Hundreds of thousands of characters exist across the entire Internet, but the character Pusheen has a particularly unique ability to evoke an immediate “aww” reaction. With her simple gray design, excessively round body, and relatable laziness (she is seen lying around most days), Pusheen embodies cuteness in the digital age and demonstrates the role that cute cats play in the digital culture of the Internet.[1]
Pusheen was first introduced to the world on May 28th, 2010, when she starred in a comic strip called Everyday-Cute (see Figure 1).[2] In the comic, she is shown partaking in different activities like cleaning her paws, going to the bathroom in her litter box, and laying in different positions with names such as “beached whale” and “superman.” Claire Belton and Andrew Duff, the authors of Everyday-Cute, lived in Oregon, Illinois and drew inspiration from Belton’s own 13-year-old cat named Pusheen. Belton admits that while “Pusheen is a weird sounding name, it actually means ‘kitten’ in Irish.”[3] As Belton has noted, Pusheen comes from the Irish word “puisin,” meaning pussy-cat and/or kitten, although many believe that Pusheen sounds like a Japanese name.
Following her debut in Everyday-Cute, fans showed such adoration for Pusheen that Belton created Pusheen’s very own website. Pusheen’s followers could not resist her chubby figure and blank-looking face, a face similar to that of Hello Kitty (see Figure 2). Eventually, Facebook asked Belton to use Pusheen as a digital chat sticker due to her notable popularity among social media users. This caused Pusheen’s fame to grow exponentially, with the character gaining over nine million Facebook followers in just three years.[4] Today, Pusheen stickers are used over 10 million times each day within digital chat features and social media. Not too shabby for a little old tabby from Illinois.
Pusheen arrived at the perfect time. The year 2010 welcomed the social media platform Instagram and skyrocketing rates of overall social media use. Along with the rise of the Internet, the Great Recession confronted workers with overwork or unemployment.[5] Following the 2008 economic crisis, people needed something to keep them going.[6] The effects of overworking contributed to the rise of digital mascots found on social media platforms and online websites. These mascots served as a pick-me-up during grueling days at the workplace. For example, Pusheen is a visibly plump cat who spends her days laying around and eating fast food (see Figure 3). Overworked employees may have found some level of relief in seeing a fat, lazy cat as a counterpoint to their stress and exhaustion. Perhaps Pusheen represented a glimpse into their weekends when they might finally catch a break. Or this fluffy mascot might have represented the carefree lives they wished they could live. Furthermore, for those unemployed, Pusheen might have provided some camaraderie, staying at home with the unemployed during this time of financial strain and offering a comforting online paw.
In reflecting on Pusheen’s image, Pusheen’s plump fatness plays into her cuteness. Interestingly, her fatness has a dual impact. On the one hand, her chubbiness makes her a round, squishy, adorable cartoon that viewers simply want to squeeze. On the other, her fatness can engender feelings of pity by making her seem more vulnerable, making a viewer want to care for her because they may sense her helplessness. The first perspective demonstrates Sianne Ngai’s claim that “the cute object is as often intended to excite a consumer’s sadistic desires for mastery and control as much as his or her desire to cuddle.”[7] (Consider the simultaneous deformation and affection involved in the act of squishing Pusheen.) The second perspective is derived from the natural human response of pity when viewing more vulnerable and helpless beings or objects. Diane Barth discusses this sentiment in an article on why people love fat dogs, cats, and other pets, stating that “we worry that their excess weight might be harming them.”[8] Intense feelings of both desire and pity are at play in what makes Pusheen’s fatness so enticing and adorable.
In addition, there exists a common misconception that Pusheen was created in Japan owing to some of her kawaii features. These include her simple design, round appearance, and beady eyes. Many people are surprised to learn that Pusheen comes from the American Midwest. This misconception concerning Pusheen’s Japanese origins may not be too far-fetched, however, due to Belton’s time doing freelance work for companies like PlayStation Magazine, Tokyopop, and Amaranth Games.[9] Some have described Pusheen as “a mix of Hello Kitty’s cuteness and Felix the Cat’s adventurous spirit,” which partially explains why many think Belton’s design resembles that of a Japanese-made character like Hello Kitty.
Because many people believe that she is Japanese, Pusheen’s success draws in part from the popularity of the kawaii aesthetic. In a 2004 article, Koichi Iwabuchi discusses the cultural odor of a product, which is the resemblance or traceability of a character or commodity to its country of origin, where its status relates to the economic or social standing of that country.[10] Iwabuchi argues that kawaii characters are predominately odorless, having their cultural features “erased or softened.”[11] Iwabuchi goes on to say that cultural odor is “the way in which cultural features of a country of origin and images or ideas, often stereotypical, of its way of life are associated with a particular product in the consumption process.” As a positive form of cultural odor, cultural fragrance is “a socially and culturally acceptable smell [and] does not derive primarily from the inherent quality of a product; it has more to do with the image of the country of origin.”[12] Japanese culture began to achieve international fame and popularity in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. With this increase in pop culture status, any cultural odor tying back to Japan has now developed into a cultural fragrance that is recognized on a global scale. With this in mind, Pusheen is a special case because she was made in the U.S. but is thought to have a Japanese cultural fragrance. Therefore, Pusheen is a popular kawaii-style character who is not culturally odorless, emphasizing a shift in Japan’s international social and cultural status since the early 2000s. Despite Pusheen not actually being Japanese, her kawaii success is a testament to this historical shift.
