Cheezburger

Cheezburger is an American digital media and entertainment brand whose roots lie in the early social-media and meme culture of the late 2000s. Its history began with I Can Has Cheezburger?, a blog launched in January 2007 by Eric Nakagawa and Kari Unebasami after they registered icanhascheezburger.com and published a photograph of a British Shorthair cat paired with the caption “I CAN HAS CHEEZBURGER?”. The site helped popularize the lolcat format, in which images are combined with intentionally ungrammatical or stylized captions, and quickly became one of the most recognizable examples of user-driven internet humor. Later in 2007, entrepreneur Ben Huh and angel investors acquired the site and established Pet Holdings Inc., also known in public descriptions as Cheezburger, Inc. Huh became chief executive and developed the original cat site into a broader digital publishing network. The Cheezburger name came to represent both the corporate operation and a collection of websites focused on participatory humor, viral images, user submissions, and internet communities. In early coverage, the growing operation was variously called The Cheezburger, The Cheezburger Blog, or The Cheezburger Network. Expansion accelerated with the acquisition of Fail Blog in 2008. Fail Blog centered on photographs and videos of mistakes, accidents, and unsuccessful attempts, helping establish the “FAIL” meme as a mainstream online format. Other properties followed, including Memebase and additional humor and culture sites. The network’s publishing model combined user submissions with editorial review, allowing visitors to upload images, create captions, and compete for visibility on highly trafficked pages. By 2008, the company had expanded its staff and portfolio, and by 2011 it reported hundreds of millions of monthly page views across its sites. Cheezburger also moved beyond websites. It published humor compilation books, operated image-captioning tools, and acquired Know Your Meme in 2011, adding a database-oriented property devoted to documenting the origins and development of internet memes. This combination of community submissions, editorial curation, searchable archives, and advertising made Cheezburger an early example of commercially organized user-generated media. Its growth was frequently presented as evidence that online communities and viral formats could support a sizeable digital publishing business. The business faced increasing pressure as audiences and advertising migrated from standalone websites toward Facebook, Twitter, mobile platforms, and later other social networks. In 2013, Cheezburger restructured and reduced its workforce by approximately one-third. Ben Huh left the chief executive role in 2015. In 2016, the brand and its associated properties were sold to Literally Media, which incorporated Cheezburger into a larger portfolio of digital entertainment and culture websites. Cheezburger remains an active publishing brand under Literally Media. Its current ecosystem includes the main Cheezburger site and recognizable sub-brands such as I Can Has Cheezburger?, Fail Blog, Memebase, Geek Universe, and Animal Comedy. Its editorial output covers memes, animals, viral stories, online behavior, workplace and social issues, and broader internet culture. Although its original prominence was tied to lolcats and image macros, the contemporary brand operates more broadly as an English-language digital content network that packages online humor and participatory culture for web audiences.

Cheezburger’s origins are inseparable from I Can Has Cheezburger?, a blog created in January 2007 by Eric Nakagawa and Kari Unebasami. The site’s defining image showed a cat with the caption “I CAN HAS CHEEZBURGER?”, a deliberately nonstandard phrase that became a widely recognized expression of lolcat humor. The blog helped turn captioned animal photographs into a scalable internet format and attracted attention during the rapid expansion of user-generated media and social networking. In July 2007, Ben Huh and a group of angel investors acquired the site and organized the business under Pet Holdings Inc., also referred to in public accounts as Cheezburger, Inc. Huh became chief executive and used the original site as the foundation for a larger network of online humor properties. The original domain remained an important subdomain, while the parent operation was increasingly described as The Cheezburger or The Cheezburger Network. The network expanded in 2008 with the purchase of Fail Blog, a site focused on mishaps, failed attempts, and comic accidents. Cheezburger subsequently added other properties, including Memebase, and developed tools that allowed visitors to submit media and produce captioned images. Staff moderation and editorial selection helped determine which submissions reached the front pages. This blend of community participation and professional curation became central to the company’s publishing model. By the end of the 2000s, Cheezburger had become an important commercial example of viral internet publishing. Its sites drew large audiences, its content was discussed by mainstream media, and the company expanded into books and other forms of packaged humor. In 2011, the business acquired Know Your Meme, adding a research and documentation service that catalogued the origins, meanings, and spread of online memes. The same period brought significant venture financing and reports of more than 375 million monthly page views across the network. The company’s growth depended heavily on direct visits to standalone websites, a model increasingly challenged by the rise of Facebook, Twitter, mobile applications, and algorithmic content distribution. As social platforms became the main route through which users encountered viral material, independent humor publishers faced weaker traffic economics and greater dependence on third-party distribution. Cheezburger restructured in 2013 and eliminated approximately one-third of its employees. Huh stepped down as chief executive in 2015. In 2016, the Cheezburger business was sold to Literally Media. The acquisition placed the brand alongside other digital entertainment properties and gave it a corporate home beyond its original Pet Holdings structure. During the first pandemic lockdowns in 2020, the broader network experienced a temporary traffic increase as audiences sought online entertainment while spending more time at home. The brand continues to publish under Literally Media. Its active or associated properties include I Can Has Cheezburger?, Fail Blog, Memebase, Geek Universe, and Animal Comedy. Modern Cheezburger content is broader than the original lolcat blog and includes articles about internet culture, viral behavior, workplace and social topics, animals, memes, and humor collections. Its historical importance lies in helping transform participatory meme culture from a loose online practice into a recognizable digital-media publishing category.

