A Brief History of Business Cat
Business Cat took the internet by storm in 2011, then a part of the popular “Advice Animal” meme family. The premise of these memes were simple and easily repeatable: an animal on a colorful background would represent a point of view/character trait with simple, white text (e.g., Philoso-Raptor posed pseudo-philosophical questions, Socially Awkward Penguin recounted tales of social anxiety, and Courage Wolf spouted inspirational slogans). The charm of Business Cat as a meme came largely from the juxtaposition of cat behavior and corporate-speak, as can be seen in the example above. But beyond the cutesy images and the relatable descriptions of cat behavior lay a cat with a laser-focused mind for business and a terrible addiction.
Bismuth Cattington the Third, a.k.a. “Business Cat” had been climbing the corporate ladder for several years before his likeness exploded across the internet. Cattington began his career in the mailroom of Starkist Tuna’s central office in Pittsburgh, PA, where he was charged with knocking packages and memos onto the floor for other employees to pick up and napping in sunbeams. Cattington diligently plugged away at work in the mailroom for three years before he hit a lucky break.
As luck would have it, Cattington wandered past an executive conference room in the spring of 2009. As a speaker with a laser pointer indicated regions for growth, Cattington threw himself at the projector screen with an enthusiasm that impressed his superiors. Soon after, Cattington claimed a corner office, and by 2011 he had secured a cozy seat on the board of directors. That winter, during a profile interview with Forbes (“Cattington: An Uncanny Tuna Executive”) he gained notoriety across the business world and gained his fervent internet following.
But despite Bismuth Cattington the Third’s position as a trailblazing pioneers of the 21st century busi-mal movement,his legacy is nevertheless fraught with controversy.
By 2013, internal memos indicated senior leadership’s worry about the excessive amount of catnip found in and around Cattington’s desk, as well as potential sexual harassment claims from junior employees who had been in the room while Cattington groomed himself. Cattington himself seemed unconcerned by his position. Success, it seemed, had made him feel invincible.
Worse still, Cattington used Starkist corporate funds to launch his own venture, Cat and Mouse Enterprises Ltd., a “consulting firm” that consisted of him hissing and meowing in turns at clients’ portfolios. The massive fund withdrawals, largely undetected due to an ineffective internal mail system that had been broken for years, led to the eventual closing of several factories and the loss of 1,400 jobs.
Cattingon is still locked in legal battles as a result of his time at Starkist, though his fall to relative obscurity seems to have taken some of the vigor out of the prosecution’s case. Still, Cattington’s meteoric rise and fall in the business world has opened doors for other busi-mals, and meowed insistently at the window of change.