To better understand Pusheen’s popularity, her commodification must also be evaluated. Pusheen’s inevitable transition from a digital good to a consumable toy took place in 2010, with the introduction of character merchandise such as a 2-inch Pusheen charm sold on the Everyday-Cute website for $12 (see Figure 4). The first Pusheen plushies arrived in 2011.[13] Belton began by selling merchandise primarily to Pusheen fanatics, but after demand grew to an insurmountable level, Belton signed with the toy company Gund, which gave Pusheen her own line in 2014. Pusheen’s gradual commodification makes her a unique case in the world of cute characters. The purpose of her initial creation was not commodification and profit but pure entertainment, relatability, and amusement for the creators themselves. Unlike many other cute characters such as Hello Kitty or Pikachu, Pusheen’s primary purpose was not to produce revenue but to make her creators and fans happy and give people a break from the harsher realities of the world. Nevertheless, Pusheen fell victim to becoming commodified in a similar manner to her kawaii predecessors. For Japan specifically, the commodification of the cute helped spread “soft power” throughout the world as a way to regain pre-World War II dominance.[14] Pusheen seems to be one result of the spread of this soft power. Although she was produced in the U.S., the influence that Japan had on her kawaii character design is undeniable given Belton’s background. The extent of Japan’s soft power is evident not only in the popularity of its kawaii characters but also in the host of kawaii-style characters from all over the world—like Pusheen—who have followed suit.
Another notable aspect of Pusheen is her ability to appeal to people of all ages and backgrounds. In a survey conducted by Jason Dydynski, Pusheen was ranked the cutest out of 12 selected mascots and characters.[15] Pusheen was seen as the cutest across all demographics, winning 22% of the total votes. Additionally, she was ranked cutest in a variety of global regions, including Argentina, Estonia, and South Korea.[16] This ranking shows that her cuteness is not confined to one part of the world and is rather a universal cuteness that can be appreciated by many different people of many different cultures. Lastly, she was also ranked the cutest by adults without children, which demonstrates that the effect Pusheen has on people is not restricted by age, as may be the case for other characters that primarily appeal to children and adolescents.[17] Pusheen seems to have the ability to transcend traditional boundaries such as location, culture, and age. Given her characterization, she can help people relate to her and to others who have a similar soft spot for Pusheen.
Overall, Pusheen is a multifaceted and universally loved character. In Pusheen’s less than 20 years of existence, she has demonstrated the need for digital characters whose consumption alleviates at least some of the stresses that come from overwork. She has also broken down barriers by proving that kawaii-style characters created outside of Asia can achieve wide-scale success. Moreover, Pusheen has a unique appeal to many people across race, age, and other demographics. Finally, Pusheen’s commodification speaks volumes about the reality that in today’s day and age, no matter the original intent of a cute character, the bottom line often becomes making money. Pusheen is a special character in a number of ways, and her distinctive, cute appeal will forever preserve her spot in the history of the Internet and its gravitation toward cute cat characters like her.
Published: 8/26/2025
[1] An Xiao Mina, Memes to Movements: How the World’s Most Viral Media Is Changing Social Protest and Power (Boston: Beacon Press, 2019), 15.
[2] Sara Peterson, “Where Is Pusheen From? Answered (2024 Updated),” Toynk Toys, July 27, 2022, https://www.toynk.com/blogs/news/where-is-pusheen-from.
[3] Peterson, “Where Is Pusheen From?”
[4] Polly Mosendz, “How An Internet Cat Craze Became A Toy Empire,” NDTV World, March 15, 2016, https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/how-an-internet-cat-craze-became-a-to y-empire-1287225.
[5] Arne L. Kalleberg and Till M. Von Wachter, “The U.S. Labor Market During and After the Great Recession: Continuities and Transformations,” RSF 3, no. 3 (2017): 1.
[6] Allison Page, “‘This Baby Sloth Will Inspire You to Keep Going’: Capital, Labor, and the Affective Power of Cute Animal Videos,” in The Aesthetics and Affects of Cuteness, ed. Joshua Paul Dale et al. (New York: Routledge, 2016), 76.
[7] Sianne Ngai, “The Cuteness of the Avant-Garde,” Critical Inquiry 31, no. 4 (Summer 2005): 816-19.
[8] F. Diane Barth, “Why Do We Love Fat Cats and Dogs but Discriminate Against Fat People?” NBC News, February 16, 2020, https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/why-do-we-love-fat-cats-dogs-discriminate-against-fat-ncna1137271.
[9] “The Definitive Guide to Pusheen the Cat,” Suddenly Cat, accessed December 3, 2024, https://suddenlycat.com/pusheen-the-cat/.
[10] Koichi Iwabuchi, “How ‘Japanese’ Is Pokémon?” in Pikachu’s Global Adventure: The Rise and Fall of Pokémon, ed. Joseph Tobin (Durham: Duke University Press, 2004), 57.
[11] Iwabuchi, “How ‘Japanese’ Is Pokémon?” 58.
[12] Iwabuchi, “How ‘Japanese’ Is Pokémon?” 57.
[13] Mosendz, “How An Internet Cat Craze.”
[14] Brian Lewis, “‘Cool Japan’ and the Commodification of Cute: Selling Japanese National Identity and International Image,” January 29, 2015, https://www.academia.edu/10476256/_Cool_Japan_and_the_Commodification_of_Cute_Selling_Japanese_National_Identity_and_International_Image_by_Brian_Lewis.
[15] Jason Mario Dydynski, “Perception of Cuteness in Animal Mascots/Characters” (master’s thesis, University of Tartu, 2017), 51, http://dspace.ut.ee/bitstream/handle/10062/58440/jason_mario_dydynski_ma.pdf.
[16] Dydynski, “Perception of Cuteness,” 43.
[17] Dydynski, “Perception of Cuteness,” 47.