Animals are now the face of virality and might have already beaten human influencers at the job.
Key Points
- Animals have emerged as new global icons, dominating digital virality and potentially surpassing human influencers.
- A Red Lab report indicates that 98.5 per cent of social media users have recently watched animal videos.
- The primary driver of animal virality is the human tendency to project emotions and intentions onto animals.
The Internet is not a zoo. But an isolated penguin, a grumpy cat, and a lonely monkey are not just animals either.
They are the new-age global icons, ruling the digital space with no scripts.
A report released by Red Lab, a consumer research wing of advertising agency Rediffusion, shows that animals are now the face of virality and might have already beaten human influencers at the job.
The Rise of Animal Virality
According to the report, Born to be Wild and Viral: Why the Internet Keeps Turning Animals Into Global Icons, 98.5 per cent of social media users have watched animal videos in the recent period.
The biggest driver is the human projection engine, which identifies and attributes human emotions and intentions to animals.
This may include identifying loneliness, humour, or sarcasm with the expression of animals.
This has a lesson for advertisers, says Sandeep Goyal, managing director, Rediffusion.
"Today, ideas (and virality) do not have a formula," he explains.
"Ideas are triggered very differently now, and their source may not be brands or their keepers."
The report explains that the insights were based on observations and hours of scrolling reels.
It also takes pains to clarify that 'no animal was interviewed in the process'.
Animal kingdom
- 1.3 bn-6.5 bn: Cat pictures on the Internet from 2010-2025
- 3.5 mn: Active pet influencers as of early 2025
- 398 mn: Posts viral with #dogs
- 312 mn: Posts viral with #cats
Pawprints: The global icons
Punch the monkey: On July 26, 2025, Punch was born at the Ichikawa city zoo in Japan. The next day, his mother stopped caring for him. A zookeeper introduced a Djungelskog orangutan plushie, chosen specifically for its long hair and easy grip. Punch clung to it immediately.
Virality
- 100mn views within weeks
- 131,000+ reels created under #HangInTherePunch
- Zoo attendance in February 2026 doubled Y-o-Y with 9,600 entering over a single weekend
The Nihilistic Penguin: Filmmaker Werner Herzog captures an Adélie penguin breaking away from its colony and walking alone toward the Antarctic mountains.
Virality
- 50 mn + cumulative views across across TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, Reddit, and X during its January 2026 run
- On January 23, US President Donald Trump posted an AI-generated image mimicking the meme.
Source: Red Lab report, Born to be Wild and Viral
Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff
