Were “Bonsai Kittens” the Best Internet Hoax Ever?
Posted Aug 12 2010 4:00am
Back in 2001, when the internet was still stumbling around, wetting its Huggies, it was probably a lot easier to pull pranks on the internet denizens. Things were a lot newer, the lack of social media made it a little trickier to share information, and people were also more apt to believe what they came across, regardless of how ridiculous it was.
Enter Bonsai Kittens, a concept introduced by this website . The concept behind Bansai Kittens was that you could take a young kitten, put them in a glass vessel or box of different shapes, feed them for a few months, and the kitten’s skeletal structure would change based on the pressures exerted on it. It’s easier to click the link to see what I’m talking about. The site is so matter of fact and strange that the pranksters didn’t even need to show any of the horrific things to upset the visitors. It’s like they took a cue from The Blair Witch Project. What you’re not seeing is the horrifying party.
There were a number of factors that made this site more believable. First was the fact that the site was Japanese. The Asian culture that begot foot-binding surely could bring about cat-shaping, couldn’t it? Second was the fact that people do weird shit to their pets all the time in the name of aesthetics . Lastly is the fact that cats kinda suck and sticking them in a glass bottle for a few months is a fantasy that many people probably share.
The beauty of this hoax is that it the concept was completely ridiculous and awful, yet completely believable at the same time. That’s a fine line to walk that the pranksters did pretty well. This site was so well done that it had people calling the FBI to arrest them and people calling them to order the kittens at the same time. That’s a hell of a lot harder than convincing the world that a hot girl quit her job in a humorous way or that Donald Trump left a big tip for some one.
And that is why this is the greatest internet hoax ever. For now.
Back in 2001, when the internet was still stumbling around, wetting its Huggies, it was probably a lot easier to pull pranks on the internet denizens. Things were a lot newer, the lack of social media made it a little trickier to share information, and people were also more apt to believe what they came across, regardless of how ridiculous it was.
Enter Bonsai Kittens, a concept introduced by this website . The concept behind Bansai Kittens was that you could take a young kitten, put them in a glass vessel or box of different shapes, feed them for a few months, and the kitten’s skeletal structure would change based on the pressures exerted on it. It’s easier to click the link to see what I’m talking about. The site is so matter of fact and strange that the pranksters didn’t even need to show any of the horrific things to upset the visitors. It’s like they took a cue from The Blair Witch Project. What you’re not seeing is the horrifying party.
There were a number of factors that made this site more believable. First was the fact that the site was Japanese. The Asian culture that begot foot-binding surely could bring about cat-shaping, couldn’t it? Second was the fact that people do weird shit to their pets all the time in the name of aesthetics . Lastly is the fact that cats kinda suck and sticking them in a glass bottle for a few months is a fantasy that many people probably share.
The beauty of this hoax is that it the concept was completely ridiculous and awful, yet completely believable at the same time. That’s a fine line to walk that the pranksters did pretty well. This site was so well done that it had people calling the FBI to arrest them and people calling them to order the kittens at the same time. That’s a hell of a lot harder than convincing the world that a hot girl quit her job in a humorous way or that Donald Trump left a big tip for some one.
And that is why this is the greatest internet hoax ever. For now.