christmas hats,
595
00:34:08,087 --> 00:34:09,964
every kind of T-shirt,
tank you can imagine,
596
00:34:10,048 --> 00:34:12,508
leggings, giant queen-size blankets,
597
00:34:12,759 --> 00:34:16,637
books, watches, mugs, travel mugs.
598
00:34:16,846 --> 00:34:19,515
And I manage all of this myself.
599
00:34:20,099 --> 00:34:23,019
I do the timeline,
I do the shipping, the inventory,
600
00:34:23,269 --> 00:34:24,312
get into the warehouse.
601
00:34:24,395 --> 00:34:27,440
I do the marketing, the advertising,
the customer service.
602
00:34:27,774 --> 00:34:29,984
I do all of it, and it's insane.
603
00:34:30,610 --> 00:34:33,613
The strategy is to stay relevant
in some sort of way,
604
00:34:33,696 --> 00:34:35,907
to reinvent yourself
that attracts people
605
00:34:35,990 --> 00:34:37,825
back to social media,
to be creative with it.
606
00:34:38,576 --> 00:34:41,996
So many people want to cuddle
with Monty,
607
00:34:42,663 --> 00:34:44,582
and now, we're gonna solve
that problem.
608
00:34:45,333 --> 00:34:46,417
Look.
609
00:34:48,252 --> 00:34:50,129
Look! I made this for you!
610
00:34:50,713 --> 00:34:53,382
So, even when the social media
world collapses,
611
00:34:53,716 --> 00:34:54,675
you have something else.
612
00:34:54,759 --> 00:34:56,469
You know, a viable product
that's no different
613
00:34:56,552 --> 00:34:58,679
than a football player
that buys a car dealership
614
00:34:58,805 --> 00:35:00,098
for after retirement, you know.
615
00:35:00,181 --> 00:35:02,100
It's just money that's well-invested.
616
00:35:03,643 --> 00:35:06,395
My name is Mick Szydlowski,
and this is my cat, Klaus.
617
00:35:12,151 --> 00:35:13,569
He's easy to love.
618
00:35:14,153 --> 00:35:16,823
He is definitely a personality.
619
00:35:17,365 --> 00:35:19,325
He's pretty fearless.
620
00:35:19,784 --> 00:35:23,412
I think it might be the product
of his former life as a stray cat,
621
00:35:23,496 --> 00:35:25,915
and that's kind of the charm.
622
00:35:26,541 --> 00:35:29,710
I would say overall,
Klaus has one million fans,
623
00:35:29,794 --> 00:35:31,379
followers around the world.
624
00:35:32,004 --> 00:35:34,006
It's a huge number, yeah, absolutely.
625
00:35:35,133 --> 00:35:37,760
The people that know Oskar
and Klaus on the Internet
626
00:35:37,844 --> 00:35:39,512
know both of them as a duo.
627
00:35:43,933 --> 00:35:46,060
Klaus was kind of the reluctant sidekick
628
00:35:46,144 --> 00:35:47,436
that got pulled into a lot of adventures,
629
00:35:47,520 --> 00:35:49,147
but he has his own charm
630
00:35:49,230 --> 00:35:51,607
and a lot of people came
because of Oskar.
631
00:35:51,691 --> 00:35:53,734
They stayed because of Klaus,
and, you know,
632
00:35:53,818 --> 00:35:56,195
they're still following
his adventures to this day.
633
00:35:58,948 --> 00:36:02,702
We were very lucky to be
on board in the early phase.
634
00:36:03,411 --> 00:36:06,080
Obviously, there are changes
within social media networks
635
00:36:06,164 --> 00:36:08,791
that obviously dictate how hard it is,
636
00:36:09,500 --> 00:36:12,461
you know, or how easy for some people
it is to succeed in this.
637
00:36:13,838 --> 00:36:16,674
I followed a lot of very famous
cat accounts,
638
00:36:16,757 --> 00:36:18,426
but they kind of stagnated.
639
00:36:18,509 --> 00:36:19,886
Even though they have
a huge following,
640
00:36:19,969 --> 00:36:22,847
to me, it's not interesting anymore
because I have seen this picture.
641
00:36:23,139 --> 00:36:25,558
I saw the picture the year before
and the year before that.
642
00:36:25,641 --> 00:36:26,726
It gets old.
643
00:36:27,310 --> 00:36:29,937
I wish I knew the formula for it.
644
00:36:30,521 --> 00:36:33,608
I think one thing that tends
to happen on platforms
645
00:36:33,691 --> 00:36:36,485
in general is something
that has been called
646
00:36:36,569 --> 00:36:37,945
the gentrification of the feed.
647
00:36:39,864 --> 00:36:44,035
If you think about any platform
in its infancy,
648
00:36:44,118 --> 00:36:47,663
what you tend to have is just
like a lot of noise.
649
00:36:48,289 --> 00:36:50,082
What are you two doing?
Say hi to Daddy.
650
00:36:50,166 --> 00:36:54,837
And then, like, these, like,
amateurs who have done something great
651
00:36:54,921 --> 00:36:56,464
will break through.
652
00:36:56,547 --> 00:36:59,800
There's just like a ton
of happy accidents, like Lil Bub.
653
00:37:01,302 --> 00:37:04,722
Then, as these platforms get
more and more professionalized...
654
00:37:08,893 --> 00:37:11,604
People who, like,
who are doing it to make money
655
00:37:11,687 --> 00:37:15,566
or to go viral, they're doing it
very purposefully.
656
00:37:18,069 --> 00:37:21,614
You have fewer and fewer
of these happy accidents,
657
00:37:21,697 --> 00:37:23,991
and everything becomes more intentional
658
00:37:24,075 --> 00:37:26,869
and more, like, professionalized
and more polished.
659
00:37:27,912 --> 00:37:29,705
People really have to be creative,
660
00:37:29,956 --> 00:37:33,084
emulate less of what
the accounts are right now,
661
00:37:33,459 --> 00:37:35,127
and really have a new approach,
you know.
662
00:37:36,128 --> 00:37:37,964
I think there will always be
a place
663
00:37:38,297 --> 00:37:41,092
for the average funny cat picture,
664
00:37:41,425 --> 00:37:43,511
and people will always
want to share that,
665
00:37:43,761 --> 00:37:46,681
but if you're thinking about
Internet culture as a whole,
666
00:37:46,764 --> 00:37:48,432
I think we are getting to a place
667
00:37:48,516 --> 00:37:50,434
where people want more refined content,
668
00:37:50,768 --> 00:37:53,437
and people want to see something
that takes effort,
669
00:37:53,521 --> 00:37:55,106
and like, it shows.
670
00:37:55,273 --> 00:37:58,567
They want something beautiful
to encroach their feeds
671
00:37:58,651 --> 00:38:00,486
just as much as they want the silly.
672
00:38:18,754 --> 00:38:21,424
I would say Princess Cheeto
is my muse,
673
00:38:21,507 --> 00:38:25,261
and like, some photographers
have supermodel celebrities.
674
00:38:25,678 --> 00:38:28,431
For me, Princess Cheeto is my muse.
675
00:39:00,796 --> 00:39:02,089
My name is Hugo Martinez,
676
00:39:02,173 --> 00:39:04,800
and we're here at WhiteWall, SoHo,
677
00:39:05,217 --> 00:39:08,220
and this is my first Cheeto exhibit.
678
00:39:16,645 --> 00:39:20,232
My images, they were always
meant to be for the Internet.
679
00:39:21,776 --> 00:39:23,861
Social media is like my gallery.
680
00:39:24,070 --> 00:39:25,029
That's the way that I see it.
681
00:39:25,154 --> 00:39:26,322
When you go into my page,
682
00:39:27,448 --> 00:39:31,243
I want you to think that you're going
into a little gallery of Cheeto.
683
00:39:35,289 --> 00:39:39,585
And so, every caption is the name
that would be on the wall.
684
00:39:40,920 --> 00:39:43,839
So, this one, um, it's called
685
00:39:44,423 --> 00:39:45,883
"Take Me To Your Litter."
686
00:39:48,552 --> 00:39:52,640
Back in, like, when the memes
first started to exist in the Internet,
687
00:39:52,723 --> 00:39:57,561
like, people would actually put
lemons or oranges on the cats,
688
00:39:57,645 --> 00:39:59,480
and it was these helmets, right?
689
00:40:02,316 --> 00:40:04,985
I wanted to pay an homage to them.
690
00:40:05,653 --> 00:40:07,446
That's what came out of that,
691
00:40:07,530 --> 00:40:10,991
from being inspired by those photographs
from back in the day.
692
00:40:13,369 --> 00:40:15,788
I totally think Cheeto is pop art.
693
00:40:22,378 --> 00:40:26,215
Hugo is able to really push the boundaries
694
00:40:26,298 --> 00:40:28,467
of what cat content should be,
through his work,
695
00:40:29,009 --> 00:40:33,222
and is just using so much
creativity and playfulness
696
00:40:33,305 --> 00:40:35,641
to exhibit his cat's personalities.
697
00:40:37,518 --> 00:40:39,478
I thought I was posting pictures
of my cat,
698
00:40:39,562 --> 00:40:41,063
but then, other people are like,
699
00:40:41,147 --> 00:40:43,607
"Okay, this is more than that.
This is art."
700
00:40:44,191 --> 00:40:46,277
And it's when other people
call it that,
701
00:40:46,360 --> 00:40:48,028
I was like, "All right, cool,
you call it that?
702
00:40:48,112 --> 00:40:49,613
Well, all right, well, it's art."
703
00:40:50,448 --> 00:40:52,366
I feel like the Internet
has been my school also
704
00:40:52,450 --> 00:40:53,742
because it's like--
705
00:40:54,118 --> 00:40:55,661
Like I said, it started one way,
706
00:40:55,744 --> 00:40:58,664
and then, I've learned so much creating,
707
00:40:59,623 --> 00:41:01,584
and when you're doing it and hands-on,
708
00:41:01,792 --> 00:41:05,087
you get more experience,
and then, all of a sudden,
709
00:41:05,171 --> 00:41:06,297
you have all these pictures,
710
00:41:06,547 --> 00:41:08,048
and then, it's like you look at them,
and it's like, "Whoa!"
711
00:41:08,132 --> 00:41:09,967
Like, they all come together.
712
00:41:10,050 --> 00:41:11,302
There's a style.
713
00:41:16,932 --> 00:41:19,268
I always mention him in interviews
where it's like,
714
00:41:19,351 --> 00:41:21,520
"What's your cat celebrity
that you like to follow?"
715
00:41:21,604 --> 00:41:23,606
Or "What's your favorite
other cat account?"
716
00:41:23,856 --> 00:41:25,566
He's a domestic shorthair,
I mean,
717
00:41:25,774 --> 00:41:27,151
which is still an adorable cat,
718
00:41:27,234 --> 00:41:28,819
but he's made it
into this whole thing.
