Grumpy Cat was born Tardar Sauce on April 4, 2012, in Morristown, Arizona, to an ordinary calico mother. Feline dwarfism, a flattened face, and a pronounced underbite gave her a permanent scowl, though her owner Tabatha Bundesen described a sweet, docile pet. On September 22, 2012, Tabatha’s brother Bryan posted a photo to Reddit. Users buried the fluffy kitten under pessimistic captions, and within months the family was running a company.

This episode traces how that happened. Tabatha took leave from waitressing at Red Lobster, and meme manager Ben Lashes helped the family form Grumpy Cat Limited and license an image the internet felt it already owned. What followed was a Friskies sponsorship, bestselling books, plush toys, a comic, a Lifetime holiday movie voiced by Aubrey Plaza, and a federal court fight over coffee. It is a case study in harvesting attention before it fades.

• Her South by Southwest appearance came with first-class airfare, a chauffeur, a king-size bed, a personal assistant, and unlimited Friskies.
• By 2018, Grumpy Cat Limited held eight trademarks and its online store listed over a thousand items.
• Grenade Beverage was licensed for Grumppuccino iced coffee but also sold roasted ground coffee and T-shirts, prompting a 2015 lawsuit.
• In January 2018 a federal jury awarded $710,000 for copyright and trademark infringement, plus one dollar for breach of contract.
• Tardar Sauce died on May 14, 2019, at age seven from complications of a urinary tract infection, and the Wall Street Journal ran a stipple portrait in her honor.