Opiate of the Cubicle Classes?
posted by Frank Pasquale
I’m often a critic on this blog, but I want to mention one heartwarming story today: the rise of the website Cute Overload to cult status on the internet. They’ve made feel-good blogging a big business: “a ‘premium’ ad on Cute Overload costs about $2,000 a week, with an estimated 808,000 page views.” But some have a less than charitable view of its success:
It is all about niches and demographics, said Henry Copeland, founder of Blogads. The audience is overwhelmingly female and between 18 and 34. “For these women,” he said, “recently graduated from college and sitting in grim corporate America, Cute puts them in touch with their nonwork selves. It’s escapism.”
Though I’m no stranger to critical theory here, I think this goes a step too far. Sometimes a fun website is just a fun website.
Picture Credit: Baby Hedgehog in a Cast, from Cute Overload’s “Cute or Sad” category.
August 21, 2008 at 11:01 am
Posted in: Intellectual Property
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Responses (1)
matt - August 21, 2008 at 4:18 pm
I, for one, am a huge fan of cute over-load, and while I’m barely between 18 and 34 I’m not female, a recent college grad nor sitting in grim corporate America. But also, cute otters: http://www.cuteotters.com
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