719
00:41:28,903 --> 00:41:30,237
Oh, that's a great example
720
00:41:30,321 --> 00:41:32,907
for how you could turn
just an average cat
721
00:41:32,990 --> 00:41:37,244
that you feel like doesn't have
a quirk to set it apart,
722
00:41:38,204 --> 00:41:39,663
and turn it into something that does,
723
00:41:39,747 --> 00:41:42,166
and something that has
this whole look,
724
00:41:42,791 --> 00:41:45,169
a brand, if you will, to follow.
725
00:41:46,295 --> 00:41:48,172
Building a strong brand is one
of the most important things
726
00:41:48,255 --> 00:41:49,673
a cat influencer can do
727
00:41:49,757 --> 00:41:52,593
because that's what makes
that cat kind of stand out.
728
00:41:52,676 --> 00:41:54,845
It makes them recognizable.
729
00:41:56,222 --> 00:41:58,891
People understand what they're getting
when they come to the page.
730
00:42:16,283 --> 00:42:19,870
Hercules never set out to have
any particular brand,
731
00:42:19,954 --> 00:42:24,291
but because he's genuinely
authentic as,
732
00:42:24,375 --> 00:42:26,043
I want to say as a person...
733
00:42:27,878 --> 00:42:30,631
His brand has created itself.
734
00:42:35,636 --> 00:42:38,764
People love to see a fat,
chubby cat and a big cat belly,
735
00:42:40,474 --> 00:42:43,394
but there is this constant struggle.
736
00:42:43,936 --> 00:42:45,729
The more weight he loses,
737
00:42:45,896 --> 00:42:48,983
the less on-brand he's going to be.
738
00:42:49,733 --> 00:42:51,110
He's still going to have his charm,
739
00:42:51,193 --> 00:42:55,155
but his je ne sais quoi
is going to be missing.
740
00:42:55,781 --> 00:42:58,617
It's almost like
a self-destructing brand, in a way,
741
00:42:58,951 --> 00:43:00,744
and it worries me a little bit,
742
00:43:00,828 --> 00:43:03,122
but really, for his own health
and wellness,
743
00:43:03,205 --> 00:43:04,832
you have to embrace that.
744
00:43:08,335 --> 00:43:12,256
He's not this untouchable,
you know, celebrity cat.
745
00:43:12,673 --> 00:43:14,466
He's someone that people
can look up to,
746
00:43:14,550 --> 00:43:17,219
who they can, you know,
learn a little bit from,
747
00:43:17,303 --> 00:43:20,848
but who they can also feel
an actual personal connection to,
748
00:43:20,931 --> 00:43:22,641
and that is really part of our brand.
749
00:43:37,531 --> 00:43:41,619
The best way to describe Suki's brand
would be, like, adventure lifestyle.
750
00:43:42,453 --> 00:43:44,913
Suki and I have been on a lot
of adventures!
751
00:43:46,457 --> 00:43:48,917
I think it's really important
to have a defined brand
752
00:43:49,001 --> 00:43:51,587
when you're trying to start
an Instagram page.
753
00:43:52,630 --> 00:43:54,340
I definitely believe that that's what
754
00:43:54,423 --> 00:43:56,300
sort of catapulted Suki's page forward
755
00:43:56,383 --> 00:43:58,427
in terms of gaining that following.
756
00:43:58,802 --> 00:44:01,096
It's just having a very distinct style,
757
00:44:02,014 --> 00:44:05,142
and a very distinct set of images.
758
00:44:11,982 --> 00:44:14,610
Suki gains a lot of followers
on a weekly basis.
759
00:44:14,985 --> 00:44:18,155
It's usually between 7,000 to 15,000,
760
00:44:18,530 --> 00:44:20,324
I would say is her average per week.
761
00:44:23,535 --> 00:44:26,246
We started taking her out
at three months old.
762
00:44:26,622 --> 00:44:27,998
She likes water.
763
00:44:28,916 --> 00:44:30,751
She's definitely fascinated by it.
764
00:44:33,128 --> 00:44:34,713
She'll do a bit of hiking.
765
00:44:41,303 --> 00:44:45,265
I think crossing between
different sort of categories
766
00:44:45,349 --> 00:44:47,810
of interest is really important
for Suki's page,
767
00:44:47,935 --> 00:44:51,021
because she actually doesn't get,
like, a lot of cat features
768
00:44:51,105 --> 00:44:53,690
and stuff like that
in comparison to features
769
00:44:53,774 --> 00:44:57,277
on photography pages,
and features on travel pages.
770
00:44:59,738 --> 00:45:03,075
I like that the cat sort of appeals
771
00:45:03,242 --> 00:45:05,119
to such a variety of interests.
772
00:45:16,463 --> 00:45:20,759
It's difficult for me to figure out
what the perfect post looks like.
773
00:45:21,635 --> 00:45:26,056
My captions are usually between
like one to four words.
774
00:45:26,348 --> 00:45:29,935
For me, it's really more about
the photography and the imagery.
775
00:45:30,477 --> 00:45:34,231
Suki's most popular post to date
was a photo of her
776
00:45:34,314 --> 00:45:36,150
at just a really nice lake
777
00:45:36,233 --> 00:45:38,277
with a mountain
in the background at sunset,
778
00:45:39,278 --> 00:45:41,864
and I managed to catch Suki
in the middle of a blink.
779
00:45:42,364 --> 00:45:45,784
So, she looked like the epitome
of, like, Zen kitty.
780
00:45:47,077 --> 00:45:51,999
That photo got, I think it's at
like 192,000 likes right now,
781
00:45:52,458 --> 00:45:55,919
and maybe 1,500 comments.
782
00:45:56,962 --> 00:45:59,006
I did do a lot of editing in post.
783
00:45:59,089 --> 00:46:01,884
The sunset was a bit bland,
so I made it really pink.
784
00:46:02,050 --> 00:46:06,346
The whole theme of the photo was
like pastel pink cotton candy.
785
00:46:06,972 --> 00:46:07,973
It's like a model.
786
00:46:08,056 --> 00:46:10,642
You know, I got to, like, retouch
the model's face, you know?
787
00:46:11,143 --> 00:46:12,561
And so, I have to make it perfect
788
00:46:12,978 --> 00:46:14,271
when I'm creating the photos.
789
00:46:14,563 --> 00:46:16,064
It's like every little hair and stuff,
790
00:46:16,148 --> 00:46:18,358
like, it has to be precise.
791
00:46:20,027 --> 00:46:22,613
A lot of the time,
I'll post a before picture,
792
00:46:22,696 --> 00:46:24,990
so before I've actually started
the editing process,
793
00:46:25,073 --> 00:46:27,284
and then, right after,
I'll post the shot
794
00:46:27,367 --> 00:46:30,078
where the photo has been
completely edited.
795
00:46:30,329 --> 00:46:33,582
There's a lot of people
who are disappointed
796
00:46:33,665 --> 00:46:38,378
that something isn't 100% how it was
straight out of the camera.
797
00:46:38,670 --> 00:46:41,465
For example, I'll usually
enhance Suki's eyes.
798
00:46:41,840 --> 00:46:45,052
Um, they're kind of naturally
an emerald green color,
799
00:46:45,135 --> 00:46:47,930
and I'll usually pop it over
to the blue side of things.
800
00:46:48,889 --> 00:46:51,934
So, people will comment like,
"That's Photoshop, that's fake!"
801
00:46:52,809 --> 00:46:55,270
I'm still going to continue
showing the process,
802
00:46:55,354 --> 00:46:56,647
because it's good for people to see
803
00:46:56,730 --> 00:46:59,525
how much work really does go
into these images.
804
00:47:00,150 --> 00:47:02,402
I wish I could put a disclosure
on the caption
805
00:47:02,486 --> 00:47:05,781
where it's like, you know,
"This image has been modified."
806
00:47:06,949 --> 00:47:09,284
It's like, "Um, honey, like,
you need to go to school
807
00:47:09,368 --> 00:47:12,538
if you think that this is,
like, on her head."
808
00:47:14,498 --> 00:47:16,291
I don't want to just look
at pretty cats.
809
00:47:16,416 --> 00:47:17,459
If I wanted to look at pretty cats,
810
00:47:17,543 --> 00:47:19,086
I would just stare at Hercules all day.
811
00:47:21,088 --> 00:47:22,631
I want to be entertained.
812
00:47:22,798 --> 00:47:25,634
So, I'm looking for unique,
I'm looking for different,
813
00:47:25,717 --> 00:47:27,135
and that's what I try to create
814
00:47:27,219 --> 00:47:28,929
when I'm creating my own perfect post.
815
00:47:30,389 --> 00:47:32,808
Hercules doesn't actually do much.
816
00:47:34,726 --> 00:47:36,395
Hey, Herc.
817
00:47:36,478 --> 00:47:38,021
You ready for your photoshoot?
818
00:47:38,105 --> 00:47:40,774
So, getting videos of him
being adorable is...
819
00:47:41,817 --> 00:47:43,193
challenging.
820
00:47:53,328 --> 00:47:55,414
I try to model the celebrity cats
821
00:47:55,497 --> 00:47:59,334
in a way where I'm trying to be on-brand,
822
00:47:59,418 --> 00:48:01,878
I'm trying to post with intent.
823
00:48:01,962 --> 00:48:03,755
I'm trying to post quality.
824
00:48:04,423 --> 00:48:07,551
But I think a caption
is equally as important
825
00:48:07,634 --> 00:48:08,885
as the actual photo,
826
00:48:08,969 --> 00:48:11,346
and in some instances,
even more important.
827
00:48:15,058 --> 00:48:17,311
What do you guys
think of Fat Cat's captions?
828
00:48:17,519 --> 00:48:20,230
It's great.
Captions are always the hardest part.
829
00:48:20,314 --> 00:48:21,732
I'm so bad at captions.
830
00:48:21,815 --> 00:48:23,692
Yeah! It's a struggle.
831
00:48:23,775 --> 00:48:26,320
You spend like an hour
thinking of a six-word sentence.
832
00:48:27,321 --> 00:48:29,615
But that can be a good place
to use, like, memes
833
00:48:29,698 --> 00:48:31,366
or, like, current trends.
834
00:48:39,374 --> 00:48:41,835
"I'm down two--" I love this!
835
00:48:41,918 --> 00:48:43,378
-Yeah, this is really funny.
-Okay,
836
00:48:43,462 --> 00:48:47,132
on a note of saying that
captions can make everything,
837
00:48:47,215 --> 00:48:48,759
I'm already loving the bio.
838
00:48:49,718 --> 00:48:51,345
"I'm taking over the world
one Tunatini at a time."
839
00:48:51,428 --> 00:48:53,263
It's great, the bio's great.
840
00:48:53,889 --> 00:48:55,265
You know what would be good
if they did, like,
841
00:48:55,349 --> 00:48:57,184
what the meal plan is for the week.
842
00:48:57,267 --> 00:48:58,226
Yeah, oh! Yeah!
