You are viewing your 1 free article this month. Login to read more articles.
Ebury has bought rights to develop "Earl the Grump" as a global brand.
Earl is a grumpy-looking puggle (half pug, half beagle) whose distinctive look has generated over 2m hits on Reddit.
As part of a global initiative, Ebury will work closely with Earl’s owners, Derek Bloomfield and Christie Bailey, to "build his brand of grumpiness and bring it to the world".
The first product for release will be Earl’s book, due to be published in September 2016, called Earl the Grump, when the "reluctant" star will "share his gripes on the world" through photo, stories and doodles.
The deal for world rights and brand collaboration was made between Sara Cywinski, senior commissioning editor at Ebury Press, and Earl’s owners.
Cywinski said: "The minute I saw Earl, I knew we had to work with him- he’s my spirit animal. It’s such a privilege to be helping Earl share his misery with the world. I don’t think we’ll get any thanks for it, though; he’s not that particularly impressed with his new celebrity status."
M.d. Rebecca Smart said: "It’s great to be able to manage Earl’s media career for his owners. We’ll be investing in building his online world so that we can coordinate messages and products as his audience grows. We want to help him achieve the fame and fortune he deserves."
Earl's owner Bloomfield said: "Not in our wildest dreams did Christie and I ever believe Earl would be an internet celebrity. We've always thought he was quite the character but never did we think we'd be able to share him with everyone like we have. We've thoroughly enjoyed the experience so far and look forward to working with everyone to further build Earl's brand and image."
Earl's obvious rival, internet meme and celebrity Grumpy Cat, has generated thousands of pounds in book sales since gracing the web in 2012, although sales of hte brand have decreased in the lasy year. According to Nielsen BookScan, 2013's Grumpy Cat: A Grumpy Book for Grumpy Days (Chronicle Books) sold 21,607 copies for £156,827; 2014's The Grumpy Guide to Life: Observations from Grumpy Cat (Chronicle Books) sold 12,097 for £93,699; and 2015's Grumpy Cat: No-it-All has sold 1,745 copies since publishing in October for £13,953.
Grumpy Cat won both Buzzfeed's 2013 Webby Award and the Friskies' Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013 for her sour expression, the result of an underbite, like Earl, combined with feline drarfism.