I Can Has Cheezburger?

I Can Has Cheezburger?, commonly abbreviated ICHC, is an American-origin internet humor website and meme-media brand best known for popularizing lolcats: captioned animal images written in deliberately unconventional, childlike English often called lolspeak. The site emerged in January 2007 when Eric Nakagawa posted an image of the cat later known as Happycat with the caption “I can has cheezburger?” Kari Unebasami subsequently became involved in developing the project. What began as a personal blog evolved into a reader-participation platform and then into the flagship property of a broader digital-media company. The brand’s early appeal came from combining a highly recognizable visual formula with community participation. Users could submit images and create captions through the site’s LOL Builder, while the editorial team selected material for publication. During its initial growth period, the site reportedly received hundreds of submissions per day and reached very high traffic levels, including up to approximately 1.5 million daily hits at its peak in May 2007. By early 2008, reported page views had reached roughly two million per day. The site also experimented with interaction mechanisms such as image ratings, recurring themes, and narrative chains in which one user’s image prompted responses from others. Its signature style relied heavily on animal photographs, short captions, deliberate misspellings, and recurring characters or expressions. “Ceiling Cat,” “Basement Cat,” “Lolrus,” “bukkit,” “om nom nom,” “oh hai,” “kthxbai,” and “happy caturday” became associated with the wider lolcat vocabulary. The use of the Impact typeface, inherited from earlier image-macro practices and built into the site’s captioning tools, helped establish a visual convention that spread well beyond ICHC. The brand therefore influenced not only online humor but also the broader development of meme formats, participatory publishing, and the commercialization of user-generated internet culture. In September 2007, a group of investors acquired the blog for a reported US$2 million. It became the central property of Cheezburger, a network associated with entrepreneur Ben Huh that expanded to include properties such as FAIL Blog and Know Your Meme. The business used advertising, publishing, licensing, branded content, and related media activity to turn internet memes into a commercial content category. ICHC’s publishing activity included two books: I Can Has Cheezburger?: A LOLcat Colleckshun in 2008 and How To Take Over the Wurld: An LOLcat Guide 2 Winning in 2009. The brand also became the subject of LOLwork, a Bravo reality television series that followed Ben Huh and employees working at the Cheezburger operation. A related wiki, SpeakLolSpeak.com, documented lolspeak expressions until 2013. The ICHC phenomenon also generated derivative cultural uses, including the #ICanHazPDF hashtag, which researchers used on Twitter when requesting access to academic papers behind journal paywalls. Cheezburger was acquired by Literally Media in 2016. By 2017, ICHC and the wider network had moved away from depending primarily on direct user submissions, instead relying more heavily on an editorial team producing and curating original material. The brand remains an online humor destination whose identity is rooted in lolcats, image macros, community-era meme culture, and the early monetization of viral internet content.

I Can Has Cheezburger? was created on January 11, 2007, when Eric Nakagawa published a cat image with the caption that became the site’s name. Kari Unebasami joined the project, and the pair developed the concept into a blog devoted to captioned animal images and the emerging lolcat style. The early site drew on image-macro conventions associated with online communities such as Something Awful, but gave the format a particularly recognizable voice through misspelled captions, animal characters, and a participatory publishing model. Readers could submit images and use the LOL Builder to add captions. The site’s growth was rapid: reference material records hundreds of submissions per day in July 2007, rising to thousands per day by January 2008, although only a small selection was published. Updates were scheduled around audience traffic patterns, and the site encouraged interaction through ratings, recurring themes, and chains of related images. This structure made ICHC an early example of a commercially oriented platform that converted community participation into a repeatable media product. The site reached major visibility in 2007 and 2008. Its animal-based image macros helped move lolcats and lolspeak from niche online communities into mainstream internet culture. Recurring motifs included Ceiling Cat, Basement Cat, Lolrus, “om nom nom,” “oh hai,” and “kthxbai.” The site’s use of Impact as its default caption font also helped standardize the appearance of many internet memes. Its influence extended to snowclone formats and reusable caption patterns that were copied across social networks and other meme websites. In September 2007, investors acquired the blog for a reported $2 million. Under Ben Huh, it became the flagship of Cheezburger, a larger network that included FAIL Blog and Know Your Meme. The network pursued multiple ways of monetizing online humor, including advertising, branded publishing, books, television, and other media projects. ICHC published I Can Has Cheezburger?: A LOLcat Colleckshun in 2008 and How To Take Over the Wurld: An LOLcat Guide 2 Winning in 2009. The Cheezburger operation was also depicted in Bravo’s LOLwork reality series. The brand’s cultural footprint included SpeakLolSpeak.com, a wiki dedicated to lolspeak expressions that operated until 2013, and the #ICanHazPDF hashtag, which was adopted by researchers seeking academic articles through social media. These uses show how the brand’s name and language became detached from the original website and entered wider internet practice. Cheezburger was acquired by Literally Media in 2016. By 2017, ICHC and related sites had reduced their reliance on direct user-generated content and employed an editorial team to create and curate material. The transition reflected a broader maturation of meme publishing: the brand retained its lolcat identity while operating more like a professionally managed digital publisher. I Can Has Cheezburger? remains associated with the formative period when internet memes became scalable, recognizable, and commercially valuable media products.