843
00:48:58,310 --> 00:48:59,686
That would be cool. Yeah.
844
00:49:00,270 --> 00:49:02,105
Do like a meal prep Monday.
845
00:49:02,189 --> 00:49:04,024
Go yeah! There's a
hashtag right there.
846
00:49:04,107 --> 00:49:05,442
Yeah, absolutely.
847
00:49:05,859 --> 00:49:07,819
To really take that to
the next level as far as,
848
00:49:07,903 --> 00:49:10,656
if that's your branding,
like, take that and own it,
849
00:49:10,739 --> 00:49:12,157
and then, you can totally
get a sponsorship
850
00:49:12,240 --> 00:49:14,201
with like a nutrition company
doing that, yeah.
851
00:49:14,284 --> 00:49:15,243
-Oh, yeah.
-Yeah.
852
00:49:15,410 --> 00:49:18,121
I love him, though.
Fat Cat Hercules, so cute.
853
00:49:18,622 --> 00:49:21,917
Hey, what you doing?
Are you pooping?
854
00:49:31,927 --> 00:49:33,136
When you're asking, "Why cats?"
855
00:49:33,220 --> 00:49:34,763
You're asking why cats and not dogs?
856
00:49:35,597 --> 00:49:38,141
There's no one answer. I think
it's a lot of sort of small answers
857
00:49:38,225 --> 00:49:39,559
that sort of add up.
858
00:49:39,851 --> 00:49:41,895
It's not like, "Why do cats
beat out sloths?"
859
00:49:41,978 --> 00:49:43,814
Like, 'cause nobody has sloths
in their home.
860
00:49:43,897 --> 00:49:45,941
It's really a two-animal race.
861
00:49:46,608 --> 00:49:48,610
Why is it that there are 12
862
00:49:48,694 --> 00:49:51,863
emoji Unicode expressions
for cats,
863
00:49:52,572 --> 00:49:54,783
when there are only two for dogs?
864
00:49:56,868 --> 00:49:58,704
Dogs are not mysterious to us.
865
00:49:58,787 --> 00:50:01,164
We think we understand dogs
and they're kind of one-note.
866
00:50:02,582 --> 00:50:03,792
Cats are very different.
867
00:50:04,042 --> 00:50:06,420
Cats are independent,
they're hunters.
868
00:50:07,379 --> 00:50:09,923
Cats have captured
our imagination,
869
00:50:10,006 --> 00:50:12,843
because we really don't understand them,
870
00:50:13,093 --> 00:50:15,345
but we want to so badly.
871
00:50:18,306 --> 00:50:21,810
My initial thought is cats are weird.
872
00:50:26,565 --> 00:50:27,816
They're quirky.
873
00:50:27,983 --> 00:50:31,820
They're unpredictable and
uncontrollable in a lot of ways.
874
00:50:32,112 --> 00:50:34,656
You kind of have to win over
their affection.
875
00:50:35,323 --> 00:50:36,158
Hi, baby!
876
00:50:36,450 --> 00:50:38,660
-Oh, Suki, come back!
877
00:50:39,244 --> 00:50:41,371
She doesn't like it
when you talk to her!
878
00:50:45,000 --> 00:50:46,501
Are you happy to see me?
879
00:50:48,795 --> 00:50:49,963
So cranky.
880
00:50:50,589 --> 00:50:52,007
Cats are assholes!
881
00:50:59,681 --> 00:51:02,517
We've had a little incident.
Nathan, hey.
882
00:51:04,311 --> 00:51:05,896
You've smeared it, too, Nate,
have you?
883
00:51:05,979 --> 00:51:09,858
Cats are always looking down
on you and judging you.
884
00:51:10,776 --> 00:51:12,027
And yet, you love it.
885
00:51:12,903 --> 00:51:16,782
They're like, they're like
the worst friend you have...
886
00:51:17,199 --> 00:51:19,201
...that you're
still friends with.
887
00:51:19,785 --> 00:51:20,911
You don't really know why.
888
00:51:20,994 --> 00:51:23,163
He puts his legs on me like this,
889
00:51:24,247 --> 00:51:27,626
showing love and affection.
890
00:51:29,211 --> 00:51:31,880
Cats try to get your attention,
891
00:51:31,963 --> 00:51:34,049
but once they get your attention,
892
00:51:34,758 --> 00:51:36,426
they don't want it anymore,
893
00:51:36,510 --> 00:51:38,804
and maybe that's a deep metaphor
for life.
894
00:51:45,519 --> 00:51:49,314
There's this tendency to perhaps
anthropomorphize cats in a way
895
00:51:49,397 --> 00:51:52,400
that, like, we don't necessarily see
with other animals.
896
00:51:53,360 --> 00:51:56,112
We like to personify them.
897
00:51:57,322 --> 00:52:01,493
We like to attribute human
impulses to them.
898
00:52:02,244 --> 00:52:04,412
They can be this, like,
really good blank slate.
899
00:52:10,544 --> 00:52:13,004
Well, they have
very human-like expressions,
900
00:52:13,797 --> 00:52:16,675
and Izzy truly has actual expressions.
901
00:52:16,758 --> 00:52:18,093
She'll be like...
902
00:52:23,348 --> 00:52:25,267
She can look at you like...
903
00:52:25,892 --> 00:52:28,103
very judging, and also very surprised.
904
00:52:29,020 --> 00:52:30,397
When I displease him
905
00:52:30,480 --> 00:52:33,233
and he looks at me with some
angry look,
906
00:52:33,316 --> 00:52:36,903
and I know by his look that
he thinks to himself that
907
00:52:36,987 --> 00:52:39,573
"If I was a tiger, I would just
eat you right now."
908
00:52:41,449 --> 00:52:44,494
I have two cats, and every time
I glance over at them,
909
00:52:44,870 --> 00:52:46,371
they're doing something.
910
00:52:46,621 --> 00:52:48,832
They have a mission,
and something is demanding
911
00:52:48,915 --> 00:52:51,793
their undivided focus at all times,
912
00:52:52,460 --> 00:52:54,004
and I'm always wondering what that is.
913
00:52:56,923 --> 00:52:59,843
I'm fascinated by how little
I will ever know
914
00:52:59,926 --> 00:53:01,678
about what's going through
their minds,
915
00:53:01,761 --> 00:53:03,221
and I can't stop watching.
916
00:53:05,932 --> 00:53:08,101
Are you just waking up? Yes.
917
00:53:09,477 --> 00:53:10,645
Are you the most handsome?
918
00:53:10,729 --> 00:53:11,938
-You are.
919
00:53:14,900 --> 00:53:18,737
He has such a human-like quality
about him.
920
00:53:19,321 --> 00:53:21,114
You know, you can ask him a question,
921
00:53:21,197 --> 00:53:24,492
and he will look at you, he will
make eye contact with you,
922
00:53:25,702 --> 00:53:26,745
and he will answer you.
923
00:53:27,829 --> 00:53:29,414
It's going to take
some time, Balam.
924
00:53:29,497 --> 00:53:31,291
I think he'll come round.
925
00:53:31,666 --> 00:53:33,460
I think he'll come round, okay?
926
00:53:33,543 --> 00:53:36,671
-Is that a deal? Yeah?
927
00:53:36,755 --> 00:53:38,048
My name is Phaedra,
928
00:53:38,506 --> 00:53:42,218
and we live in Guanajuato, Mexico,
929
00:53:42,969 --> 00:53:45,180
and we have four cats,
930
00:53:45,347 --> 00:53:47,557
but the star of the show is Balam.
931
00:53:48,058 --> 00:53:49,851
- Dark roast?
932
00:53:49,935 --> 00:53:51,811
-Good idea?
933
00:53:51,895 --> 00:53:53,855
Yeah, we love you.
934
00:53:54,981 --> 00:53:57,609
Yeah, you love us, too? Yeah?
935
00:53:58,443 --> 00:54:02,155
Do you want to make me
and Daddy a dark roast?
936
00:54:02,572 --> 00:54:03,615
What do you think?
937
00:54:06,409 --> 00:54:11,039
What I think he wants
is to connect.
938
00:54:11,122 --> 00:54:13,083
He wants to connect with me.
939
00:54:15,835 --> 00:54:17,253
He wants to communicate.
940
00:54:18,505 --> 00:54:19,631
Can I ask you a question?
941
00:54:21,675 --> 00:54:22,842
Oh, wow.
942
00:54:22,926 --> 00:54:26,930
What do you think
is the meaning of life, Balam?
943
00:54:28,348 --> 00:54:29,182
When I speak to Balam,
944
00:54:29,265 --> 00:54:34,604
I feel like I'm interacting
with an intelligent sentient being,
945
00:54:35,855 --> 00:54:37,649
and if we could translate
what he's saying,
946
00:54:37,732 --> 00:54:40,902
he's probably always saying,
"I love you.
947
00:54:40,986 --> 00:54:42,570
I love you, I love you."
948
00:54:43,738 --> 00:54:44,781
Are you the cutest?
949
00:54:56,167 --> 00:54:59,087
There's this theory that we find
things cute that look young,
950
00:54:59,754 --> 00:55:02,382
and the idea is that it doesn't
just have to be human babies.
951
00:55:02,465 --> 00:55:05,385
It could be other animals
that have specific features
952
00:55:05,468 --> 00:55:07,470
like large eyes, small noses,
953
00:55:07,679 --> 00:55:10,765
that we have this innate sort of
maternal, paternal instincts
954
00:55:10,849 --> 00:55:12,684
to care for.
955
00:55:13,476 --> 00:55:15,270
They have very adorable eyes,
956
00:55:15,645 --> 00:55:17,856
and they have tiny little ears,
957
00:55:17,939 --> 00:55:20,942
and they are tiny in itself,
which is also adorable,
958
00:55:21,192 --> 00:55:23,445
and the little paws are so cute.
959
00:55:23,528 --> 00:55:25,947
Just, yeah, I think everything
about them is cute.
960
00:55:27,198 --> 00:55:28,366
He's so cute, look!
961
00:55:28,450 --> 00:55:31,661
And his skin is so smooth,
962
00:55:31,745 --> 00:55:33,580
and the head is smooth,
963
00:55:33,663 --> 00:55:37,542
and we have too much skin,
and he's so sweet.
964
00:55:38,251 --> 00:55:40,670
He looks at you with his face
all smooshed up,
965
00:55:40,754 --> 00:55:42,505
and you just think,
966
00:55:42,589 --> 00:55:45,759
"I don't know what you are,
but I love you."
967
00:55:47,427 --> 00:55:50,805
There's the emotional response
I think we all sort of associate with it.
968
00:55:52,223 --> 00:55:54,142
But there's more to it, right?
969
00:55:56,561 --> 00:56:00,356
I think in popular culture,
we sort of imagine cuteness
970
00:56:00,440 --> 00:56:04,069
to be this simple,
non-threatening aesthetic
971
00:56:04,152 --> 00:56:05,361
or thing that we encounter,
972
00:56:05,945 --> 00:56:08,156
but there's actually a lot
to investigate.
