May 27, 2009 is one of those days that are bound to occur in anyone’s existence where a couple unrelated events happened that both had a significant impact on my life. Most important to me, it was the day I finally moved into my current residence and got my first real taste of freedom that I still very much enjoy today. However, on that same morning almost exactly ten years ago, a few hours before a new bed and a fridge made my new home live-in ready… in my online world where I was drawing almost daily artwork in the form of small profile avatars, I created this:
I was inspired to draw a unicorn for someone, and though that hideous beast that emerged from my beloved (and long lost) copy of MS Paint was quickly forgotten… Rainbow Donkey re-emerged a couple years later and became one of the most popular characters from the comic strip I used to run on The Nest for six years. Capped off by Jennifer Olivarez’s amazing crocheted likeness she created for me in 2013, I gained an affinity for the mythical unicorn that is still very much a part of what I am today…
Six years does not seem like a very long time in the toilet paper roll of life. But change happens practically overnight in the age where everyone is connected via Al Gore’s internet. When I first drew Rainbow Donkey in 2009, most people were still using flip phones. No, really… ten years ago PDA’s were the closest things to those life sucking smartphones we have now. That’s how quickly they caught on because it seems like I’ve been the only person who still has one of those ancient hinged phones for a very long time…
Six years ago, unicorns were just….. well, unicorns. They were this mythical creature whose legend had been around for centuries…. a horse with a single horn in the middle of its forehead who had an affinity for maidens (Well, who doesn’t?), and who occasionally might turn up in a Rainbow Brite or My Little Pony cartoon. My pimping of the made-up species in the early-middle part of this decade stood out a bit from the crowd. The Rainbow Donkey merchandise in my Cafepress shop, while certainly not unique, was….. well, more unique than it is now. WAY more unique.
For some reason, a couple years ago the popularity of the unicorn went from a slow simmer to a full out geothermal eruption of Old Faithful. Unicorns became the ultimate hip trend to include on anything that could even remotely be marketed at girls. Go in a store, any store that sells anything, and just try to make a trip down any aisle without spotting at least one uni-horned beast’s profile plastered on something. It’s a bet you won’t win even with all of the lucky charms in the world…
Six years ago, you’d have to look far and wide to spot a unicorn… just as it should be for something that is as real as a Kardashian booty. It’s not like that in 2019 at all. About a month ago, a new feature of snack cakes arrived in the store I work in… and as good fortune would have it, they dropped the thing right in an area where I was often assigned. So for several hours of the night, I would have to stare at a whole bunch of these…
Unicorn cakes! Seriously? It was at this moment that I realized just how pathetic the corporate exploitation of this poor animal had become. Unicorn was now no longer a noun, it was a fucking adjective! I mean… it’s not just unicorn cakes, it’s unicorn cake mix, unicorn hair, unicorn bath bombs, unicorn slime, unicorn ice cream…. hell, probably even unicorn asswipe as well that will magically remove all those tough to reach dingleberries. Unicorn has somehow become a flavor, a style, a color, and who knows what other type of subject modifier. Noah Webster would be turning over in his unabridged grave if he were around to see this travesty to the English language…
What brought on this bizarre wave of unicornaphelia anyway? As with most crazy hipster trends that generally come and go once everyone realizes how stupid it really is… the answer is “who in the fuck knows?” But of course, being in before all of the copycatters out there… I’d like to think that maybe, just maybe, Rainbow Donkey indeed was the pioneer in whoring out his creature’s legacy.
Just a little something to consider as you eat your unicorn cakes on your unicorn TV tray while in your unicorn jammies on your unicorn sheet set staring at your unicorn on a rainbow poster that says BELIEVE! Yes, here in America, unicorns are now officially more popular than Jesus…
And please join me today in my annual fake celebration of my fake blogaversary! Like every May 26th, WordPress will happily alert me that today is the 8th anniversary of the day I signed up with them, when it was really seven months later that I first darkened their door and started this waste of cyber real estate. I’ll have plenty of fake unicorn party favors as well as a fake unicorn cake and maybe even an appearance by the fake Rainbow Donkey…
Oh yes. you are right. As always we follow here everything you do, so we see unicorns everywhere. I liked more seeing thousands of Miss Kitty products.
Cats are still a thing… but they’ve definitely taken a backseat to unicorns the last couple years. I have never seen the likes of the unicorn’s wave of popularity in the consumer world. They aren’t special anymore if you see them literally everywhere in everything…
Try and look at this way… you’re a trend setter.
😉
I wish there were royalties that came with trend setting. Guess I shoulda patented the unicorn while there was still time…
If only…
So many “thingaversaries” to celebrate! Getting your own home, the beginning of your unicorn-o-mania and creating your WordPress blog. Bring on the unicorn cake – let’s celebrate! The world would be a very boring place if not for the Evil Squirrel – I speaketh the truth.
Pam
It’s the FAKE creating of my blog (And yes, the reminder was there this morning!), so it’s fake unicorn cake on the menu. I think Miss D knows a thing or two about creating fake food… I hope she isn’t going to wear her unicorn jammies to the party, though…
Miss D quit wearing unicorn jammies when she had an unfortunate incident involving the horn………
Wait, Little Debbies is doing unicorns now? Oh the shame of it. Is here nothing safe the Russians won’t co-opt?
Wasn’t there an infamous photo of Vladimir Putin on a unicorn?
I still love your cartoons and I still have your little painting on my mantel. I bet YOU are the guy who really made Unicorns famous. By the way, I really LOVED my PDA until it failed and I lost everything. Suddenly, I didn’t love it anymore. I think that’s what has made me very hesitant to get serious about smartphones. They are smart — until they go really truly absolutely totally dumb.
I like dumb. I spend enough time at home on the internet. When I’m not at home, I’d like to keep that as non internet time. Getting a smartphone is like smoking y our first cigarette… and I’m lucky to not know what either is like.
I love the background poster with Buster as Sigmund Freud. He looks so dignified! Even so, it seems unlikely that he will make possums the next fad. Some critters just never get their day in the sun. Which might not such a bad thing when you think about possum themed cakes and ice cream and such…. Happy birthday to Rainbow Donkey and happy home-aversary and fake blogoversary to you!
Yeah, I was pimping possums along with unicorns, and nobody bit on the possums. Come on, doesn’t the world want possum cakes? Or even better…. skunk cakes! Just put Rainy in the Little Debbie logo and voila!
I love the idea of Skunk Cakes. Rainy is much cuter than Little Debbie!
Well done for starting such an awesome trend! I’m always on the lookout for “unicorns on a roll” when I need to restock on TP, but sadly it’s still just the puppies…
I can not believe there is not a unicorn themed toilet paper yet. What’s the difference between wiping with puppies and wiping with unicorns?