Grumpy Cat is more than an Internet meme expressing discontent about life; he's a $1 million dollar brand.
New York Magazine features the cat behind the brand, whose name is actually Tardar Sauce (yes, the Tardar, not Tarter). Owner Tabatha Bundesen, 28, has taken her cat's image to a new level, allowing him on the gossip site TMZ for a segment which has spawned a press tour to meet fans.
Grumpy Cat is quite popular, and his manager will do what it takes to preserve his image, and that includes having Tabatha and Tarder ride in an Escalade to meet-and-greets with fans.
"My goal always has been to help get these things treated the same as any other entertainment property," Ben Lashes, Grumpy Cat's manager who was also behind the success of Keyboard Cat, told the magazine.
It seems like a lot of effort for Lashes to put into promoting a cat, but it's a unique one, Martin Brochstein, a senior vice-president at the International Licensing Industry Merchandisers' Association, told NY Mag.
"I'm not aware of anyone else out there that is doing what he is doing," Brochstein said. "There are lots of marketing specialists and professionals who include licensing among their services and know how to do it, but I don't know of anyone else who is working specifically in the digital realm with animals."
And what has come out of Lashes' promotions are tshirts, a plush toy with 30,000 preorders already in place, a line of coffee called Grumpuccino, iPhone cases, muggs and Halloween masks just to name a few. Lashes, Bundesen and Grumpy Cat have created an estimated $1 million empire, and it's still growing.
"Look, the point isn't that we're whores and we'll do whatever," Lashes's lawyer Kia Kamran told NY Mag. "The point is this is a f**king meme. So we're not too precious. If somebody wants a koozie with Grumpy Cat on it, mazel tov."
