UPS Dogs, the viral pet page that has attracted millions of likes
UPS Dogs is now a viral social media profile where the four-legged friends who love their UPS drivers are featured.
What started as a niche online community for pet-loving UPS workers in 2013 is now a viral social media sensation that has thousands of users hitting like or follow on UPS Dogs daily.
By January 2020, more than 1.6 million fans have given a thumbs-up to the UPS Dogs page on Facebook while more than 584,000 have chosen to follow UPS Dogs on Instagram and nearly 18,000 follow UPS Dogs on Twitter.
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Sean McCarren, the creator of the four-legged fan page, didn't expect UPS Dogs to get so popular. The 44-year-old Martinsburg, West Virginia, resident originally posted a collection of photos he took of the dogs he met throughout his UPS route in Hagerstown, Maryland.
“Everybody got all excited about it, so I just went ahead and made a little Facebook page to share them all,” McCarren told USA Today.
Once the respective social media accounts were established, UPS drivers began sharing photos of the furry friends they met during their travels. However, the accounts grew exponentially after UPS Dogs got featured on BuzzFeed News in 2017.
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“It was crazy,” McCarren added. “I just thought that it was a cool idea. I didn’t think that it was going to hit as hard as it did.”
“There’s no negatives, there’s no politics, it’s just feel-good photos that are fun to see pop up on your feed.”
McCarren runs the accounts with his colleague Donna Whitaker, a UPS driver also based in Hagerstown. The pair receives enough submissions to schedule posts months in advance. So far, the two-person team has lined up posts all the way through April, they told USA Today.
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Both UPS drivers and pet owners who have captured moments with their dogs interacting with UPS staff have sent submissions via email to upsdogs@gmail.com.
“Eventually, I want to be able to sell apparel on there and use some of the profits to give to local shelters,” McCarren told the publication about his future plans to grow UPS Dogs. “It would be nice to give back.”
It is not clear whether the beloved accounts will receive UPS’ blessing for selling branded merchandise considering the logistics company has an officially licensed dog costume under the manufacturer California Costumes, which sells the iconic brown uniform in medium and large sizes at Party City for $14.99.
The UPS Driver Dog Costume manufactured by California Costumes is sold on Party City for under $20. (California Costumes)
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UPS did not immediately respond to FOX Business’ request for comment on whether it would allow UPS Dogs to grow into a money-generating entity. However, a spokesperson at UPS told USA Today that the company is pleased with the fun highlights that are shared.
“We have several dog-loving drivers with personal social media accounts dedicated to celebrating the pets they meet,” Kim Krebs of UPS wrote in an email. “These are great examples of the strong relationships UPSers build with their customers, both two- and four-legged, although these pages aren’t officially affiliated with UPS.”
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If UPS and UPS Dogs were able to work out a business partnership, the user-generated feed of pet photos could become a fruitful venture similar to that of the ever-popular Dogs of Instagram page, which has over 4.5 million followers and an affiliation with dog gear company Lucy & Co.