973
00:56:08,573 --> 00:56:11,242
When we find things cute,
974
00:56:11,326 --> 00:56:16,331
you gather, you want to protect,
you want to consume.
975
00:56:17,415 --> 00:56:19,709
There's a phrase about it,
"It's so cute, I want to eat it."
976
00:56:19,793 --> 00:56:21,377
And that's...
977
00:56:22,003 --> 00:56:23,922
that's actually,
there's something real there.
978
00:56:24,714 --> 00:56:26,758
It just takes one step
to sort of be like,
979
00:56:26,841 --> 00:56:29,886
"Oh, I can sort of mass-market this,
980
00:56:29,969 --> 00:56:35,809
and I can sort of tap into these desires
981
00:56:36,601 --> 00:56:39,646
for promotional deals and for merch,
982
00:56:39,729 --> 00:56:41,022
and these kinds of things."
983
00:56:41,898 --> 00:56:44,234
So, like, pretty quickly,
it gets kind of dark.
984
00:56:44,359 --> 00:56:47,946
My Instagram inbox is like,
non-stop just like,
985
00:56:48,029 --> 00:56:50,532
"Help me promote my cat.
Make my cat famous.
986
00:56:50,615 --> 00:56:51,991
Please post about my cat."
987
00:56:53,034 --> 00:56:55,245
Share for share, share for share,
like, stuff like that.
988
00:56:55,328 --> 00:56:56,621
I'm like, "Uh..."
989
00:56:57,205 --> 00:57:00,333
Something about it makes me
uneasy on a lot of levels.
990
00:57:02,794 --> 00:57:05,046
What we care about
is your cat's welfare,
991
00:57:05,130 --> 00:57:06,673
and what's best for your cat.
992
00:57:07,757 --> 00:57:11,636
It just so happens that what's best
for my cat is what we're doing.
993
00:57:13,304 --> 00:57:16,599
I think Bub became famous
for a reason,
994
00:57:16,683 --> 00:57:18,810
whether it's inspiring people,
995
00:57:19,727 --> 00:57:21,354
raising money for animals.
996
00:57:21,855 --> 00:57:23,231
I started Lil Bub's Big Fund
997
00:57:23,440 --> 00:57:26,067
for special needs pets
with the ASPCA.
998
00:57:30,488 --> 00:57:32,699
At this point,
I think it's four years old
999
00:57:32,782 --> 00:57:35,118
and we've administered
over $300,000
1000
00:57:35,326 --> 00:57:36,870
for special needs pets, it's great.
1001
00:57:38,788 --> 00:57:41,291
I just worry that some people
will do anything
1002
00:57:41,374 --> 00:57:42,792
to get famous,
and that's not to say
1003
00:57:42,876 --> 00:57:44,586
that there aren't people
that could do it right.
1004
00:57:45,462 --> 00:57:47,839
For every success story,
there's thousands,
1005
00:57:48,298 --> 00:57:50,884
tens of thousands of people
trying to do it
1006
00:57:50,967 --> 00:57:52,093
and effing it up,
1007
00:57:52,177 --> 00:57:55,346
and potentially harming
their cat in the process.
1008
00:57:56,556 --> 00:57:58,516
There's definitely like
an underbelly.
1009
00:57:58,600 --> 00:58:00,560
There's money being exchanged,
for sure.
1010
00:58:00,935 --> 00:58:03,021
I think the community does
a good job as a whole.
1011
00:58:03,146 --> 00:58:06,107
I'm noticing that, hey,
if someone's blatantly selling out,
1012
00:58:06,191 --> 00:58:07,609
they're gonna call him out on it
in the comments,
1013
00:58:07,692 --> 00:58:09,861
and eventually, it's gonna be
negative for their brands.
1014
00:58:09,944 --> 00:58:13,239
Yeah, so if you're trying
to chase the money,
1015
00:58:13,323 --> 00:58:15,825
people will see it
and not respond well to it.
1016
00:58:15,909 --> 00:58:16,951
Absolutely.
1017
00:58:25,001 --> 00:58:26,503
I've been a rescuer.
1018
00:58:26,628 --> 00:58:29,339
I've been doing policy work,
educational work,
1019
00:58:29,756 --> 00:58:31,508
and a couple of years ago,
1020
00:58:31,591 --> 00:58:34,636
I started meeting other people
who were like "cat influencers,"
1021
00:58:34,719 --> 00:58:36,429
and I was like totally new
to that world,
1022
00:58:36,846 --> 00:58:38,681
and I was shocked to find out
that there are people
1023
00:58:38,765 --> 00:58:41,392
who are influencers online with cats,
1024
00:58:41,643 --> 00:58:43,311
who are not involved in cat welfare.
1025
00:58:43,853 --> 00:58:45,188
My name is Hannah Shaw.
1026
00:58:45,271 --> 00:58:47,315
I am known as Kitten Lady.
1027
00:58:48,691 --> 00:58:51,319
I'm a humane educator
and kitten rescuer,
1028
00:58:51,402 --> 00:58:53,988
and I specialize in the needs
of neonatal kittens.
1029
00:58:55,281 --> 00:58:58,159
If you are adopting
a special needs cat
1030
00:58:58,243 --> 00:59:01,037
because you want to have
a platform where you show people,
1031
00:59:01,120 --> 00:59:04,999
"Hey, cats with this diagnosis
are not broken.
1032
00:59:05,083 --> 00:59:07,335
They can be adopted."
That's awesome.
1033
00:59:08,586 --> 00:59:11,005
If you want to use your platform
to, like, sell corn chips,
1034
00:59:11,089 --> 00:59:12,131
that's not my thing.
1035
00:59:12,215 --> 00:59:13,216
That's not my thing!
1036
00:59:14,384 --> 00:59:16,344
I think it's so tragic
that we can get people
1037
00:59:16,427 --> 00:59:19,222
to wear the cat socks,
wear the cat shirt,
1038
00:59:19,305 --> 00:59:21,516
put on the cat ears,
attend a convention,
1039
00:59:21,599 --> 00:59:25,061
and not actually get involved
in saving their lives.
1040
00:59:26,479 --> 00:59:29,774
I just got a call from
an animal control officer
1041
00:59:29,857 --> 00:59:33,987
who said that a man walked
into Petco with a tissue box
1042
00:59:34,070 --> 00:59:36,489
with a baby kitten in it, and said,
1043
00:59:36,906 --> 00:59:39,117
"Can you take this kitten?"
and then ran out!
1044
00:59:39,242 --> 00:59:40,493
I love him.
1045
00:59:40,577 --> 00:59:42,704
I can't wait to get
all the flea dirt off of you.
1046
00:59:44,706 --> 00:59:48,418
My favorite babies to care for
are the really, really tiny ones
1047
00:59:48,501 --> 00:59:50,378
because they're the hardest
to care for,
1048
00:59:50,461 --> 00:59:51,838
they're the most vulnerable.
1049
00:59:52,630 --> 00:59:54,424
When you raise them from that young,
1050
00:59:54,507 --> 00:59:56,050
you feel so bonded with them.
1051
00:59:58,052 --> 01:00:00,888
I looked at it like, "I'm going
to put out educational tools.
1052
01:00:01,055 --> 01:00:04,559
I'm going to use this weird
social platform
1053
01:00:04,642 --> 01:00:06,394
to teach people what I know,"
1054
01:00:06,644 --> 01:00:07,937
and it just grew and grew.
1055
01:00:11,649 --> 01:00:14,777
I reach more than a million people
between all of my platforms.
1056
01:00:16,237 --> 01:00:19,866
Hannah and I have been partners
for about two and half years now.
1057
01:00:21,034 --> 01:00:25,246
I was very big into, I guess
you could say cat pop culture.
1058
01:00:30,668 --> 01:00:33,421
She's really inspired me to do
a lot of the work that I do now,
1059
01:00:33,504 --> 01:00:35,548
which is heavily rescue, shelter,
1060
01:00:35,632 --> 01:00:37,800
adoption awareness, that kind of stuff.
1061
01:00:39,344 --> 01:00:42,055
My name is Andrew Marttila,
and I am a cat photographer.
1062
01:00:45,391 --> 01:00:48,936
We met because Andrew
is a cat photographer,
1063
01:00:49,020 --> 01:00:51,022
and I found out about his work,
1064
01:00:51,105 --> 01:00:53,566
and we got together
to do a photoshoot
1065
01:00:53,650 --> 01:00:56,569
of two of my kittens
meeting for the first time.
1066
01:00:59,906 --> 01:01:02,075
And they are best friends,
and now, we're best friends.
1067
01:01:02,158 --> 01:01:03,743
-Aw! Yeah.
-Aw!
1068
01:01:04,786 --> 01:01:06,663
People are really interested
in our relationship,
1069
01:01:06,746 --> 01:01:08,164
which is funny to me.
1070
01:01:09,165 --> 01:01:10,458
People were coming up to us
and saying,
1071
01:01:10,541 --> 01:01:13,044
"Oh, we followed both of you
before you knew each other."
1072
01:01:13,878 --> 01:01:15,129
The good thing about social media
1073
01:01:15,213 --> 01:01:17,715
is that people can see us
doing rescue work.
1074
01:01:17,799 --> 01:01:20,343
They can see, you know,
that we're in a relationship
1075
01:01:20,426 --> 01:01:21,260
doing what we're doing,
1076
01:01:21,344 --> 01:01:23,721
so maybe they can have something
like that in their life.
1077
01:01:24,889 --> 01:01:26,140
That's what it's all about.
1078
01:01:26,641 --> 01:01:30,228
So, I think if we can leverage
that kind of, like, pop culture element
1079
01:01:30,311 --> 01:01:32,480
to get people to do a good thing,
then, that's great.
1080
01:01:33,314 --> 01:01:34,607
-Yeah!
-I just love you.
1081
01:01:34,691 --> 01:01:36,943
-Oh.
-I take hugs, too. Bring it in.
1082
01:01:44,325 --> 01:01:47,995
Homer came into my life as
a two-and-a-half-week-old blind kitten.
1083
01:01:49,455 --> 01:01:52,208
I always say he's not a meme cat,
he's a message cat,
1084
01:01:52,291 --> 01:01:56,337
and the message is very much
about rescue and compassion.
1085
01:01:58,715 --> 01:02:00,216
My name is Gwen Cooper.
1086
01:02:00,550 --> 01:02:02,468
I am a cat writer.
1087
01:02:02,552 --> 01:02:05,513
I have written five books about cats.
1088
01:02:06,681 --> 01:02:08,683
Homer's Odyssey was my first one.
1089
01:02:10,351 --> 01:02:11,936
Homer had been found as a stray
1090
01:02:12,019 --> 01:02:13,813
with a very advanced eye infection.
