Fail Blog (stylized as FAIL Blog) is a comedic blog website created in January 2008.[1]
 | |
Type of site | Entertainment |
|---|---|
| Available in | English |
| Headquarters | Seattle, Washington |
| Owner | Literally Media |
| URL | failblog |
| Launched | 3 January 2008 |
| Current status | Online |
FAIL Blog features disastrous mishaps and general stupidity in photos and video which have captions such as "fail", "epic fail", "X Fail", or "X; You're doin' it wrong" (X being the activity at which the subject has failed). There are also multiple sites under the FAIL Blog brand, including Failbook (which features FAILs on Facebook), Ugliest Tattoos, and There, I Fixed It.[2][3][4]
History
editIn January 2008, FAIL Blog was launched. The site grew steadily in popularity; in May 2008, FAIL Blog was sold to Pet Holdings, Inc. (now Cheezburger, Inc.), becoming part of the Cheezburger Network.[5] Ben Huh notes that FAIL Blog "really started to take off when the financial industry decided to — ahem — fail."[1] As an example, at a United States Senate hearing in September 2008, a demonstrator held up a sign reading "FAIL" behind Henry Paulson, the former Treasury secretary, and Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve.[1] By January 2010, FAIL Blog was receiving 1.1 million unique visitors per month.[6]
Reception and influence
editFAIL Blog won two Webby Awards in 2009, for People's Voice in Humor and Weird.[7][8] The site has been profiled in multiple publications: The Times named FAIL blog their #3 comedy website, the Los Angeles Times called FAIL Blog, a "fan favorite," Time magazine noted that FAIL Blog has "helped popularize fail as both a noun and an exclamation, not to mention an easier-to-spell synonym for schadenfreude", and The New York Times called it a "runaway hit."[1][9][10] The site is also commonly referenced in popular culture; The Huffington Post called Netflix a "walking failblog" in reference to their July 2011 pricing change and The Atlantic called a Chris Coghlan baseball blunder "a debacle worthy of FAIL Blog."[11][12]
In July 2009, FAIL Blog posted a screenshot of the Guinness record webpage for "Most Individuals Killed in a Terrorist Attack" which was accompanied with a "Break this record" link. Guinness threatened legal action, and the story was picked up by TechCrunch and CNET.[13][14]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d Zimmer, Ben (Aug 7, 2009). "How Fail Went From Verb to Interjection". The New York Times. Retrieved Sep 9, 2009.
- ^ Failbook. Official Website.
- ^ There I Fixed It.
- ^ Ugliest Tattoos. Official Website.
- ^ "I Can Has Internet Millions: The company behind lolcats and Failblog tries to turn memes into money". Slate. Mar 20, 2009. Retrieved Sep 9, 2009.
- ^ Raftery, Brian. King of Cheez: The Internet's Meme Maestro Turns Junk Into Gold. Wired. January 25, 2010.
- ^ "Fail Blog wins 2009 Webby Award". ChannelAPA.com. Jun 9, 2009. Archived from the original on August 21, 2009. Retrieved Sep 9, 2009.
- ^ Orlaff, Brian. Sarah Silverman, Jimmy Fallon Win Big at the Webbys Archived 2011-03-29 at the Wayback Machine. People. May 5, 2009.
- ^ Fitzpatrick, Laura. Building a Media Empire Around I Can Has Cheezburger. TIME. August 24, 2009.
- ^ Mcedward, Laura. Entrepreneur's Kitty Site Now A Caboodle. Los Angeles Times. September 23, 2008.
- ^ Simpson, Jake. Beyond Chris Coghlan: Top 5 Sports Celebration Fails. The Atlantic. July 28, 2010.
- ^ Gilbert, Jason. Netflix, Despite The Price Hike And Nightmare PR, Is Still The Best In Field. Huffington Post. July 29, 2011.
- ^ "The 404 381: Where we gotta stay positive". CNET News. July 14, 2009. Retrieved Sep 9, 2009.
- ^ "Guinness World Records Reaches New Levels Of Fail". TechCrunch. July 13, 2009. Retrieved Sep 9, 2009.
