Kittens, Puppies & Pandas

World War II had its Big Three: Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin. In our current era of the Internet, we, too, have a big three: kittens, puppies and pandas. Each year, our current reigning trio generates literally millions of hits whenever they are featured in the form of You Tube videos, pictures or live-cams. In this time of heated debate, alienation and division, it turns out kittens, puppies and pandas are among the great unifiers of our time. Who knew? Nothing against the original Big Three, but I cannot imagine their generating nearly as many web hits or visits as the cuddly creatures that apparently so many of us hold dear today.


Perhaps a key reason for that is that while Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin were many things, no one accused them of being either warm or cuddly - at least in the same context as we view our current Big Three. World War II's  Big Three were serious men dealing with unprecedented challenges, including armed conflict, struggle, domination and death. Decisions they made were difficult and not without serious consequence. Choices they made affected human life and not always in a positive way. Our current Big Three does not carry such a burden. Not even close. Their lives are carefree. All kittens, puppies and pandas need do is simply be themselves. 


From a communication perspective, perhaps one reason kittens, puppies and pandas are universally popular is because one does not equate anything remotely serious about them. They represent love, gentleness and moments of bliss removed from the tension of our time. Men and women gravitate toward these critters because people desire such feelings as a way of better coping with a reality they view largely in a negative way. Thus, to communicate effectively, it is understandable that communicators tend to use symbols of happiness to help impart a particular message. While this is fine, it is important they not use our current Big Three to misrepresent the times in which we live.