Boo (March 16, 2006 – January 18, 2019) was a
Pomeranian dog that had a popular
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
page and was the subject of four
photo-book
A photo book or photobook is a book in which photographs make a significant contribution to the overall content. A photo book is related to and also often used as a coffee table book.
Early
Early photo books are characterized by their use of ...
s.
As of 2020, Boo had 16 million
likes on Facebook. Boo was owned by Irene Ahn, a Facebook employee, who was also the owner of Boo's older brother, Buddy.
Popularity
Boo belonged to a
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
-based Facebook employee who created a Facebook page for the dog with the statement "My name is Boo. I am a dog. Life is good." He became popular in October 2010 after singer
Kesha
Kesha Rose Sebert (; born March 1, 1987), formerly stylized as Ke$ha, is an American singer and songwriter. In 2005, at age 18, Kesha was signed to Kemosabe Records. Her first major success came in early 2009 after she was featured on America ...
sent a
tweet that she had a new boyfriend, linking to the page.
Chronicle Books
Chronicle Books is a San Francisco-based American publisher of books for adults and children.
The company was established in 1967 by Phelps Dewey, an executive with Chronicle Publishing Company, then-publisher of the ''San Francisco Chronicle''. ...
, noticing that Boo had 5 million Facebook fans at the time, approached the owner to write a picture book. In August 2011, ''Boo: The Life of the World's Cutest Dog'', written by his owner under the pen name J. H. Lee, was published. The book was eventually published in ten languages. A second book followed, ''Boo: Little Dog in the Big City'', as well as a calendar and plans for a cut-out book and additional children's books. His other merchandise includes a
Gund
Gund is a Canadian-owned manufacturer of plush stuffed animals. The company is based in Edison, New Jersey, and distributes throughout the United States and Canada as well as in Europe, Japan, Australia, and South America. Gund is currently ru ...
stuffed animal.
Health complications and death
Boo's owners said he began to show signs of heart trouble after Buddy's death; he died in his sleep on the morning of January 18, 2019.
Media appearances
In April 2012, Boo was the subject of a
death hoax A death hoax is a deliberate report of someone's death that is later proven to be untrue."Ordinary reactions to extraordinary events", by Ray Broadus Browne, Arthur G. Neal, 2001, , chapter "Dead or Alive", pp. 21-42 In some cases it might be becau ...
after #RIPBOO appeared all over Facebook. Tweets followed as
Gizmodo
''Gizmodo'' ( ) is a design, technology, science and science fiction website. It was originally launched as part of the Gawker Media network run by Nick Denton, and runs on the Kinja platform. ''Gizmodo'' also includes the subsite ''io9'', whic ...
writer Sam Biddle tweeted that Boo had died. It was later confirmed by the Chronicle Book staff that Boo was alive and well.
In July 2012, Boo was named the Official Pet Liaison of
Virgin America
Virgin America Inc. was a low-cost U.S. airline that operated from 2007 until 2018, when it was acquired by Alaska Airlines. The airline primarily focused on operating low-fare service between cities on the West Coast and other major metropoli ...
, which featured photos of him in an airplane along with advice for people traveling with pets.
He also modeled sunglasses for The Monocle Order, from the Blood and Tears line.
[
Mike Isaac of ]All Things Digital
AllThingsD.com was a US online publication that specialized in technology and startup company news, analysis and coverage. It was founded in 2007 by Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg, as an extension of the annual meetings ''D: All Things Digital ...
outed Boo's owner as Irene Ahn, a Facebook employee, in August 2012.
See also
* Manny the Frenchie
Manny the Frenchie (February 7, 2011 – July 2023) was an American French Bulldog from Chicago, Illinois, that achieved Internet celebrity via the posting of his photographs on various social media websites. In 2013 he was the world's most fol ...
* Tuna
A tuna is a saltwater fish that belongs to the tribe Thunnini, a subgrouping of the Scombridae (mackerel) family. The Thunnini comprise 15 species across five genera, the sizes of which vary greatly, ranging from the bullet tuna (max length: ...
* List of individual dogs
This is a list of individual famous actual dogs; for famous dogs from fiction, see List of fictional dogs.
Actors
Advertising
* Axelrod, Basset Hound, appeared in commercials and print ads for Flying "A" Service Station advertisements in ...
References
{{Reflist
External links
Facebook page
2006 animal births
2019 animal deaths
Animals on the Internet
Individual dogs in the United States
Internet memes