Pusheen
{{Short description|Fictional cat and accompanying universe}}
{{pp-vandalism|small=yes}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox character
| name = Pusheen the cat
| image = Pusheen_the_Cat.png
| image_size = 200px
| creator = Claire Belton
| first_date = 2010
| gender = Female
| relatives = Stormy (Little Sister); Pip (Little Brother); Sunflower (Mum); Biscuit (Dad)
}}
Pusheen is a cartoon cat who is the subject of comic strips, plush toys, vinyl figures, sticker sets, and more, on Tumblr, Facebook, Instagram, iMessage, YouTube, and other social media platforms. Pusheen was created in 2010 by Claire Belton and Andrew Duff for a comic strip on their website, Everyday Cute. More recently, the Pusheen character has been used in social media posts, and on the Pusheen blog.
On the official Pusheen website (Pusheen.com), Pusheen is described as being a female fictional cat who loves blogging, snacking, and going on adventures. The original comic strip series included characters modeled after Belton, Duff, their dog named Carm (short for "Carmen"), and Pusheen, a chubby grey tabby cat based on Belton's cat that now lives with her parents in Oregon, Illinois. Pusheen's name stems from the word {{lang|ga|puisín}}, which means kitten in Irish.{{Cite news|last=Peters|first=Lucia|date=19 December 2018|title=A Pusheen Cafe Is Opening & You Will Want Every Adorable Thing On The Menu|work=Bustle|url=https://www.bustle.com/p/a-pusheen-cafe-is-opening-in-singapore-the-food-is-too-cute-for-words-15549365|access-date=20 December 2021}}{{Cite web |date=29 May 2018 |title=Pop Culture Dictionary: Pusheen |url=https://www.dictionary.com/e/pop-culture/pusheen/ |access-date=20 December 2021 |website=Dictionary.com}} Occasionally, Pusheen and her sister Stormy are drawn in different themes, such as Pusheenosaurus Rex, where Pusheen is a dinosaur and Stormy is in a dinosaur egg. She also appears in other cute and comical forms, such as Pusheenicorn, Purrmaid, and many other themes. Pusheen has a mom named Sunflower, a dad named Biscuit, a sister named Stormy, a brother named Pip, and an array of furry friends, including Sloth the sloth, Bo the parakeet, and Cheek the hamster.{{Cite web |title=Pusheen: Characters |url=https://pusheen.com/characters//}}
History
Pusheen first appeared in May 2010 in the comic strip Pusheen Things on Claire Belton and Andrew Duff's website, Everyday Cute.{{cite web|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101122085815/http://everydaycute.com/?p=25|url=http://everydaycute.com/?p=25 |title= Comic 1: Pusheen Things|publisher=Everyday Cute |date=May 2010 |archive-date=22 November 2010 |url-status=dead|access-date=24 February 2016}} Belton is an illustrator and entrepreneur, best known for creating Pusheen, along with several related cartoon characters.{{cite news |last1=Mosendz |first1=Polly |title=How An Internet Cat Craze Became A Toy Empire |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-03-14/how-an-internet-cat-craze-became-a-toy-empire |accessdate=11 June 2019 |publisher=Bloomberg |date=14 March 2016}} She is president of Pusheen Corp in Chicago, Illinois.{{cite web |title=Claire Belton |url=https://www.simonandschuster.co.uk/authors/Claire-Belton/412892497 |website=Simon & Schuster |accessdate=11 June 2019 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20190611055820/https://www.simonandschuster.co.uk/authors/Claire-Belton/412892497 |archivedate=11 June 2019}}{{cite news |last1=Johnson |first1=Jennifer |title=Pusheen Corp. looks to open third office in Uptown Park Ridge |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/park-ridge/ct-prh-pusheen-expansion-tl-0503-story.html |accessdate=11 June 2019 |publisher=Chicago Tribune |date=29 April 2018 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20190529124024/https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/park-ridge/ct-prh-pusheen-expansion-tl-0503-story.html |archivedate=29 May 2019}}
In 2011, Belton and Duff launched a spin-off site dedicated to Pusheen. In 2013, Belton published I Am Pusheen The Cat, a collection of comic strips featuring Pusheen.{{cite web|url=https://www.instyle.com/news/whats-right-meow-meet-internets-most-famous-kitty-pusheen-cat|title=What's Right Meow: Meet the Internet's Most Famous Kitty, Pusheen the Cat |first=Kelsey |last=Glein |publisher=InStyle |date=2 April 2014 |access-date=22 April 2020}} In 2021, Belton published a sequel, The Many Lives of Pusheen the Cat.{{Cite web |title=The Many Lives of Pusheen the Cat |url=https://pusheen.com/the-many-lives-of-pusheen-the-cat/}}
Pusheen has become well known for appearing in sticker sets on Facebook, wherein stickers are images that can be attached to personal messages or comments. The stickers feature, including a set of Pusheen stickers, was introduced to Android in April 2013, and subsequently added to the main Facebook website in July.{{cite web|url=https://www.pcmag.com/news/facebook-stickers-now-available-on-the-web|title=Facebook Stickers Now Available On the Web |first=Abigail |last=Wang |publisher=PC Magazine |date=3 July 2013 |access-date=22 April 2020}} In an article for PC Magazine on emoji and unicode, Sascha Segan called Pusheen Facebook's "proprietary emoji", used as a form of vendor lock-in.{{cite web|url=https://www.pcmag.com/opinions/bring-on-the-new-emoji |title=Bring On the Emoji |first=Sascha|last=Segan |publisher=PC Magazine |date=22 May 2015 |access-date=22 April 2020}} In April 2017, the Pusheen Corporation acquired office space in Park Ridge, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. The offices are used as a workspace for artists and photographers.{{Cite news|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/park-ridge/ct-prh-prospect-office-tl-0413-20170407-story.html|title=Pusheen gets green light for office in Uptown Park Ridge|last=Johnson|first=Jennifer|publisher=Chicago Tribune|access-date=22 April 2020}}
