Neopets/Subeta and "artificial pets" trend? (NEED HELP!)

[bonecrivain]

I can't think of a more attention-grabbing title, thus the "help" in caps. Hopefully it made you look. =)

I'm posting this for Topher, since he's trapped at school by zombies or robots or something Canadian, I dunno. Anyway, he's working on a paper (due Wednesday) analyzing how "artificial pet" trends are redefining the companion animal industry, and it seems appropriate to include information about virtual pet sites such as Neopets and Subeta (or even something like Webkinz). I'm doubting that there are many/any articles about Subeta drifting around the Internet, but Neopets is a now a large corporation with a lot of influence in how younger kids, especially, are spending their time online. It seems fairly likely that someone has written about this impact, but I'm not sure how or where to start looking. I know some of you have posted articles about Neopets in the past, and I'm hoping that you can help with this.

(Sorry if that didn't make a ton of sense--I can try to clarify more what we're looking for, if anyone's interested.)

[Rainbow Daydreamer]

I'll have a look, but from what I remember, professional articles about Neopets aren't generally fit to be touched with a bargepole. They don't fact-check.

[bonecrivain]

Yeah, the only reputable article I've found so far that mentions Neopets does so in reference to product placement and its impact on advertising. Interesting, but not exactly relevant. Thanks for offering to look! Any help at all is appreciated. =)

[Seerow]

I have no idea if this is noteworthy at all or what you are looking for, but here ya go. I work at the local shelter, and have for three years. We've had so many family dogs come in named Lupe it's not even funny. More so in the past year or two. We've even had a few Gelerts.

[bonecrivain]

Huh, that's really interesting. An argument in favor of virtual pet sites is that they teach responsibility without endangering the well-being of a live animal. Your experience, though, is more reflective of the impact of movies like 101 Dalmations on pet adoption/abandonment.

[Rainbow Daydreamer]

I have no idea if this is noteworthy at all or what you are looking for, but here ya go. I work at the local shelter, and have for three years. We've had so many family dogs come in named Lupe it's not even funny. More so in the past year or two. We've even had a few Gelerts.

Hate to burst your bubble, but that's not necessarily anything to do with Neopets. Gelert was the name of a noble dog that belonged to a knight in Welsh legend. I've seen his tombstone.

[AngharadTy]

Sure, not necessarily, but c'mon, Americans... we don't have the greatest reputation for intelligence or research, especially research that points outside our borders. ^_~

[TCStarwind]

Well, if I'm to believe my Spanish textbook, Lupe would also be a common name. But I wouldn't expect the general populace these days to know anything about cultures or legends, so the gelert named pets do seem to be neopets inspired. But that's just my low faith in humanity speaking.

[Seerow]

Yeah, I figure at least some of the Lupe's we've had are just sheer coincidence as it is a popular canine term. However, I do believe probably all the Gelert's we've had are based off Neo. We even had one dalmatian, if memory serves, with that name.

I don't work up front as I'm kennel staff so I can't say the conditions the animals we brought in under (ie there were young kids present or such) which would help support it. Heh, I should do a name search in our database and find how many dogs we've had with those names.

[bonecrivain]

Posting for Topher again, because his university blocks forum posts, or something unnecessary like that.

Topher-trapped-at-university here. Thanks for the input, everyone!

That name thing is really interesting, Seerow. I'll definitely try to work that in.

Right now I'm looking for articles (hopefully fairly reputable sources!) about the impact Disney movies have had on pet purchasing. For example, when Ratatouille came out a lot of people went out and bought rats, Finding Nemo made increased interest in tropical fish etc. I know I read an article specifically about Ratatouille a few months back but I can't seem to find it. Since NC has so many animal lovers, maybe someone saved it? Also, it's really interesting reading (if you're an animal person), you might enjoy it!

Also, has anyone read Biophilia by Wilson or the Biophilia Hypothesis by Kellert? I'm including a few pages on that so any relevant articles would be wonderful.

Thanks a lot!

[AngharadTy]

Finding Nemo made it incredibly painful to go to aquariums.

I'm not sure if it's the right angle, but I've read articles about bunnies & chicks and Easter before.

[Jessi]

Topher, this isn't an official article, obviously, it's just me, but here's another personal experience - I work at a pet store, as you may know. Finding Nemo came out... five or six years ago now? And little kids and parents and what not STILL refer to clown fish as a "Nemo fish". In fact, the image of Nemo is so burned into their brain that they specifically call PERCULA Clownfish "Nemo fish" - which is the kind of clown fish Nemo is. And we carry a ton of clown fish - tomatos, maroons, clarkiis, etc, but no, kids know that the percula and the percula only is a Nemo Fish.

It's actually kind of annoying, heh.

OH! You know, I did an interview for a newspaper after Ratatouille came out xD I'm not sure how good of a source it'd be but i'll see if its still archived online when I get back from lunch!