• 2017

  Editorial operating model

  [1]I Can Has Cheezburger?en.wikipedia.org

  The site increasingly moved from direct user submissions toward content produced by a full editorial team.

• 2016

  Acquisition by Literally Media

  [1]I Can Has Cheezburger?en.wikipedia.org

  Literally Media acquired the Cheezburger network, including I Can Has Cheezburger?.

• 2009

  Second ICHC book published

  [1]I Can Has Cheezburger?en.wikipedia.org

  How To Take Over the Wurld: An LOLcat Guide 2 Winning continued the brand’s publishing program.

• 2008

  First book published

  [1]I Can Has Cheezburger?en.wikipedia.org

  I Can Has Cheezburger?: A LOLcat Colleckshun extended the brand into print publishing.

• 2007

  Site founded

  [1]I Can Has Cheezburger?en.wikipedia.org

  Eric Nakagawa launched the blog after posting the image and caption that supplied its name; Kari Unebasami became a co-founder.

• 2007

  Investor acquisition

  [1]I Can Has Cheezburger?en.wikipedia.org

  A group of investors acquired the blog and developed it as the flagship of the Cheezburger network.

A distinctive, English-language internet humor brand centered on lolcats, participatory meme formats, deliberately nonstandard spelling, and accessible animal-based comedy. Historically positioned as a community-driven platform, it later developed into an editorial digital-media property within the Cheezburger network.

• Digital publishing · 2007

  I Can Has Cheezburger? website

  The core ICHC website publishes captioned animal photographs, image macros, videos, and humorous editorial material. Its original identity was built around reader submissions and community voting, while its later operation relied more on professional editorial production and curation. The site’s defining aesthetic combines animal imagery, short captions, deliberate misspellings, and recognizable meme conventions.

• Content creation tool · 2007

  LOL Builder

  LOL Builder was the site’s image-macro creation tool, allowing users to place captions on images in the characteristic ICHC style. It supported the early community model by making meme creation accessible to visitors and by channeling submissions into the site’s publishing workflow. Impact served as the default typeface associated with the classic look.

• Book · 2008

  I Can Has Cheezburger?: A LOLcat Colleckshun

  This 2008 book transferred the lolcat format into print, collecting examples of the website’s captioned animal humor and extending the brand beyond its web audience.

• Book · 2009

  How To Take Over the Wurld: An LOLcat Guide 2 Winning

  Published in 2009, this second ICHC book used the brand’s lolspeak voice and lolcat characters to present a humorous guide framed around taking over the world.

• 2017

  Shift from user submissions to editorial productionStrategy

  Background

  The network’s publishing model evolved as professionally produced digital content became more central to its operations.

  Action taken

  ICHC and related sites increasingly relied on a full editorial team rather than primarily on direct user-generated content.

  Aftermath

  The brand retained its meme-oriented identity while adopting a more conventional editorial workflow.

  Source

• 2016

  Join Literally MediaM&A

  Background

  The Cheezburger network had developed into a portfolio of internet humor and meme properties.

  Action taken

  Literally Media acquired Cheezburger, including I Can Has Cheezburger?.

  Aftermath

  ICHC continued as part of a broader digital-media portfolio.

  Source

• 2007

  Sell the blog to investorsM&A

  Background

  Rapid audience growth made the blog attractive as a commercial digital-media property.

  Action taken

  A group of investors acquired I Can Has Cheezburger? and developed it into the flagship of the Cheezburger network.

  Aftermath

  The transaction helped turn ICHC from a personal blog into a larger advertising and publishing business.

  Reported acquisition price. US$2 million (September 2007)

  Source

1. 1I Can Has Cheezburger?en.wikipedia.org
2. 2Official I Can Has Cheezburger? websiteicanhas.cheezburger.com