Back I Can Has Cheezburger? Catalan I Can Has Cheezburger? French I Can Has Cheezburger? Latin I Can Has Cheezburger? Swedish
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Type of site | Blog |
|---|---|
| Owner | Cheezburger, Inc. |
| Created by | Co-founder Eric Nakagawa and Kari Unebasami |
| Revenue | Advertisements |
| URL | icanhas |
| Launched | January 2007 |
| Current status | Active |
I Can Has Cheezburger? (abbreviated as ICHC) is a blog-format website featuring videos (usually involving animals) and image macros. It was created in 2007 by Eric Nakagawa (Cheezburger), from Hawaii, and his friend Kari Unebasami (Tofuburger).[1] The website was one of the most popular Internet sites of its kind receiving as many as 1,500,000 hits per day at its peak in May 2007.[2][3] ICHC was instrumental in bringing animal-based image macros and lolspeak into mainstream usage and making Internet memes profitable.[4]
ICHC was created on January 11, 2007, when Nakagawa posted an image from comedy website Something Awful of a smiling British Shorthair cat, known as Happycat, with a caption of the animal asking, "I can has cheezburger?". It is from this image that the site derives its name. After posting similar images, Nakagawa then converted the site to a monetized blog.[3]
A group of investors acquired the website in September 2007 for US$2 million.[5] The blog became the flagship site of the Cheezburger Network, led by Ben Huh. The network also includes FAIL Blog and Know Your Meme. In 2016 the network was acquired by Literally Media.[6][7]
- ^ Wortham, Jenna (April 25, 2008). "Behind the Memes: Kickin' It With the I Can Has Cheezburger? Kids | Underwire". Wired.com. Retrieved September 26, 2021.
- ^ Huh, Ben (March 9, 2008). "SXSW 2008 Panel LOLWUT? Why Do I Keep Coming Back to This Website?". Rocketboom. Archived from the original on March 15, 2008. Retrieved March 16, 2008.
- ^ a b Tozzi, John (July 13, 2007). "Bloggers Bring in the Big Bucks". BusinessWeek. Archived from the original on February 15, 2008. Retrieved February 13, 2008.
- ^ Steel, Sharon (February 1, 2008). "The cuteness surge". The Phoenix. Retrieved February 13, 2008.
- ^ Moses, Asher (July 18, 2008). "Huh? He's a weird burger and a net cult". Sydney Morning Herald.
- ^ "Literally Media Buys Cheezburger To Reach Millennials". www.mediapost.com. Retrieved June 13, 2019.
- ^ "Cheezburger's new owner is Israeli digital-media company". The Seattle Times. April 21, 2016. Retrieved June 13, 2019.