When I was working at My Yahoo, we noticed a statistical pattern in the ‘most emailed photos’ that showed up in the ‘popular photos’ module. Of the 3 photos, 2 were usually pictures of women’s breasts or butts. The third was a photo of a baby furry animal. Sometimes there was one woman part and 2 baby furries.

Obviously it was because men were generally more active at sending girlie photos to their mates than the women were at sending cutsie photos.

So what is it with baby animals that make them viral? Looking at them obviously gives some people as much pleasure as looking at women’s body parts. They (or we as adults) are designed to trigger (or have triggered) strong emotions at the sight of a furry baby animal. Cuddle. Stroke. Feed.

• huge head
• smooth fur
• huge feet

Now if I could somehow tap this psychological response in graphical design… I would have…. a typical product ad.

See more polar bears, big and small.