1091
01:02:14,814 --> 01:02:18,151
I picked him up, and he sort of
crawled up to my neck,
1092
01:02:18,234 --> 01:02:20,194
and started purring,
1093
01:02:20,403 --> 01:02:22,196
and I believe my exact words were,
1094
01:02:22,363 --> 01:02:24,115
"Wrap him up, I'm taking him home."
1095
01:02:27,118 --> 01:02:30,163
When I wrote Homer's Odyssey,
famous cats weren't a thing.
1096
01:02:30,496 --> 01:02:31,998
That was not a thing.
1097
01:02:32,081 --> 01:02:34,834
Now, we are in a very different place.
1098
01:02:35,209 --> 01:02:38,087
Homer himself has nearly
a million followers online,
1099
01:02:38,379 --> 01:02:41,174
and he is still dwarfed
by some other cats
1100
01:02:41,257 --> 01:02:44,010
who have even larger
social media followings.
1101
01:02:45,136 --> 01:02:47,305
I am in a unique, bird's eye
sort of position
1102
01:02:47,513 --> 01:02:49,140
because I get to see
all of the things
1103
01:02:49,223 --> 01:02:52,226
that all of the people
who follow us online are doing,
1104
01:02:52,310 --> 01:02:54,562
even when they don't necessarily
see each other,
1105
01:02:54,645 --> 01:02:59,442
and I get to know how much goodness
there is in people.
1106
01:03:01,903 --> 01:03:05,114
Monty was this cat
that no one wanted.
1107
01:03:08,409 --> 01:03:10,912
He was sitting in a shelter
for three months.
1108
01:03:12,789 --> 01:03:14,540
Many people thought
that he looked ugly.
1109
01:03:14,624 --> 01:03:15,500
Yeah, but--
1110
01:03:15,583 --> 01:03:18,211
He was not like, you know,
a perfect cat, you know?
1111
01:03:18,795 --> 01:03:20,129
Oh, you're so beautiful.
1112
01:03:20,546 --> 01:03:22,173
Oh, you're so beautiful!
1113
01:03:23,424 --> 01:03:24,967
I love you so much!
1114
01:03:25,051 --> 01:03:26,469
You're the love of my life.
1115
01:03:31,098 --> 01:03:32,350
I am Mikala.
1116
01:03:32,433 --> 01:03:33,392
And I'm Michael.
1117
01:03:33,476 --> 01:03:34,894
And we live in Denmark.
1118
01:03:34,977 --> 01:03:38,356
And we are parents to Monty and Molly!
1119
01:03:38,439 --> 01:03:40,233
Monty Happiness
and Molly Happiness!
1120
01:03:41,359 --> 01:03:43,152
And they are two beautiful
1121
01:03:43,236 --> 01:03:45,696
and very sweet and kind cats
1122
01:03:45,822 --> 01:03:48,908
with what we call
feline Down syndrome.
1123
01:03:48,991 --> 01:03:50,284
Yeah.
1124
01:03:50,368 --> 01:03:53,204
Monty Happiness across
all social media
1125
01:03:53,287 --> 01:03:55,414
has over a million followers.
1126
01:03:56,499 --> 01:03:58,125
The first time we ever saw Monty
1127
01:03:58,209 --> 01:04:01,754
was on our local cat shelter's website
here in Denmark.
1128
01:04:02,213 --> 01:04:05,883
I was just browsing around
and there he was, like, my boy!
1129
01:04:05,967 --> 01:04:08,719
I was crazy in love
the first time I saw him,
1130
01:04:08,803 --> 01:04:11,556
because he looked so special!
So different!
1131
01:04:11,973 --> 01:04:15,351
So, the next day we went to
the shelter, and we met him,
1132
01:04:15,893 --> 01:04:18,521
and his personality, like, oh, wow!
1133
01:04:18,604 --> 01:04:21,566
I couldn't believe
what I was seeing.
1134
01:04:21,858 --> 01:04:25,027
So, Michael went on to pick up Monty,
1135
01:04:25,111 --> 01:04:28,030
and held him in his arms
like a baby with the belly up.
1136
01:04:28,239 --> 01:04:29,740
You don't do that with a cat!
1137
01:04:29,907 --> 01:04:32,034
Unless you want to be scratched
in your face.
1138
01:04:32,118 --> 01:04:33,077
Yeah!
1139
01:04:33,160 --> 01:04:34,954
And I remember it
like it was yesterday.
1140
01:04:35,037 --> 01:04:39,000
A miracle happened right there
because Monty started to knead
1141
01:04:39,083 --> 01:04:41,377
with his paws in the air,
and started to purr,
1142
01:04:41,460 --> 01:04:44,005
and looked Michael in the eyes
and slow-blinked to Michael.
1143
01:04:44,547 --> 01:04:47,884
And Monty for sure picked
Michael right there.
1144
01:04:50,344 --> 01:04:54,682
It is all about, for us,
to tell and show people,
1145
01:04:54,765 --> 01:04:58,019
the world that they are perfect
just the way they are.
1146
01:04:59,854 --> 01:05:04,150
We showed the world
that this chromosome abnormality,
1147
01:05:04,609 --> 01:05:06,777
that this appearance of a cat
1148
01:05:06,861 --> 01:05:11,741
counts for something kind
and forgiving and nice.
1149
01:05:13,284 --> 01:05:15,578
Today, cats like Monty and Molly
1150
01:05:15,661 --> 01:05:17,496
will not be sitting in a shelter
for more than a few days...
1151
01:05:17,580 --> 01:05:18,456
Nope.
1152
01:05:18,539 --> 01:05:21,667
...because people, they know
that this is something special.
1153
01:05:21,876 --> 01:05:25,212
So, we are very proud about
being first movers
1154
01:05:25,296 --> 01:05:28,758
on changing this view from
something that this you do not get,
1155
01:05:28,841 --> 01:05:30,509
to this you should definitely get.
1156
01:05:31,969 --> 01:05:35,806
Bub sort of gave me an avenue
to really make a huge difference.
1157
01:05:37,391 --> 01:05:39,810
I always ensure that
there's a charitable aspect
1158
01:05:39,894 --> 01:05:42,647
to any of our partnerships,
and it has to be substantial.
1159
01:05:43,731 --> 01:05:46,317
In the very beginning, we had
like three different publishers
1160
01:05:46,400 --> 01:05:49,028
wanting to do a book with us,
for a lot of money,
1161
01:05:49,987 --> 01:05:51,364
and we were like, "Wow, this is great.
1162
01:05:51,614 --> 01:05:53,282
The only thing we'd like
to change in the agreement
1163
01:05:53,366 --> 01:05:56,077
is that this portion of the proceeds
will benefit this."
1164
01:05:56,160 --> 01:05:58,037
And they said, "No, we can't do that."
1165
01:05:58,454 --> 01:06:01,290
I said, "Well, then,
we can't do the book."
1166
01:06:01,540 --> 01:06:02,375
That's it.
1167
01:06:02,458 --> 01:06:05,086
So, we turned down a crazy
huge opportunity
1168
01:06:05,711 --> 01:06:07,254
based on principle, because, you know,
1169
01:06:07,338 --> 01:06:09,298
why would we--
That's the point of the book.
1170
01:06:09,382 --> 01:06:12,218
So, if you're not on board
with the mission,
1171
01:06:12,301 --> 01:06:13,511
then, we're not on board.
1172
01:06:23,729 --> 01:06:25,690
The first thoughts I had
when I first met Ben
1173
01:06:25,773 --> 01:06:27,441
was like, he was so sad!
1174
01:06:29,026 --> 01:06:31,404
And he just wanted somebody to love him,
1175
01:06:31,487 --> 01:06:35,032
which is why I took his picture,
and I sent it to Adam.
1176
01:06:35,366 --> 01:06:38,619
When I looked at my phone,
it was just instant heartbreak.
1177
01:06:38,703 --> 01:06:41,205
You couldn't help but feel sorry for him
1178
01:06:41,288 --> 01:06:43,040
and just want to take him home, and...
1179
01:06:43,249 --> 01:06:45,668
Feed him everything
he could ever want!
1180
01:06:47,044 --> 01:06:48,087
My name is Adam.
1181
01:06:48,170 --> 01:06:49,505
My name is Sandy,
1182
01:06:49,588 --> 01:06:50,881
and this is our cat BenBen.
1183
01:06:59,724 --> 01:07:02,601
Ben came from the bad side
of Vancouver,
1184
01:07:04,603 --> 01:07:06,105
and he wasn't doing really well.
1185
01:07:09,567 --> 01:07:11,110
So, to nurse Ben back to health,
1186
01:07:11,193 --> 01:07:12,987
it was going to be
a long-term thing for us.
1187
01:07:15,156 --> 01:07:18,868
On Reddit, there's a subreddit
called "Before and After,"
1188
01:07:18,951 --> 01:07:22,413
and it's basically, you just post
your before-and-after pictures
1189
01:07:22,496 --> 01:07:24,957
of your animal that you adopted.
1190
01:07:25,416 --> 01:07:28,335
And I used Ben's first picture,
1191
01:07:28,586 --> 01:07:30,713
the one where he was super sad,
1192
01:07:30,880 --> 01:07:33,049
and then, we posted
an updated picture,
1193
01:07:34,508 --> 01:07:37,470
and it literally just...
...blew up.
1194
01:07:37,845 --> 01:07:41,390
We started making merch,
and a lot of our social media
1195
01:07:41,474 --> 01:07:43,893
thought we were going to turn
BenBen into a cash cow.
1196
01:07:46,187 --> 01:07:48,647
Profiting off him
just 'cause he's famous,
1197
01:07:48,731 --> 01:07:50,441
it just never sat right with us.
1198
01:07:50,524 --> 01:07:51,442
We were like, well,
1199
01:07:51,525 --> 01:07:53,277
"why don't we do something positive?"
1200
01:07:53,778 --> 01:07:55,696
We only take what we need
1201
01:07:55,780 --> 01:07:58,657
to cover the costs of the shirts
and stuff like that.
1202
01:07:59,366 --> 01:08:02,828
Outside of that, everything goes
right back to our community.
1203
01:08:03,412 --> 01:08:06,749
We make it work, but yeah,
it just seems right to give back
1204
01:08:06,832 --> 01:08:10,377
to shelters and pets
who don't actually have a home.
1205
01:08:13,964 --> 01:08:15,466
We tend to have a lot of followers
1206
01:08:15,549 --> 01:08:17,593
who are very passionate about rescue,
1207
01:08:18,052 --> 01:08:20,054
who are very passionate about altruism,
1208
01:08:20,137 --> 01:08:22,098
who are very passionate
about making donations
1209
01:08:22,181 --> 01:08:23,432
and contributing.
1210
01:08:25,559 --> 01:08:28,521
In terms of what the obligations
are for other famous cats,
1211
01:08:28,646 --> 01:08:31,065
I think there are a lot of them
who are also very active
1212
01:08:31,315 --> 01:08:35,486
in fundraising, and raising
the profile of rescue animals.
