爲啥“喵星人”和“汪星人”能成爲人見人愛的網紅？

如今，風靡各大社交媒體的不僅有網絡紅人，還有萌萌的網紅寵物。“不爽貓”、小貓“莉爾·巴布”、博美犬“小布”和哈巴狗“道格”等網紅寵物引來無數網友圍觀，同時也憑藉其“明星號召力”，助力了動物慈善事業的發展。

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

它們在社交媒體Instagram上粉絲量達數百萬，爲其主人帶來了巨大的收益。這些小動物就是網紅寵物。

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.

“不爽貓”、小貓“莉爾·巴布”、博美犬“小布”和哈巴狗“道格”只是網絡明星寵物中的一些代表。它們從事多種活動，不僅支持一些有意義的事業，還做品牌推廣。

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.

上週日（12月8日），莉爾·巴布的去世令許多人悲痛不已，這也顯示出網絡能把任何事物推上神壇。由於基因異常，莉爾·巴布的舌頭總是吐在外面。

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

一名Instagram用戶說：“她給我的生活帶來了純粹的快樂，對其他人來說也是如此。”

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，莉爾·巴布被收養後聲名鵲起，當時她的主人、音樂製作人邁克·布里達夫斯基開始在網上發佈她的照片，並更新她的動態。她的故事在臉書上吸引了300萬粉絲，在Instagram上吸引了240萬粉絲，推特粉絲也超過80萬。

Bub’s fame eventually caught the attention of scientists. In May 2015, 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.

莉爾·巴布的名氣最終引起了科學家的注意。2015年5月，美國密蘇里大學的研究人員對她的基因組進行了排序，以確定哪些遺傳變異導致其舌頭出現異常，而這種異常又如此可愛。

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.

布里達夫斯基還爲有特殊需求的寵物成立了一個全國性基金，也是首個此類基金，莉爾·巴布爲其代言。布里達夫斯基在Instagram上寫道：“莉爾·巴布給動物福利領域和全球數百萬人的生活帶來了很大改變。”他指出，該基金已爲“有需要的動物”籌資70萬美元（約合人民幣492萬元），僅2018年就籌集了7.5萬美元。

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).

生活在印第安納州莉爾·巴布在其一生之中，憑藉其明星寵物的號召力，支持了綠色和平組織和美國動物保護協會的多項事業。

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年以來，莉爾·巴布一直是善待動物組織宣傳絕育和寵物收養活動的形象大使。

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.”

善待動物組織在向莉爾·巴布致敬的推文上說：莉爾·巴布“利用她的‘星光’讓世界對動物來說更加美好。我們尊重她的精神遺產，銘記她的理念：永遠領養，遠離購買。”

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.

雖然善待動物組織的活動主管阿什利·伯恩歡迎網紅寵物參與慈善活動，但她也堅稱這絕不能以犧牲寵物的福利爲代價。

adamant [ˈædəmənt]：adj.固執的，堅強的；堅定不移的

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.”

她說：任何人“都不應該把動物當成附屬品或可有可無的東西，網紅寵物的主人們要鼓勵其粉絲像對待家庭成員一樣對待他們的寵物，這很重要”。

frivolous [ˈfrɪvələs]：adj.無聊的；輕佻的；瑣碎的

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

動物人才經理洛尼·愛德華茲說，這正是網紅寵物們如此成功的原因。

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

愛德華茲的動物代理機構“狗狗代理”管理各種網紅寵物，從肥貓布魯諾到首席執行官愛德華茲自己的法國鬥牛犬。

“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，愛德華茲在接受Vox採訪時說：“我們已經進化到把寵物當成自己孩子的社會。它們是我們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，美國家庭擁有超過4200萬隻貓和6300萬隻狗。根據美國寵物用品協會的數據，美國的寵物用品市場2018年收入達720億美元。

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上線以來，單詞“cat”平臺使用量達1.93億次，單詞“dog”平臺使用量達2.43億次。

“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.”

愛德華茲說：“寵物能提高人體內的內啡肽水平，讓人感到快樂。他們看起來很可愛，比網絡紅人更容易相處。面向消費者的品牌想要與網紅寵物合作，因爲他們想要展示他們與消費者的價值觀一致，而且他們的消費者喜歡寵物。”

As a result, pet influencers can be incredibly lucrative.

因此，網紅寵物們可以帶來鉅額利潤。