为啥“喵星人”和“汪星人”能成为人见人爱的网红？

如今，风靡各大社交媒体的不仅有网络红人，还有萌萌的网红宠物。“不爽猫”、小猫“莉尔·巴布”、博美犬“小布”和哈巴狗“道格”等网红宠物引来无数网友围观，同时也凭借其“明星号召力”，助力了动物慈善事业的发展。

They have millions of followers on Instagram. They generate major profits for their owners. They are … pet influencers.

它们在社交媒体Instagram上粉丝量达数百万，为其主人带来了巨大的收益。这些小动物就是网红宠物。

Grumpy Cat, Lil Bub, Boo the Pomeranian and Doug the Pug are just some of the internet’s star animals, who do everything from support worthy causes to promote major brands.

“不爽猫”、小猫“莉尔·巴布”、博美犬“小布”和哈巴狗“道格”只是网络明星宠物中的一些代表。它们从事多种活动，不仅支持一些有意义的事业，还做品牌推广。

The death last Sunday of Lil Bub, a cat whose tongue was always hanging out due to genetic anomalies, inspired a wave of emotion that highlighted the internet’s power to elevate just about anything to cult status.

上周日（12月8日），莉尔·巴布的去世令许多人悲痛不已，这也显示出网络能把任何事物推上神坛。由于基因异常，莉尔·巴布的舌头总是吐在外面。

“She was a ray of pure joy in my life and so many others,” said one Instagram user.

一名Instagram用户说：“她给我的生活带来了纯粹的快乐，对其他人来说也是如此。”

Lil Bub rose to fame after her adoption in 2011, when her owner, music producer Mike Bridavsky, began posting photos and updates about her online. Her story garnered three million followers on Facebook, 2.4 million on Instagram and more than 800,000 on Twitter.

2011年，莉尔·巴布被收养后声名鹊起，当时她的主人、音乐制作人迈克·布里达夫斯基开始在网上发布她的照片，并更新她的动态。她的故事在脸书上吸引了300万粉丝，在Instagram上吸引了240万粉丝，推特粉丝也超过80万。

Bub’s fame eventually caught the attention of scientists. In May 2017, researchers at the University of Missouri in the United States sequenced her genome as part of a project to determine what genetic variations had caused her adorable deformities.

莉尔·巴布的名气最终引起了科学家的注意。2017年5月，美国密苏里大学的研究人员对她的基因组进行了排序，以确定哪些遗传变异导致其舌头出现异常，而这种异常又如此可爱。

Bridavsky also started a national fund for special needs pets, the first of its kind, with Bub serving as its face. “Bub has made a huge difference in the world of animal welfare and in the lives of millions of people worldwide,” Bridavsky wrote on Instagram, noting the fund has raised US$700,000 for “animals in need,” with US$75,000 raised in 2018 alone.

布里达夫斯基还为有特殊需求的宠物成立了一个全国性基金，也是首个此类基金，莉尔·巴布为其代言。布里达夫斯基在Instagram上写道：“莉尔·巴布给动物福利领域和全球数百万人的生活带来了很大改变。”他指出，该基金已为“有需要的动物”筹资70万美元（约合人民币492万元），仅2018年就筹集了7.5万美元。

Over the course of her life, the cat, based in the US state of Indiana, lent her star power to multiple causes supported by Greenpeace and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA).

生活在印第安纳州莉尔·巴布在其一生之中，凭借其明星宠物的号召力，支持了绿色和平组织和美国动物保护协会的多项事业。

Since 2013, Lil Bub has also been the face of campaigns with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) promoting sterilisation and pet adoption.

自2013年以来，莉尔·巴布一直是善待动物组织宣传绝育和宠物收养活动的形象大使。

Lil Bub “used her stardom to make the world a better place for animals”, Peta said in a tribute tweet. “Honour her legacy by remembering her message: always adopt, never shop.”

善待动物组织在向莉尔·巴布致敬的推文上说：莉尔·巴布“利用她的‘星光’让世界对动物来说更加美好。我们尊重她的精神遗产，铭记她的理念：永远领养，远离购买。”

While Peta campaigns director Ashley Byrne welcomes pet influencers’ charitable ventures, she is also adamant that the work must not come at the expense of the pets’ welfare.

虽然善待动物组织的活动主管阿什利·伯恩欢迎网红宠物参与慈善活动，但她也坚称这绝不能以牺牲宠物的福利为代价。

adamant [ˈædəmənt]：adj.固执的，坚强的；坚定不移的

Nobody should “treat animals as accessories or frivolous possessions”, she said. “It’s important for people with animals who have an audience on the internet to encourage their followers to treat their pets like members of the family.”

她说：任何人“都不应该把动物当成附属品或可有可无的东西，网红宠物的主人们要鼓励其粉丝像对待家庭成员一样对待他们的宠物，这很重要”。

frivolous [ˈfrɪvələs]：adj.无聊的；轻佻的；琐碎的

That, says animal talent manager Loni Edwards, is exactly what makes pet influencers so successful.

动物人才经理洛尼·爱德华兹说，这正是网红宠物们如此成功的原因。

Edwards’ talent agency, The Dog Agency, manages pet influencers of all species, from Bruno the fat cat to CEO Edwards’ own French bulldog.

爱德华兹的动物代理机构“狗狗代理”管理各种网红宠物，从肥猫布鲁诺到首席执行官爱德华兹自己的法国斗牛犬。

“As a society, we’ve evolved so that we now think of pets as our children,” Edwards said in a November 2018 interview with Vox. “They’re such an important part of our lives.”

2018年11月，爱德华兹在接受Vox采访时说：“我们已经进化到把宠物当成自己孩子的社会。它们是我们生活中重要的一部分。”

As of 2019, American households owned more than 42 million cats and 63 million dogs. The market for pet products in the US earned US$72 billion in 2018, according to the American Pet Products Association (Appa).

截至2019年，美国家庭拥有超过4200万只猫和6300万只狗。根据美国宠物用品协会的数据，美国的宠物用品市场2018年收入达720亿美元。

Additionally, since Instagram launched in 2010, the word “cat” has been used on the platform 193 million times and the word “dog” 243 million times.

此外，自2010年Instagram上线以来，单词“cat”平台使用量达1.93亿次，单词“dog”平台使用量达2.43亿次。

“Pets raise endorphins and make people feel happy,” Edwards said. “They are adorable to look at and are easier to connect with than human influencers. Human-facing brands want to work with pet influencers because they want to show that they align on the values of their consumer, and their consumer loves pets.”

爱德华兹说：“宠物能提高人体内的内啡肽水平，让人感到快乐。他们看起来很可爱，比网络红人更容易相处。面向消费者的品牌想要与网红宠物合作，因为他们想要展示他们与消费者的价值观一致，而且他们的消费者喜欢宠物。”

As a result, pet influencers can be incredibly lucrative.

因此，网红宠物们可以带来巨额利润。