On February 18, 2025, Pusheen celebrated her 15th birthday.{{Cite tweet |user=Pusheen |number=1891865374716547113 |title=Pusheen's 15th birthday tweet}}
Social media
Pusheen is an example of the popularity of cats on the Internet. An exhibition at the New York City Museum of the Moving Image examined the phenomenon, highlighting Pusheen alongside other celebrity cats such as Grumpy Cat and Lil Bub.{{cite web|url=https://www.theweek.co.uk/64480/cats-on-the-internet-to-star-in-new-york-museum-exhibition |title=Cats on the internet to star in New York museum exhibition |publisher=The Week |date=22 July 2015 |access-date=22 April 2020}} Pusheen's Facebook page has over 9.2 million fans as of February 2019.{{Cite web|title = The True History of Pusheen, the Animated GIF Cat That's Taking Over Facebook | author=Matt Keeley | date=23 February 2016 | url = https://wp.hornet.com/stories/pusheen-history/|website = Hornet|access-date = 22 April 2020}} The brand has expanded with merchandise, including an app. Pusheen has expanded to take part in multiple social media platforms, including Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter. She also has many fan pages within the platforms, as well as blogs{{cite web |title=Pusheen blog article |url=https://www.malinaila.pl/2018/06/paznokcie-pusheen.html |website=MaliNaila |date=30 June 2018 |access-date=30 April 2020}} dedicated to celebrating the comic. Her popularity has allowed the Pusheen Corporation to create an app that is an expansion of the sticker collection that started on Facebook. Each social media account owned by Pusheen's creators has gained over a million followers. Due to this rise in popularity, the company has started releasing GIFs on its website several times a month.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}
The Pusheen GIFs on Facebook include Pusheens resembling desserts. They also have Pusheens eating food such as pizza and donuts. Pusheens are even used at sign-in tables for events in Bellingham, Washington, often on the sign displaying the activity name. LaVenture Middle School in Mount Vernon, Washington sold Pusheen posters at a Scholastic book fair to raise funding. Pusheen.com has a self-quiz to show what kind of Pusheen fan you are.{{Cite web |title=Pusheen : How Big of a Pusheen Fan Are You? |url=https://pusheen.com/how-well-do-you-know-pusheen/ |access-date=2022-07-09 |website=pusheen.com}}
There are Youtube videos featuring Pusheen on the official Pusheen Youtube channel.{{Cite web |title=Pusheen the Cat - YouTube |url=https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFWi9aUuK7oFksfbWObwcIQ |access-date=2022-09-12 |website=www.youtube.com}}
Merchandising
The Pusheen corporation started selling Pusheen merchandise after her popularity took off in 2010.{{Cite web|url=http://everydaycute.com/?p=170|title=Everyday Cute » Blog Archive » The shop is up!|date=28 October 2010|access-date=22 September 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110223132134/http://everydaycute.com/?p=170|archive-date=23 February 2011}} The first Pusheen merchandise was sold on the Everyday Cute website as a charm keychain and necklace. From there, the merchandising expanded. In 2014, Gund developed an interest in Pusheen and became the manufacturer of her plush toys and blind boxes.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/how-an-internet-cat-craze-became-a-toy-empire-1287225|title=How An Internet Cat Craze Became A Toy Empire|website=NDTV.com|access-date=12 February 2020}} Pusheen Corp has teamed up with many brands to create and sell merchandise in stores, including retailer-specific items. Pusheen Corp has many current retailers, including Hot Topic, Books-A-Million, Barnes & Noble, Claire's, Petco, Walmart, Target, FYE, and Gund. Pusheen also has a Funko Pop! line that consists of various styles of vinyl figures. Pusheen Corp expanded its merchandising to the website formerly known as Hey Chickadee, rebranded as The Pusheen Shop in 2019.{{Cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/ThePusheenShop/posts/2445197422203235|title=Hey Chickadee is now The Pusheen Shop!|website=Facebook|access-date=9 September 2019}} The site features merchandise collections dedicated to Pusheen, including plush toys, clothing, home decor, and accessories.{{Cite web|url=https://shop.pusheen.com/collections/pusheen|title=Pusheen Shop|access-date=22 April 2020}} A quarterly subscription box, called the Pusheen Box, filled with Pusheen Products, is also available.{{cite web|url=https://pusheenbox.com/|title=Pusheen Box}} In 2022, the video game Fall Guys collaborated with her.{{Cite web |last=Schomer |first=Matthew |date=2024-05-10 |title=Among Us Reveals Update Plans With 2024 Roadmap |url=https://gamerant.com/among-us-2024-roadmap-update-plans/ |access-date=2024-10-18 |website=Game Rant |language=en}} In 2023, the video game Among Us collaborated with her, too.{{Cite web |last=Frushtick |first=Russ |date=2022-07-12 |title=Pusheen the adorable cartoon cat arriving in Fall Guys this week |url=https://www.polygon.com/23205348/pusheen-fall-guys-collab-crossover-cosmetics |access-date=2024-10-18 |website=Polygon |language=en-US}}
References
{{Reflist}}