View source for Social:Fail Blog

{{Infobox website
| name           = Fail Blog
| logo           = Fail blog.png
| logo_size      = 120px
| language       = [[Social:English language|English]]
| type           = Entertainment
| location       = Seattle, Washington
| current_status = Online
| owner          = [http://literally.media Literally Media]
| launch_date    = 3 January 2008
| url            = {{URL|failblog.cheezburger.com/}}
}}
'''Fail Blog''' (stylized as '''FAIL Blog''') is a comedic blog website created in January 2008.<ref name=nytimes>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/09/magazine/09FOB-onlanguage-t.html | title=How Fail Went From Verb to Interjection  | newspaper={{wipe|The New York Times}} | date=Aug 7, 2009 | access-date=Sep 9, 2009 | first=Ben | last=Zimmer}}</ref>

FAIL Blog features disastrous mishaps and general stupidity in photos and video which have captions such as "fail", "epic fail", "X Fail", or "X; You're doin' it wrong" (X being the activity at which the subject has failed). There are also multiple sites under the FAIL Blog brand, including Failbook (which features FAILs on [[Company:Facebook|Facebook]]), Ugliest Tattoos, and There, I Fixed It.<ref>[http://failbook.failblog.org/ Failbook]. Official Website.</ref><ref>[http://thereifixedit.failblog.org/ There I Fixed It].</ref><ref>[http://ugliesttattoos.failblog.org/ Ugliest Tattoos]. Official Website.</ref> The website has also triggered a meme that contains bad grammar (usually posted in the comments of Failblog videos), "Did he died".{{cn|date=February 2022}}

==History==
In January 2008, FAIL Blog was launched. The site grew steadily in popularity; in May 2008, FAIL Blog was sold to Pet Holdings Inc. (now Cheezburger, Inc.), becoming part of the Cheezburger Network.<ref name="slate">{{cite magazine | url=http://www.slate.com/id/2214241/ | title=I Can Has Internet Millions: The company behind lolcats and Failblog tries to turn memes into money | magazine=Slate | date=Mar 20, 2009 | access-date=Sep 9, 2009}}</ref> Ben Huh notes that FAIL Blog "really started to take off when the financial industry decided to — ahem — fail."<ref name=nytimes/> As an example, at a United States Senate hearing in September 2008, a demonstrator held up a sign reading "FAIL" behind Henry Paulson, the former Treasury secretary, and [[Biography:Ben Bernanke|Ben Bernanke]], chairman of the [[Finance:Federal Reserve|Federal Reserve]].<ref name=nytimes/> By January 2010, FAIL Blog was receiving 1.1 million unique visitors per month.<ref name=wired>Raftery, Brian. [https://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/01/mf_cheezking/ King of Cheez: The Internet's Meme Maestro Turns Junk Into Gold]. ''Wired''. January 25, 2010.</ref>

==Reception and influence==
FAIL Blog won two [[Webby Awards]] in 2009, for People's Voice in Humor and Weird.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.channelapa.com/2009/06/fail-blog-wins-2009-webby-award.html | title=Fail Blog wins 2009 Webby Award | publisher=ChannelAPA.com | date=Jun 9, 2009 | access-date=Sep 9, 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090821020349/http://www.channelapa.com/2009/06/fail-blog-wins-2009-webby-award.html | archive-date=August 21, 2009 | url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=people>Orlaff, Brian. [http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20276622,00.html Sarah Silverman, Jimmy Fallon Win Big at the Webbys] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110329033320/http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20276622,00.html |date=2011-03-29 }}. ''People''. May 5, 2009.</ref> The site has been profiled in multiple publications: ''The Times'' named FAIL blog their #3 comedy website, the ''{{wipe|Los Angeles Times}}'' called FAIL Blog, a "fan favorite," {{wipe|Time (magazine)}} noted that FAIL Blog has "helped popularize fail as both a noun and an exclamation, not to mention an easier-to-spell synonym for [[Philosophy:Schadenfreude|schadenfreude]]", and ''{{wipe|The New York Times}}'' called it a "runaway hit."<ref name=nytimes/><ref name=time>Fitzpatrick, Laura. [https://web.archive.org/web/20090816093453/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1916286,00.html#ixzz1U740AdfJ Building a Media Empire Around I Can Has Cheezburger]. ''TIME''. August 24, 2009.</ref><ref name=latimes>Mcedward, Laura. [http://articles.latimes.com/2008/sep/23/business/fi-benhuh23 Entrepreneur's Kitty Site Now A Caboodle]. ''Los Angeles Times''. September 23, 2008.</ref> The site is also commonly referenced in popular culture; The Huffington Post called [[Company:Netflix|Netflix]] a "walking failblog" in reference to their July 2011 pricing change and ''The Atlantic'' called a Chris Coghlan baseball blunder "a debacle worthy of FAIL Blog."<ref name=theatlantic>Simpson, Jake. [https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2010/07/beyond-chris-coghlan-top-5-sports-celebration-fails/60502/ Beyond Chris Coghlan: Top 5 Sports Celebration Fails]. ''The Atlantic''. July 28, 2010.</ref><ref name=huffpo>Gilbert, Jason. [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/28/netflix-despite-the-price_n_912542.html Netflix, Despite The Price Hike And Nightmare PR, Is Still The Best In Field]. Huffington Post. July 29, 2011.</ref>

In July 2009, FAIL Blog posted a screenshot of the Guinness record webpage for "Most Individuals Killed in a Terrorist Attack" which was accompanied with a "Break this record" link. Guinness threatened legal action, and the story was picked up by TechCrunch and CNET.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.cnet.com/8301-13952_1-10286349-81.html| title=The 404 381: Where we gotta stay positive| publisher=CNET News | date=July 14, 2009 | access-date=Sep 9, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://techcrunch.com/2009/07/13/guinness-world-records-reaches-new-levels-of-fail/| title=Guinness World Records Reaches New Levels Of Fail| work=TechCrunch | date=July 13, 2009 | access-date=Sep 9, 2009}}</ref>

==See also==
* Failbook
* [[Company:I Can Has Cheezburger?|I Can Has Cheezburger?]]
* [[Social:List of Internet phenomena|List of Internet phenomena]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==

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[[Category:Internet memes]]

{{Sourceattribution|Fail Blog}}