The story behind the dog photos on Amazon’s Prime Day 404 error pages

JP Mangalindan
·Chief Tech Correspondent
0
In this article:

This year’s Prime Day may be remembered for the dogs, not the deals.

Amazon’s third annual Prime Day, a 36-hour sales event for Prime users, was supposed to kick off smoothly at 12 p.m. PT/3 p.m. ET. on Monday, but when many shoppers logged on during those first several hours, they were met with 404 error pages featuring photos of different dogs.

The sitewide problems were met with mixed reactions on social media. At best, some Prime members found humor in the canine photos, but other shoppers were justifiably less amused they couldn’t start bargain-hunting.

The dogs on Amazon’s 404 image.
The dogs on Amazon’s 404 image.

In a statement provided to Yahoo Finance, Amazon acknowledged “some customers” were having difficulty shopping and that it was working quickly at the time to resolve the issue, but it did not offer a reason for the website outage. Still, it’s fair to assume Amazon.com’s cloud servers temporarily buckled under the increased web traffic around Prime Day.

As for those “Dogs of Amazon” 404 error pages? A source with knowledge of the matter tells Yahoo Finance they were cooked up a few years ago by several user experience (UX) designers, who photographed over 40 employee-owned dogs — including “Waffles” the corgi and “Barkley” the beagle — and integrated those snapshots into the error pages.

A canine-focused company

Dogs have played an integral part of Amazon’s company culture since its early years. In the late 1990s, two former Amazon employees — a husband and wife team — brought their Welsh corgi, Rufus, to work. Rufus played an integral part of the team, such that in 1998 and 1999, employees held up the canine and used his paw to click the mouse, officially launching some of the earliest Amazon.com pages online. (One of the buildings on Amazon’s Seattle campus is named after the dog, and his mug can found on the walls of multiple buildings.)

Amazon now has over 6,000 registered employee-owned dogs that roam the company’s headquarters. The company caters to them with events including movie screenings and dog costume contests, as well as facilities including a 1,000 square-foot dog park.

While Amazon would probably argue its 404 error pages are simply an extension of the company’s dog-friendly culture, let’s face it: they’re also a creative way to cushion the blow whenever parts of its heavily trafficked website goes down. A dog photo certainly isn’t the same thing as that steeply discounted Instant Pot, 4K flat-screen TV or Echo speaker, but it’s better than staring at blank web page — if only ever so slightly.

More Amazon Prime Coverage from Yahoo Finance:

The best deal on Prime Day may be Amazon stock

How to tell if Amazon Prime is worth it

Chart: Amazon Prime Day depresses retailer foot traffic

JP Mangalindan is the Chief Tech Correspondent for Yahoo Finance covering the intersection of tech and business. Email story tips and musings to jpm@oath.com. Follow him on Twitter or Facebook.

Advertisement

Recommended Stories

  • Billionaire Bill Gates Has 51% of His Portfolio Invested in 2 Brilliant Stocks

    The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Trust outperformed the S&P 500 by a wide margin over the past three years, in part because of these two stocks.

  • One More Day, One More Boeing Incident - Senegal Crash Adds to Troubles

    Boeing Co (NYSE: BA) continues to face challenges as a Boeing 737-300 aircraft crashed during takeoff at Senegal’s main airport on Thursday. Air Sénégal flight HC301, operated by Transair with 78 passengers, skidded off a runway before takeoff, injuring 11 people and bringing the facility to a halt. The Blaise Diagne airport said an investigation was underway to determine the cause of the accident, which occurred at around 0100 GM, reported Reuters. Boeing is already under regulatory scrutiny af

  • Compared to Estimates, Plug Power (PLUG) Q1 Earnings: A Look at Key Metrics

    While the top- and bottom-line numbers for Plug Power (PLUG) give a sense of how the business performed in the quarter ended March 2024, it could be worth looking at how some of its key metrics compare to Wall Street estimates and year-ago values.

  • Can I Use My RMDs to Transfer Money Into My Roth IRA?

    If you're taking a required minimum distribution from an IRA, 401(k) or other tax-deferred account and don't need the money to cover living expenses, where should you stash that unneeded cash? Investors now need to start taking RMDs at age 73 or, if they were born after 1960, at age 75. Depending on the balances of […] The post Can I Use My RMDs to Transfer Money Into My Roth IRA? appeared first on SmartReads by SmartAsset.

  • Plug Power (PLUG) Reports Q1 Loss, Lags Revenue Estimates

    Plug Power (PLUG) delivered earnings and revenue surprises of -34.38% and 26.18%, respectively, for the quarter ended March 2024. Do the numbers hold clues to what lies ahead for the stock?

  • ‘Seriously Underwater’ Home Mortgages Tick Up Across the US

    (Bloomberg) -- Roughly one in 37 homes are now considered seriously underwater in the US and that share is much higher across a swath of southern states, according to data out Thursday.Most Read from BloombergMicrosoft’s Xbox Is Planning More Cuts After Studio ClosingsAmericans Are Racking Up ‘Phantom Debt’ That Wall Street Can’t Track‘Seriously Underwater’ Home Mortgages Tick Up Across the USArm Slides as Tepid Outlook Fuels Concerns Over AI SlowdownNationally, 2.7% of homes carried loan balanc

  • How Much Cash Can A $300,000 Annuity Generate For Me Each Month?

    Imagine having a reliable source of income you can count on throughout your retirement. That’s the promise of an annuity. These insurance products have been designed to turn your savings into a steady stream of monthly payments. They guarantee peace of mind and financial security in your golden years. Don't Miss: Are you rich? Here’s what Americans think you need to be considered wealthy. Can you guess how many Americans successfully retire with $1,000,000 saved? The percentage may shock you. An

  • Too many tractors: As boom times fade, farm equipment piles up

    Falling crop prices are leaving agriculture equipment sellers with an excess of unsold tractors and combines. The slower equipment sales are a knock-on effect of corn and soy prices dropping to more than three-year lows as U.S. farm income plummets and equipment makers and dealers are forced to pivot quickly after a period of booming business. Reuters interviewed ten equipment dealers, mostly in the Midwest, as well as farmers and analysts, who said low crop prices combined with persistently high interest rates are deterring farmers from purchasing machinery.

  • 1 Magnificent Dividend Stock Down 25% to Buy and Hold Forever

    A falling stock price has made Agree Realty an even more attractive passive-income investment.

  • Rivian's R2 Is Already Built to Fail

    R2 is too expensive even two years before launch.