It looks like the poor person who handles Kellogg’s “Tony The Tiger” Twitter account had to tell folks to chill when folks from the “furry” community wouldn’t stop sending the account anthropomorphic animal porn.
The definition of the term “furry” is contested, even among furries themselves, but it usually refers to the fandom of people who identify with, roleplay as, and usually wear fursuits to mimic, anthropomorphised cartoon animals. It’s not a sex thing. At least, it’s not always a sex thing. Basically, if the suave Disney version of Robin Hood – who is a literal fox – spoke to you on a romantic level, you may appreciate where they’re coming from.
Of course, as an anthropomorphised cartoon animal, Tony the Tiger is the daddy of all furries, and so there’s a fair amount of artwork featuring him. This artwork is not always safe for work. It also seems fair to assume that Kellogg’s does not want its brand to be associated with – say – a picture of an extremely muscly Tony, naked save for his neckerchief, masturbating on an exercise bench.
So three days ago Kellogg’s started blocking the furries en masse. Even ones who weren’t posting porn. Even, it seems, ones who hadn’t even said anything to Tony on Twitter.
Some furries gave up tweeting at Tony and found a new hero. Where Tony the Tiger was apparently hostile to their fandom, Chester Cheetah, the anthropomorphic mascot of the Cheetos brand of cheese-esque cornmeal puffs, was much more welcoming, and ended up straight-up flirting with them:
