# Boozecats > Boozecats is a 2009 Photoshop meme created by Brooklyn resident Ryan Darrenkamp in which cats are superimposed over alcoholic beverages in party photos. Boozecats is a Photoshop meme where alcoholic beverages in party photos are censored by superimposing images of cats over the bottles, cups, and cans. Brooklyn resident Ryan Darrenkamp created the first boozecat images in July 2009, and the concept spread through a dedicated blog and viral compilations that racked up coverage from BuzzFeed, Entertainment Weekly, MTV, and Uproxx between 2009 and 2012. ## Origin In July 2009, Ryan Darrenkamp, a Brooklyn resident, made the first boozecat edit for a practical reason. His roommate Lisa needed a clean photo of herself with a friend who was about to get married, something suitable for a wedding photo album. The problem was that every photo from a party they both attended featured visible beer[4]. Darrenkamp's solution was to Photoshop cats over each bottle and cup in the pictures. On July 13, 2009, he uploaded six different boozecat photos to a Facebook album to share with friends[4]. That same day, he purchased the domain name Boozecats.com, though he wouldn't actually post the images on the site until October 27, 2009[4]. - **Platform:** Facebook (original photos), Boozecats.com (blog) - **Creator:** Ryan Darrenkamp (creator) - **Date:** 2009 ## Overview Boozecats is a simple Photoshop gag: take any photo where people are holding or standing near alcoholic drinks, then paste cat images over every visible bottle, glass, or cup[4]. The result looks like partygoers are casually clutching kittens instead of beers. The meme was curated on a single-topic blog at Boozecats.com and spread through compilation posts with titles like "How to Properly Hide Booze in Your Facebook Pictures"[2]. ## How It Spread Once Boozecats.com went live in late October 2009, media coverage came fast. Within a month, Entertainment Weekly, BuzzFeed, Urlesque, and beer blog 40cozy all published articles about the blog[1]. Flash News, a pop culture news wire, picked up the story in December 2009[4]. Darrenkamp also created a Twitter account that December but didn't keep it active. In July 2010, Darrenkamp expanded the concept to video, uploading "The Big Lemeowski," which replaced the beers in a scene from the 1998 Coen Brothers film *The Big Lebowski* with cats[4]. That same month, LA Weekly interviewed him about the blog's history. The meme's second wave hit in August 2011 when humor sites Sad and Useless and EatLiver posted compilations titled "How to Properly Hide Booze in Your Facebook Pictures"[3]. On November 15, 2011, these photos were reposted on Tumblr, where they picked up over 17,000 notes[2]. That Tumblr spike triggered a fresh round of coverage from MTV[5], Uproxx[3], Trend Hunter, and The Chive. Google search interest for "boozecats" peaked in December 2009, went quiet until August 2011's second surge, and had been declining steadily by 2012[4]. ## How to Use The format is straightforward: 1. Find a photo where people are holding or surrounded by alcoholic drinks 2. Open it in any image editor (Photoshop, GIMP, etc.) 3. Find cat images, ideally cut out with transparent backgrounds 4. Paste cats over every visible beer, wine glass, cocktail, or cup 5. The more ridiculous the cat placement, the better the result ## Cultural Impact Boozecats hit during a specific moment in internet culture when single-topic Tumblr blogs and novelty websites could go viral through aggregator coverage. The blog received write-ups from major outlets including Entertainment Weekly, BuzzFeed[1], MTV[5], and Uproxx[3] within its first two years. The "How to Properly Hide Booze in Your Facebook Pictures" framing gave the meme a practical hook. In the late 2000s and early 2010s, concerns about employers and family members seeing party photos on Facebook were common, and Boozecats played directly into that anxiety with a deliberately absurd solution[2]. ## Fun Facts - Darrenkamp bought the Boozecats.com domain the same day he uploaded the first images to Facebook, but waited over three months to actually use it[4]. - The original edit was made for a genuinely practical purpose: getting a wedding-album-worthy photo of his roommate[4]. - The Tumblr repost in November 2011 pulled in over 17,000 notes, making it the meme's biggest single-platform moment[2]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Boozecats? Boozecats is a Photoshop meme where cat images are pasted over alcoholic beverages in photos, making it look like people are holding kittens instead of drinks[4]. ### Where did Boozecats come from? Brooklyn resident Ryan Darrenkamp created the first boozecat images in July 2009 after his roommate needed a party photo without visible beer for a wedding album[4]. ### What does Boozecats mean? The name is a portmanteau of "booze" and "cats." The joke is that you're "hiding" alcohol in photos by replacing drinks with cats[1]. ### How do you use Boozecats? Open a photo with visible alcohol in an image editor and paste cat images over every bottle, glass, or cup[4]. ### Is Boozecats still popular? No. Search interest peaked in December 2009 with a smaller resurgence in August 2011, and the meme had been declining since 2012[4]. ### Who created Boozecats? Ryan Darrenkamp, a Brooklyn resident, created the first boozecat images in July 2009 and launched the Boozecats.com blog that October[4]. ### What is "The Big Lemeowski"? A video Darrenkamp uploaded in July 2010 that replaced the beers in a scene from *The Big Lebowski* with cat images[4]. ### Why did the Boozecats Tumblr post go viral? A November 2011 Tumblr repost of the compilation, framed as "How to Properly Hide Booze in Your Facebook Pictures," earned over 17,000 notes and sparked a new wave of media coverage[2]. ## References 1. [FlashNews - To, čím žiješ]() 2. [FlashNews - To, čím žiješ]() 3. [The Girl With Kaleidoscope Eyes — How to properly hide booze in your Facebook...]() 4. [Boozecats - Know Your Meme]() 5. [UPROXX – Music Television and Culture]() 6. [MTV | Homepage - Shows & Schedules]() 7. [Boozecats]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/boozecats Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library