1213
01:08:36,821 --> 01:08:38,864
I think there are some
who are just more about fun,
1214
01:08:39,240 --> 01:08:41,867
and there is a place for fun, certainly,
1215
01:08:41,951 --> 01:08:43,536
especially when it comes to cats.
1216
01:08:54,672 --> 01:08:57,383
My favorite compliment is,
"You're doing God's work."
1217
01:08:57,758 --> 01:08:58,634
We get that a lot, actually.
1218
01:08:58,717 --> 01:08:59,635
- A lot!
-You'd be surprised.
1219
01:08:59,718 --> 01:09:02,304
Much more than I'd expect,
but I'll take it.
1220
01:09:03,430 --> 01:09:05,015
-I'm Lynzie.
-I'm John.
1221
01:09:05,182 --> 01:09:08,894
This is Laila, and we're
@rupaws_drag_race.
1222
01:09:09,645 --> 01:09:10,729
Say hi!
1223
01:09:11,272 --> 01:09:13,691
This is an extra special photoshoot today.
1224
01:09:14,150 --> 01:09:15,901
Do you want to get dressed up?
1225
01:09:16,360 --> 01:09:17,194
We'll try.
1226
01:09:17,903 --> 01:09:22,449
We copycat looks from the TV show
RuPaul's Drag Race,
1227
01:09:22,700 --> 01:09:24,869
and we take some of our
favorite looks
1228
01:09:25,035 --> 01:09:26,662
that the contestants wear.
1229
01:09:26,954 --> 01:09:28,998
Or what will look most
ridiculous on a cat.
1230
01:09:29,081 --> 01:09:31,584
Yeah, and we make
a miniature cat version
1231
01:09:32,168 --> 01:09:34,628
out of hot glue
and spandex, mostly.
1232
01:09:35,087 --> 01:09:38,465
Yes, Laila! Eleganza.
1233
01:09:39,425 --> 01:09:40,718
Eleganza!
1234
01:09:41,177 --> 01:09:43,679
If someone was upset that
we were dressing up our cat,
1235
01:09:43,762 --> 01:09:47,600
-I'd say, well--
-Have you seen her?
1236
01:09:47,683 --> 01:09:49,560
I would say you'd have to meet Laila
1237
01:09:49,643 --> 01:09:52,771
to know that she's, like,
very chill about it.
1238
01:09:53,147 --> 01:09:54,899
Do you want to turn
and be in the light?
1239
01:09:55,733 --> 01:09:57,860
Show the people what
they came to see.
1240
01:09:58,194 --> 01:09:59,778
We don't put her
in anything uncomfortable.
1241
01:09:59,862 --> 01:10:02,656
We try to make it very stretchy.
1242
01:10:02,740 --> 01:10:04,366
We are concerned about her well-being.
1243
01:10:05,242 --> 01:10:06,744
Beautiful!
1244
01:10:08,704 --> 01:10:09,914
She's a natural, really.
1245
01:10:16,754 --> 01:10:19,215
Good girl, yay!
1246
01:10:20,216 --> 01:10:24,053
She says, "I'm more of a camera
still-shot girl."
1247
01:10:24,637 --> 01:10:26,555
She's never been in a movie before.
1248
01:10:29,850 --> 01:10:31,810
This is not supporting us
at this moment.
1249
01:10:31,977 --> 01:10:34,021
We're definitely giving
more than...
1250
01:10:34,188 --> 01:10:35,522
Yes, giving a lot right now.
1251
01:10:35,606 --> 01:10:37,983
...we're getting financially,
but we're getting a lot spiritually.
1252
01:10:41,737 --> 01:10:43,197
If I could quit my day job for glitter
1253
01:10:43,280 --> 01:10:45,032
and a hot glue gun, sign me up.
1254
01:10:45,115 --> 01:10:47,284
I don't know what exactly
that job is yet,
1255
01:10:47,368 --> 01:10:49,411
but we're looking for it.
1256
01:10:52,998 --> 01:10:54,750
Right now, it's just incredible
1257
01:10:54,833 --> 01:10:58,462
to have fans write from
literally all over the world,
1258
01:10:58,837 --> 01:11:01,382
commenting and sending us
private messages every day,
1259
01:11:01,465 --> 01:11:02,591
saying, "This made my week"
1260
01:11:02,675 --> 01:11:05,678
or "I was having a really hard time,
and this got me through."
1261
01:11:07,096 --> 01:11:11,976
To have something start as a joke
and now reach 87,000 people
1262
01:11:12,059 --> 01:11:13,602
is pretty incredible.
1263
01:11:14,853 --> 01:11:17,439
She does like certain looks
more than others.
1264
01:11:17,940 --> 01:11:19,608
Not based off of comfort!
1265
01:11:19,775 --> 01:11:20,818
I think just style.
1266
01:11:20,901 --> 01:11:22,861
Like, this one,
she's very like, "Mmm-hmm."
1267
01:11:22,945 --> 01:11:25,948
When we put her in like a trashy
girl outfit, she's like...
1268
01:11:26,031 --> 01:11:28,409
And we love doing it so much,
and we laugh
1269
01:11:28,742 --> 01:11:30,869
every single time
we're making something,
1270
01:11:31,161 --> 01:11:34,081
and it's so nice to have
everyone laugh with us.
1271
01:11:34,915 --> 01:11:36,709
All right, you want to take a break?
1272
01:11:38,043 --> 01:11:39,003
Take five.
1273
01:11:48,220 --> 01:11:50,514
Before the Internet,
cats are an introvert's pet,
1274
01:11:51,974 --> 01:11:54,143
and people enjoy their pets at home.
1275
01:11:54,560 --> 01:11:56,937
It's not like you can take a cat
to a dog park.
1276
01:11:57,604 --> 01:11:58,897
They're not a social pet.
1277
01:12:01,108 --> 01:12:03,777
Based on my research,
we know that people
1278
01:12:03,861 --> 01:12:05,821
who tend to be a little bit more shy,
1279
01:12:06,655 --> 01:12:08,615
watch cat videos more often.
1280
01:12:08,949 --> 01:12:10,200
My name is Jessica Myrick.
1281
01:12:10,284 --> 01:12:12,411
I'm an associate professor
of media studies,
1282
01:12:12,494 --> 01:12:15,748
and I conducted a large-scale
online survey
1283
01:12:15,831 --> 01:12:18,792
about who watches cat videos,
why they watch them,
1284
01:12:18,876 --> 01:12:19,877
and to what effect?
1285
01:12:25,174 --> 01:12:28,344
When I ran the study,
I wanted to see if that sort of stereotype
1286
01:12:28,427 --> 01:12:31,263
of the, you know, lonely,
secluded cat lady
1287
01:12:31,347 --> 01:12:33,724
held up with watching cat videos,
1288
01:12:33,974 --> 01:12:35,559
and really, it doesn't.
1289
01:12:37,102 --> 01:12:41,648
More specifically, I found that
75% of my respondents
1290
01:12:41,732 --> 01:12:44,026
said the last time
that they watched a cat video
1291
01:12:44,109 --> 01:12:45,819
or looked at a cat meme,
1292
01:12:45,903 --> 01:12:49,490
they either commented on it
or shared it with someone else.
1293
01:12:50,449 --> 01:12:51,825
It's not the idea of this loner
1294
01:12:51,909 --> 01:12:55,120
that's just online watching cat videos.
1295
01:12:55,788 --> 01:12:58,665
The crazy cat lady is a meme,
1296
01:12:58,749 --> 01:13:02,795
and very much something
that feels out of touch now.
1297
01:13:05,005 --> 01:13:07,341
It's not the stereotype
of the woman in the rollers
1298
01:13:07,424 --> 01:13:09,385
and the 18 cats around her.
1299
01:13:10,052 --> 01:13:13,764
Your cat person can be anyone
from Mike Bridavsky
1300
01:13:14,014 --> 01:13:18,685
to Kady Lone, and all of these
cat people have owned it.
1301
01:13:18,811 --> 01:13:21,855
It kind of has democratized
what people think of
1302
01:13:21,939 --> 01:13:23,273
as cat content.
1303
01:13:26,652 --> 01:13:28,028
You can now stay in your home,
1304
01:13:28,112 --> 01:13:29,446
take a video, take a picture,
1305
01:13:29,530 --> 01:13:30,781
share it with your friends online
1306
01:13:30,864 --> 01:13:32,533
and you develop this community.
1307
01:13:35,411 --> 01:13:38,414
I think Jack Shepherd from
BuzzFeed really said it best,
1308
01:13:38,831 --> 01:13:41,125
that the Internet is the cat park.
1309
01:13:45,671 --> 01:13:48,382
The Internet, it is a place
1310
01:13:48,465 --> 01:13:50,926
where people can kind of have
that same experience,
1311
01:13:51,009 --> 01:13:53,429
like share their identity
of being a cat lover,
1312
01:13:53,512 --> 01:13:54,847
share pictures of their cats,
1313
01:13:54,930 --> 01:13:57,182
and it becomes like this virtual space
1314
01:13:57,266 --> 01:13:59,393
where people can kind of have
the similar experience
1315
01:13:59,476 --> 01:14:02,646
to what dog people get to have
out in the world.
1316
01:14:04,648 --> 01:14:06,275
The community
of cats online
1317
01:14:06,358 --> 01:14:08,318
is like a community in real life.
1318
01:14:08,402 --> 01:14:10,529
There's the little business economy,
1319
01:14:10,821 --> 01:14:14,408
there's also trend-setters
and kind of stars of the moment.
1320
01:14:14,992 --> 01:14:17,035
There's all of these players in it.
1321
01:14:17,578 --> 01:14:20,372
The only difference is,
it is a lot more global.
1322
01:14:20,456 --> 01:14:22,541
You don't need to speak
the same language,
1323
01:14:22,624 --> 01:14:25,461
and you may never meet this cat
in real life,
1324
01:14:26,128 --> 01:14:28,005
and yet, you feel like you know them.
1325
01:14:34,094 --> 01:14:36,263
It was never my intention
when I got the cats
1326
01:14:36,346 --> 01:14:37,598
to make them on Instagram.
1327
01:14:37,681 --> 01:14:41,560
But then, suddenly someone
discovered Zoe,
1328
01:14:42,227 --> 01:14:43,812
with the heart on her chest, obviously,
1329
01:14:43,896 --> 01:14:45,856
and from then on, it was just crazy.
1330
01:14:45,939 --> 01:14:49,485
Like, she went viral
across the whole globe.
1331
01:14:53,238 --> 01:14:54,656
We started taking her
down to the beach
1332
01:14:54,740 --> 01:14:57,159
to come for a walk,
get her out and about.
1333
01:14:57,242 --> 01:15:01,371
I went in for a swim,
Nathan came in straight after me.
1334
01:15:01,914 --> 01:15:03,749
I didn't even know. I just heard
splashing at my feet.
