Internet Culture

Why Tumblr just celebrated Fluffy Chicken Day

A viral campaign helped user thatsmoderatelyraven receive more than 500,000 notes on his Tumblr post. 

Photo of Gavia Baker-Whitelaw

Gavia Baker-Whitelaw

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Have you ever wanted something so much you’d enlist the help of half a million people to make the wish come true? For Tumblr user thatsmoderatelyraven, a.k.a. Peyton, that desire came in the form of a cute, fluffy chicken.

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On Jan. 26, Peyton posted the screenshot below to Tumblr—a simple plea that proved quite effective. It immediately went viral and, after nearly three weeks, has garnered the requested 500,000 notes—Tumblr’s equivalent of a Facebook Like—leading some users to proclaim Feb. 17 as Fluffy Chicken Day.

Along the way, the campaign inspired a Know Your Meme entry and a countdown site for people to check how close Peyton was to her goal. Followers contributed fanart and an inevitable Comic Sans Powerpoint meme. Peyton gained over 40,000 new followers in a week, all of whom are eagerly awaiting the first photos of the chicken. Some are even trying to get the bird on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

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In case you’re curious about the fluffy chicken Peyton posted about, it’s a Silkie. If you scroll down to the Popular Culture section of its Wikipedia page you’ll notice that a reference to Peyton’s post has already been included.

Photo by fantasticallyclever

 
The Daily Dot