1. 2016Literally Media becomes owner

   Literally Media purchases Cheezburger and integrates it into its digital-media portfolio.

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2. 2015Founder exits chief executive position

   Ben Huh steps down as CEO after a period of declining page views and workforce reductions.

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3. 2013Operational restructuring

   The company restructures and lays off approximately one-third of its employees amid changing digital traffic patterns.

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4. 2011Know Your Meme is acquired

   Cheezburger expands into meme documentation and internet-culture reference publishing.

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5. 2008Fail Blog joins the network

   The acquisition adds a major property centered on humorous failures, accidents, and unsuccessful attempts.

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6. 2007I Can Has Cheezburger? launches

   Eric Nakagawa and Kari Unebasami establish the site that popularizes the lolcat image-caption format.

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7. 2007Ben Huh acquires the original site

   Huh and investors acquire I Can Has Cheezburger? and organize the business under Pet Holdings Inc.

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A mass-market digital entertainment and internet-culture publisher that combines editorial content with user-generated memes, viral media, animal humor, and online-community formats.

• I Can Has Cheezburger?Meme and animal-humor website2007

  The original Cheezburger property, known for captioned cat photographs and lolcat language. It established the visual and participatory conventions that became central to the wider brand, combining user submissions with editorially selected animal humor.

• Fail BlogViral humor website2007

  A humor property built around photographs, videos, and stories depicting mistakes, accidents, failed plans, and awkward outcomes. Its popularity helped make the FAIL format a durable part of early internet culture.

• MemebaseMeme and user-generated content website

  A Cheezburger-associated platform focused on image macros, web comics, memes, and other user-submitted or editorially packaged forms of online humor.

• Know Your MemeInternet-culture database2007

  A database and documentation platform covering the origins, development, terminology, and spread of internet memes. Cheezburger acquired the property in 2011, extending its portfolio beyond entertainment publishing into internet-culture reference material.

• Geek UniverseDigital entertainment publication

  A Cheezburger-associated content property covering entertainment, fandom, and geek-oriented subjects within the broader network of digital culture publications.

• Animal ComedyAnimal-humor publication

  A humor-oriented property focused on amusing animal images, videos, stories, and compilations, continuing the animal-comedy tradition established by I Can Has Cheezburger?.

• 2016Sell the brand to Literally MediaM&A

  Following leadership changes and declining standalone-site traffic, the Cheezburger business entered a new ownership phase.

  What changed. Literally Media purchased Cheezburger and integrated it with other digital entertainment properties.

  Aftermath. Cheezburger continued operating as part of a larger private digital-media group.

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• 2013Restructure amid traffic pressureStrategy

  Audience behavior was shifting toward major social platforms, weakening the traffic model of independent humor websites.

  What changed. Cheezburger reorganized its operations and reduced its workforce by approximately one-third.

  Aftermath. The restructuring reflected the broader difficulties faced by standalone digital publishers as distribution became increasingly dependent on social networks.

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• 2011Acquire Know Your MemeM&A

  Meme culture had become a significant area of online publishing, creating demand for both entertainment and explanation of emerging internet phenomena.

  What changed. Cheezburger acquired Know Your Meme and incorporated meme documentation into its digital-media portfolio.

  Aftermath. The acquisition broadened the company’s role from viral-content publisher to curator and chronicler of internet culture.

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• 2008Acquire Fail Blog and broaden the networkM&A

  Cheezburger sought to develop beyond its original cat-caption site by assembling multiple specialized humor properties.

  What changed. The company acquired Fail Blog and continued adding sites focused on distinct forms of viral and user-generated humor.

  Aftermath. The move helped establish Cheezburger as a network rather than a single meme website and expanded its audience and content categories.

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• 2020Cheezburger network traffic rises during early COVID-19 lockdowns

  Literally Media reported a substantial temporary increase in network sessions during the initial pandemic lockdown period, as audiences spent more time consuming online entertainment.

  Other
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• 2016Literally Media acquires Cheezburger

  Literally Media purchased Cheezburger and integrated the brand into its wider portfolio of digital entertainment and culture properties.

  M&A
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• 2015Ben Huh leaves the chief executive role

  Ben Huh resigned as chief executive after declining page views and the company’s restructuring period.

  Leadership change
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• 2013Cheezburger restructures and cuts approximately one-third of its workforce

  The company reorganized during a period when social-media platforms were drawing traffic away from independent humor websites and reduced its staff by approximately one-third.

  Other
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• 2011Cheezburger acquires Know Your Meme

  Cheezburger acquired Know Your Meme, extending its business from publishing humorous content into documenting and explaining the history of internet memes.

  M&A
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• 2008Cheezburger expands from I Can Has Cheezburger? into a multi-site network

  The company broadened its portfolio through the acquisition of Fail Blog and the addition of further humor-oriented properties, establishing the network model associated with the Cheezburger brand.

  M&A
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1. Cheezburger
2. Cheezburger official website