1335
01:15:03,832 --> 01:15:05,959
I looked down, and she had
followed me out in the water.
1336
01:15:06,710 --> 01:15:08,170
And then,
we showed people at work,
1337
01:15:08,253 --> 01:15:10,631
and we showed some of our
friends and family.
1338
01:15:10,756 --> 01:15:12,883
And then, the account
just started going up,
1339
01:15:12,966 --> 01:15:14,176
like thousands a day.
1340
01:15:14,426 --> 01:15:15,886
It's a bit surreal, actually.
1341
01:15:19,264 --> 01:15:22,476
I want to share this cat
with other people
1342
01:15:22,559 --> 01:15:24,937
because he is very special.
1343
01:15:25,604 --> 01:15:28,482
They have never seen before
a cat like this.
1344
01:15:33,487 --> 01:15:35,155
I first made the account for Shelby
1345
01:15:35,239 --> 01:15:36,907
whenever Grumpy Cat became famous,
1346
01:15:37,324 --> 01:15:39,868
because I felt like if Grumpy Cat
can be famous,
1347
01:15:39,952 --> 01:15:41,203
then so could Shelby.
1348
01:15:45,832 --> 01:15:46,959
Hi!
1349
01:15:47,417 --> 01:15:49,169
BuzzFeed shared Atchoum,
1350
01:15:49,253 --> 01:15:52,047
and Kim Kardashian, you know,
made a comment about it.
1351
01:15:52,422 --> 01:15:54,716
The next morning,
we realized we had like,
1352
01:15:55,050 --> 01:15:58,011
16,000 people following us
in just one night.
1353
01:16:01,473 --> 01:16:03,725
I feel I can share
my cat's cuteness
1354
01:16:03,809 --> 01:16:05,102
and his love for humans.
1355
01:16:05,435 --> 01:16:07,896
I can share it not only
with my close environment,
1356
01:16:07,980 --> 01:16:10,899
I can share this with lots of other people
1357
01:16:10,983 --> 01:16:12,693
from very far countries.
1358
01:16:12,901 --> 01:16:15,237
This is something I wouldn't
have been able to do it
1359
01:16:15,445 --> 01:16:17,281
without the Internet.
1360
01:16:19,533 --> 01:16:21,493
One small step for man,
1361
01:16:22,452 --> 01:16:24,871
one giant leap for cat-kind.
1362
01:16:25,581 --> 01:16:27,249
No, no, no, Serge, no!
1363
01:16:27,749 --> 01:16:29,876
I was supposed to take the first step!
1364
01:16:40,679 --> 01:16:44,224
What makes a community healthy
isn't just about likes.
1365
01:16:44,308 --> 01:16:46,143
It isn't just about followers.
1366
01:16:46,226 --> 01:16:48,478
It's about the strength of the connection
1367
01:16:48,562 --> 01:16:50,981
between different players
in the community.
1368
01:16:53,233 --> 01:16:56,737
Meowfest is a global celebration
of felines.
1369
01:16:57,696 --> 01:17:00,115
We are bringing the cat
community together
1370
01:17:00,198 --> 01:17:01,783
just to connect,
1371
01:17:01,867 --> 01:17:05,495
to spread the love
for these amazing creatures.
1372
01:17:06,121 --> 01:17:08,957
We've had people reach out
from all across North America,
1373
01:17:09,041 --> 01:17:11,501
Europe, like India,
1374
01:17:11,585 --> 01:17:15,005
and we have vendors
from Singapore and Australia,
1375
01:17:15,088 --> 01:17:17,299
and so, it's really cool.
1376
01:17:17,841 --> 01:17:19,051
Thank you very much.
1377
01:17:19,134 --> 01:17:21,094
I think it's important
that people understand
1378
01:17:21,178 --> 01:17:23,680
that there's other people
who share the same passions,
1379
01:17:23,764 --> 01:17:25,682
and that there's a larger community.
1380
01:17:27,309 --> 01:17:29,645
People say you should write
what you know,
1381
01:17:29,728 --> 01:17:32,439
so I like to design what I know,
which is cats.
1382
01:17:33,649 --> 01:17:34,858
Why do I love cats?
1383
01:17:34,941 --> 01:17:38,236
Um, they just make that
wonderful purring noise.
1384
01:17:38,320 --> 01:17:40,614
They're soft, they're friendly,
they're fantastic,
1385
01:17:40,697 --> 01:17:42,991
and now, I'm sure everybody
in the room agrees.
1386
01:17:43,075 --> 01:17:44,493
That's why we're all here.
1387
01:17:44,576 --> 01:17:46,119
They're the perfect pet.
1388
01:17:46,203 --> 01:17:48,789
They look after themselves,
they exercise themselves.
1389
01:17:49,498 --> 01:17:51,249
I just got to put food
and litter down,
1390
01:17:51,333 --> 01:17:52,709
and we have a good relationship.
1391
01:17:54,002 --> 01:17:55,671
World domination.
1392
01:17:55,796 --> 01:17:57,547
It's happening, yeah!
1393
01:17:58,173 --> 01:17:59,466
These festivals like Meowfest,
1394
01:17:59,549 --> 01:18:01,718
it's kind of what the new thing is.
1395
01:18:02,469 --> 01:18:04,137
Every year, the attendance
has grown and grown,
1396
01:18:04,221 --> 01:18:08,266
so there's huge gatherings
of people thinking alike
1397
01:18:08,350 --> 01:18:11,687
and sharing their experiences
help the community grow as a whole.
1398
01:18:12,854 --> 01:18:15,148
These events are a way for people
to get off their screens
1399
01:18:15,232 --> 01:18:16,817
and face to face.
1400
01:18:18,819 --> 01:18:20,404
I can't get over how chill he is.
1401
01:18:20,487 --> 01:18:22,823
Yeah, not a lot of stress
in his life.
1402
01:18:23,699 --> 01:18:26,952
So, I think that actual
Internet-to-real-life transition
1403
01:18:27,035 --> 01:18:28,954
is kind of where we're at right now.
1404
01:18:29,579 --> 01:18:31,790
A few times a year
you get to do a meet-and-greet,
1405
01:18:32,207 --> 01:18:33,500
how bad is that, huh?
1406
01:18:33,959 --> 01:18:36,628
Building that community
in real life, it's, I think,
1407
01:18:36,712 --> 01:18:39,005
the next big frontier for cats.
1408
01:18:39,089 --> 01:18:41,133
You're starting to see
more of the dog parks come out,
1409
01:18:41,216 --> 01:18:43,593
I guess, in the cat community.
1410
01:18:55,397 --> 01:18:58,483
I think that our capacity as
humans for empathy with animals
1411
01:18:58,567 --> 01:19:01,153
is the best version of what
we can be.
1412
01:19:01,778 --> 01:19:03,739
And so, when people
come together on the Internet
1413
01:19:03,822 --> 01:19:05,782
to express that,
I think that's wonderful.
1414
01:19:07,159 --> 01:19:09,494
Honestly, building a cat fort
with someone
1415
01:19:09,578 --> 01:19:12,247
is one of the most intimate experiences
1416
01:19:12,497 --> 01:19:15,208
that two or three humans
can share together.
1417
01:19:16,084 --> 01:19:17,878
So, this is Jenkins. Um...
1418
01:19:18,420 --> 01:19:20,172
He's been in a few BuzzFeed videos.
1419
01:19:21,381 --> 01:19:25,969
I love my cat more than anyone
I've ever met,
1420
01:19:26,428 --> 01:19:28,221
and I'm proud of that,
1421
01:19:28,305 --> 01:19:30,056
and I like to talk about it
1422
01:19:30,140 --> 01:19:32,184
and I think that that's a good thing.
1423
01:19:32,434 --> 01:19:34,853
I think that that relationship
can be really important
1424
01:19:34,936 --> 01:19:36,354
and rich for people.
1425
01:19:38,064 --> 01:19:40,734
I think there's often sort of
a limiting of Internet cats
1426
01:19:40,817 --> 01:19:42,944
as, like, we have this amazing technology,
1427
01:19:43,028 --> 01:19:45,655
we have this amazing ability to
communicate with anyone in the world.
1428
01:19:45,739 --> 01:19:49,367
Why are we wasting so much time
looking at, you know, cats?
1429
01:19:50,911 --> 01:19:53,580
Why are these people
not, you know, solving world hunger,
1430
01:19:53,663 --> 01:19:54,998
or yada yada yada?
1431
01:19:55,248 --> 01:19:59,252
And that is an expression
of an attitude
1432
01:19:59,795 --> 01:20:02,214
that I think completely
misunderstands human experience.
1433
01:20:03,840 --> 01:20:06,051
Cat love makes you
a better person.
1434
01:20:06,551 --> 01:20:10,722
I reckon it's some of the best
medicine that you can get.
1435
01:20:11,932 --> 01:20:14,518
It's like a natural antidepressant,
1436
01:20:14,684 --> 01:20:16,645
and I think that's what
cats are for people.
1437
01:20:17,604 --> 01:20:18,939
They're wonderful.
1438
01:20:19,731 --> 01:20:20,899
There are always going to be
those people
1439
01:20:20,982 --> 01:20:22,275
who look at it and think it's silly.
1440
01:20:23,026 --> 01:20:26,446
I think there are those of us
who know that love is love,
1441
01:20:26,655 --> 01:20:28,448
whether it goes on four legs or two,
1442
01:20:29,074 --> 01:20:32,244
and that these are real
and meaningful relationships.
1443
01:20:49,219 --> 01:20:53,807
I love cats
because I have anxiety,
1444
01:20:54,724 --> 01:20:58,019
and I have been suffering
from anxiety and OCD
1445
01:20:58,103 --> 01:20:59,813
since I was a little kid,
1446
01:21:00,772 --> 01:21:03,316
and the only thing that could
really calm me down
1447
01:21:03,400 --> 01:21:05,235
is a cat in my lap.
1448
01:21:06,278 --> 01:21:12,158
I met the love of my life,
Mickey, my grey-silver cat
1449
01:21:12,659 --> 01:21:15,203
who sadly passed away
and is in heaven now,
1450
01:21:15,620 --> 01:21:16,830
protecting me!
1451
01:21:16,913 --> 01:21:19,374
I met him when I just
moved away from home,
1452
01:21:19,541 --> 01:21:21,459
and I saved him.
He was a street cat,
1453
01:21:21,543 --> 01:21:25,171
and I'm always saying that
because I was so down,
1454
01:21:25,255 --> 01:21:27,841
you know, I have been
to the mental hospital.
1455
01:21:28,008 --> 01:21:32,721
I've been really, really, really low,
and Mickey saved me.
1456
01:21:34,389 --> 01:21:36,975
I see life in another way today,
1457
01:21:37,058 --> 01:21:39,811
like all life is more precious
1458
01:21:39,895 --> 01:21:43,106
than I thought it was,
like, six years ago.
