Voting Station

Fail Whale

Please vote to return to collections.

Internet Personality

The Resume

    (circa 2002- )
    Born in Sydney, Australia
    Born in Sydney, Australia
    Developed by Yiying Lu (bottom photo) in 2002
    Shown on Twitter whenever the web site is overcapacitated or temporarily down
    Depicts eight orange birds holding up a sad whale

Why Fail Whale might be annoying:

    It has its own fan club.
    It inspired a beer called Fail Whale Pale Ale.
    Creative bakers would make Fail Whale birthday cakes.
    Some fans would get Fail Whale tattoos.
    While the Fail Whale page was used to ease Twitter users' disappointment when the site is temporarily down, there are users who actually hate it.
    Color scheme: Aqua blue and deep bright orange.

Why Fail Whale might not be annoying:

    The Fail Whale initially started off as an elephant.
    While studying in Sydney, Lu (originally from Hong Kong) could not attend her friends' birthdays as she was overseas; instead of firing a simple email regret, she would send the whale drawing of her birthday wish.
    The Whale represented a failed dream (or an fulfilled wish); the birds represent the work of others to keep the dream or wish afloat.
    She uploaded her drawing on a stock photo web site to display her art work; Twitter's creative director Biz Stone found it and used it for his then startup site.
    With the popularity of Twitter, the Fail Whale has become a popular iconic image making its creator a celebrity.
    Seeing the whale is better than a text 404 error message any day.

Credit: battyx3


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 5 Votes: 80.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 7 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 3 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 8 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 8 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 16 Votes: 68.75% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 15 Votes: 53.33% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 18 Votes: 50.0% Annoying