Bonsai Kittens available from ThinkGeek


Nettie has informed me that ThinkGeek is selling Bonsai Kittens. They're stuffed toys. Therefore, "No cats kittens or kittehs were harmed in the creation of this product." Still, it's seems to be like waving a red flag in PETA's face. They must figure that enough time has passed so that all the furor over bonsai kittens has calmed down.

In fact, ThinkGeek also seems to have acquired the bonsaikitten.com domain name. I guess no one else wanted it. The last time I checked it had become a spam portal, with a few ads for cat food and pet medications on it. However, ThinkGeek aren't hosting the original site there. Instead the URL forwards you directly to ThinkGeek's product page for their bonsai kitten dolls.

I remember when the Bonsai Kitten site debuted back in 2000, and people were absolutely apoplectic about it. I posted a description of it here on the site, pointing out that it was a hoax, and that was enough for me to start receiving quite a few email threats, from people describing how they were going to stuff me in a little glass jar to see how I would like it. They must have thought that I was somehow supporting the site rather than debunking it.

I may have to get a few of these dolls for old times sake.


The original bonsai kittens


Update: Something weird is going on with the bonsaikitten.com URL. The link I posted here redirects people to ThinkGeek. But I posted the same link on twitter, and that directs people to a spam site. I don't know why.

Animals Products

Posted on Mon May 07, 2012


Comments

Ok. I'm confused. Did the Museum of Hoax mission statement change? I'm about to stop following you folks. I came here to read about HOAXES, not silly news. The last 4 things I've read from my RSS feeds have just been about silliness, no hoaxes involved.
I might recommend setting up a sister site if you want to post about silly stuff, and keep MoH for actual hoaxes.
Thank you.
Posted by InsaniD  on  Mon May 07, 2012  at  02:15 PM
Sorry to have disappointed you, InsaniD. But bonsaikitten.com is probably the most notorious website hoax in the history of the internet. Thus, this update about it seemed relevant to me.
Posted by The Curator  in  San Diego  on  Mon May 07, 2012  at  02:22 PM
Agreed. The campaign to put a stop to Bonsai Kittens was nothing short of epic, with outraged viewers of every stripe forwarding links as fast as they could. Even years later, people were still stumbling over it, and were convinced of its horrible nature, even to the point of refusing to believe it could be a hoax.

That being said, ThinkGeek has had the kitteh plushies for a while - it's one of thier April Fool's items that got enough interest to be made into something real.
Posted by Robin Bobcat  on  Tue May 08, 2012  at  12:03 AM
Yeah, I've been contemplating getting one of these, but had been put off by the exhorbitant postage costs...
Posted by Smerk  on  Tue May 08, 2012  at  05:23 AM
I was disappointed to find out that they turned the fake Unicorn Meat product into a real one. A joke product isn't as funny as a fake one to me.

I clicked on the link above for the old site. The first time I clicked on it I got the spam site. The second and third times I clicked on it I got the thinkgeek site.

I have my DNS server set to Google's, so it's possible I hit a different server the first time. Maybe.

I shouldn't be surprised at the gullibility of so many people, but I am, and I continue to be. I don't see how anyone could think the banzai kitten Web site was real.
Posted by George P Burdell  on  Tue May 08, 2012  at  05:47 PM
I was telling my sister about how I bought three bonsai kittens and she looked at me in horror and asked 'They're not REAL are they???'. It's funny that people are still duped by this. I mean, I know I'm not a huge fan of cats but I was surprised she could think, even for a moment that I would by a kitten stuffed into a jar!
Posted by Nettie  on  Wed May 09, 2012  at  05:07 PM
I get the joke regarding the original, and about this sweet little friendly fake, and I'd take this little artificial guy in a moment. Don't have to feed him, he's already stuffed.
Sometimes an imitation IS better than the original.
Posted by Panda Rosa  on  Fri Aug 17, 2012  at  09:19 PM
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