1459
01:22:02,334 --> 01:22:03,919
Pudge certainly is
my best friend.
1460
01:22:04,002 --> 01:22:06,588
I mean, she sleeps underneath
the covers,
1461
01:22:06,796 --> 01:22:08,840
you know, spooning with me.
1462
01:22:09,424 --> 01:22:11,927
She's really just very human-like.
1463
01:22:12,886 --> 01:22:15,555
I got her out of college there,
1464
01:22:15,805 --> 01:22:18,266
and I was just out of, like,
this long-term,
1465
01:22:18,350 --> 01:22:22,062
emotionally abusive relationship,
and I was just looking for a companion,
1466
01:22:22,145 --> 01:22:26,483
and she totally helped me, you know,
get through that time in my life.
1467
01:22:30,320 --> 01:22:32,030
Pudge doesn't just give me love.
1468
01:22:32,113 --> 01:22:34,699
She gives me everything I am today.
1469
01:22:36,034 --> 01:22:39,245
I was not a confident person
before I got Pudge,
1470
01:22:39,329 --> 01:22:42,749
and then, she becomes famous
and I have to do interviews.
1471
01:22:43,041 --> 01:22:46,544
I'm sort of forced to become
more confident
1472
01:22:46,628 --> 01:22:48,672
and speak in public.
1473
01:22:50,173 --> 01:22:51,466
She means so much to me now,
1474
01:22:51,549 --> 01:22:54,344
more than just being this
Internet celebrity.
1475
01:22:54,803 --> 01:22:59,349
So, she's really the whole reason
I am who I am.
1476
01:23:11,903 --> 01:23:13,488
It's not about cats.
1477
01:23:13,738 --> 01:23:16,449
It's about the happiness
around the cat.
1478
01:23:16,950 --> 01:23:20,120
The Internet today is filled
with so much hate,
1479
01:23:20,203 --> 01:23:23,498
and I think that if we could
just start sharing more love
1480
01:23:23,581 --> 01:23:26,126
and happiness instead of all
those negativity,
1481
01:23:26,501 --> 01:23:27,752
that is what it's about.
1482
01:23:27,836 --> 01:23:29,838
-Oh, gesundheit!
1483
01:23:29,921 --> 01:23:33,633
We're injecting little pieces
of sweetness and joy
1484
01:23:34,467 --> 01:23:37,345
into an otherwise not-so-joyful
world right now.
1485
01:23:38,346 --> 01:23:40,724
When I was unhappy,
I would be on the Internet
1486
01:23:40,807 --> 01:23:42,684
and that's what would make me happy.
1487
01:23:42,976 --> 01:23:45,854
So, I wanted to create that
for other people.
1488
01:23:46,688 --> 01:23:49,024
Creating that moment,
that one second,
1489
01:23:49,107 --> 01:23:51,026
now it's like half of a second.
1490
01:23:51,651 --> 01:23:52,861
I think the best part
about what we do
1491
01:23:52,944 --> 01:23:54,362
is when we're looking through
the comments section
1492
01:23:54,446 --> 01:23:56,364
and we see people just sharing
their posts with their friends,
1493
01:23:56,448 --> 01:23:58,366
and we don't know anything about
what's going on in their lives,
1494
01:23:58,450 --> 01:24:00,785
but just that little bit
of entertainment for them
1495
01:24:00,869 --> 01:24:02,537
could be the world of difference.
1496
01:24:02,620 --> 01:24:04,706
Now, it's great that we can
share funny pictures
1497
01:24:04,789 --> 01:24:07,584
and it's great that we can
raise money for causes,
1498
01:24:07,751 --> 01:24:10,628
but I think on a day-to-day level
as a lived experience,
1499
01:24:10,795 --> 01:24:13,673
what's really great about it
is that we have each other.
1500
01:24:14,758 --> 01:24:18,053
I think the Internet,
it's always been a difficult place
1501
01:24:18,344 --> 01:24:20,388
with like really, really good parts
1502
01:24:20,472 --> 01:24:23,349
and, like, charming and wonderful parts
that connect people,
1503
01:24:23,475 --> 01:24:25,977
and then, really, really a dark side.
1504
01:24:27,103 --> 01:24:31,024
Cats have been this kind of avatar
of, like, the good side of the Internet,
1505
01:24:31,107 --> 01:24:34,110
like the pure side where people
connect to each other
1506
01:24:34,277 --> 01:24:39,616
and share this sort of
empathetic feeling that they have,
1507
01:24:40,658 --> 01:24:43,661
and that's a sign of what the Internet
can be of when it's at its best.
1508
01:24:44,287 --> 01:24:47,665
I don't think we will
stop having cat content.
1509
01:24:48,792 --> 01:24:52,003
I think there will always be
people making it,
1510
01:24:52,921 --> 01:24:55,715
people excited to make it
and people excited to see it.
1511
01:24:56,591 --> 01:24:58,343
It all goes back to the definition
of a meme.
1512
01:24:59,052 --> 01:25:01,137
Things evolve and change
along the way,
1513
01:25:01,346 --> 01:25:02,430
and you can't predict it.
1514
01:25:02,597 --> 01:25:05,308
It will just keep going and surprising,
1515
01:25:05,391 --> 01:25:08,144
and once it clicks,
it's gonna click and change again.
1516
01:25:18,279 --> 01:25:21,991
♪ Some people think the Internet
Is a series of tubes ♪
1517
01:25:22,075 --> 01:25:23,952
♪ Some people think it's made of wires ♪
1518
01:25:24,035 --> 01:25:25,787
♪ And lasers and some hats ♪
1519
01:25:25,870 --> 01:25:29,457
♪ Some people think it's stuck together
With a load of glue ♪
1520
01:25:29,666 --> 01:25:33,545
♪ But they're all wrong
Because the Internet is made of cats ♪
1521
01:25:33,628 --> 01:25:35,672
♪ The Internet is made of cats ♪
1522
01:25:35,755 --> 01:25:37,465
♪ The Internet is made of cats ♪
1523
01:25:37,590 --> 01:25:39,509
♪ Cats, cats, cats, cats, cats ♪
1524
01:25:39,592 --> 01:25:43,596
♪ The Internet is made of cats ♪
1525
01:25:45,306 --> 01:25:48,643
♪ The Internet was born in Japan, 2001 ♪
1526
01:25:48,935 --> 01:25:52,605
♪ There were not many cats
So bandwidth was not very high ♪
1527
01:25:52,689 --> 01:25:56,276
♪ To get the cats around the net
They had to keep them small ♪
1528
01:25:56,359 --> 01:25:57,902
♪ So they compressed kittens ♪
1529
01:25:57,986 --> 01:26:00,321
♪ Using the ancient art of bonsai ♪
1530
01:26:00,405 --> 01:26:04,325
♪ Although more kittens came online
With each and every day ♪
1531
01:26:04,409 --> 01:26:08,037
♪ The connectivity and bandwidth
Of the net weren't great ♪
1532
01:26:08,121 --> 01:26:11,833
♪ Because the kitten numbers
Did not grow as you would hope ♪
1533
01:26:11,916 --> 01:26:15,461
♪ As God kills a kitten every time
He sees you masturbate ♪
1534
01:26:15,545 --> 01:26:17,839
♪ Because the Internet is made of cats ♪
1535
01:26:17,922 --> 01:26:19,799
♪ The Internet is made of cats ♪
1536
01:26:19,883 --> 01:26:21,676
♪ Cats, cats, cats, cats, cats ♪
1537
01:26:21,759 --> 01:26:25,346
♪ The Internet is made of cats ♪
1538
01:26:27,390 --> 01:26:31,144
♪ The revolution came when
LOLcats harnessed humankind ♪
1539
01:26:31,227 --> 01:26:35,023
♪ To create many cats with captions on
That were quite mental ♪
1540
01:26:35,106 --> 01:26:38,735
♪ While death rates from a vengeful God
Stayed more or less the same ♪
1541
01:26:38,818 --> 01:26:42,614
♪ The growth in Internet kittens
Soon became exponential ♪
1542
01:26:42,989 --> 01:26:44,699
♪ For a while it looked as though ♪
1543
01:26:44,782 --> 01:26:46,492
♪ Everything was just fine ♪
1544
01:26:46,743 --> 01:26:50,288
♪ With more cats in the network
Things grew fast as fast can be
1545
01:26:50,371 --> 01:26:51,998
♪ But soon the laws of physics ♪
1546
01:26:52,081 --> 01:26:54,209
♪ Started to bend with the strain ♪
1547
01:26:54,292 --> 01:26:57,754
♪ As the number of cats tended
Towards infinity ♪
1548
01:26:57,837 --> 01:27:00,006
♪ Because the Internet is made of cats ♪
1549
01:27:00,089 --> 01:27:02,133
♪ The Internet is made of cats ♪
1550
01:27:02,217 --> 01:27:03,968
♪ Cats, cats, cats, cats, cats ♪
1551
01:27:04,052 --> 01:27:07,639
♪ The Internet is made of cats ♪
1552
01:27:09,724 --> 01:27:13,478
♪ The Internet Cat Project
Kittens inspired by kittens ♪
1553
01:27:13,561 --> 01:27:17,273
♪ Recursive cats spiraled down
To a singularity ♪
1554
01:27:17,357 --> 01:27:20,985
♪ Which birthed a cat-god
Powerful beyond imagination ♪
1555
01:27:21,069 --> 01:27:24,781
♪ Called Maru, who appeared
Obsessed with box idiocy ♪
1556
01:27:24,864 --> 01:27:28,743
♪ But despite looking like
A fat-cat moron who liked boxes ♪
1557
01:27:28,826 --> 01:27:32,580
♪ Maru was in fact manipulating
Both time and space ♪
1558
01:27:32,664 --> 01:27:36,501
♪ He summoned forth the Dark One
From beyond the deepest past ♪
1559
01:27:36,584 --> 01:27:40,004
♪ The one who would be savior
Of the Internet cat race ♪
1560
01:27:40,088 --> 01:27:42,298
♪ Because the Internet is made of cats ♪
1561
01:27:42,382 --> 01:27:44,217
♪ The Internet is made of cats ♪
1562
01:27:44,300 --> 01:27:45,843
♪ Cats, cats, cats, cats, cats ♪
1563
01:27:45,927 --> 01:27:48,263
♪ The Internet is made of ♪
1564
01:27:48,346 --> 01:27:50,098
♪ The Internet is made of cats ♪
1565
01:27:50,181 --> 01:27:52,100
♪ The Internet is made of cats ♪
1566
01:27:52,183 --> 01:27:54,018
♪ Cats, cats, cats, cats, cats ♪
1567
01:27:54,102 --> 01:28:01,025
♪ The Internet is made of cats ♪
1568
01:28:04,570 --> 01:28:06,572
♪ And that's a fact ♪
119573
Can't find what you're looking for?
Get subtitles in any language from opensubtitles.com, and translate them here.