“I thought it’d be a great way to meet guys,” says Audrey Khuner, one half of the duo behind the website hotguysandbabyanimals.com.
The site, predominantly aimed at women, gay men and swooning college girls, was conceived when a joke between Audrey and her co-founder Carolyn Newman was turned into a business reality.
“We’ve always been into animals and a bit boy crazy.
“And there’s always been beefcake and baby animal calendars, so we thought why not combine the two?” muses Khuner in an interview.
The result: You can’t take your eyes off those dewy-eyed cuties.
Yep, I’m talking about both the guys and the critters.
But behind the eye candy calendars, greeting cards and a host of other merchandise, there is a relatively viable entrepreneurial business (although Khuner admits that she has other jobs).
“The shoots are so much fun. I posted a picture of me next to this really well cut guy holding a puppy on the site — and my friends hate me for it but it’s just another day on the job — and I love it,” she gushes.
That said, since the site’s inception in 2009, the Berkeley, Calif.-based duo have donated between five and 10 per cent of their profits to animal charities such as the SPCA in San Francisco. And much to
the joy of Khuner’s photographer father Eliot, they are now able to pay him after two years where he was working for free.
They also have the backer of a publisher, a global appeal with orders arriving from Brazil to the Netherlands and talk of iPhone skins, desktop wallpapers and maybe even an app.
But sadly guys, there are no plans for a hot women and cute animals calendar — unfortunately for us.
But for now, you’ll just have to satisfy your eyes with the 2012 calendar and a 40-page hardback gift book complete with quirky captions. The perfect stocking stuffer, no?
Shocking submissions
- “There’s a picture of a guy throwing a cat toward the camera.” Let’s just hope that cat hasn’t used up its nine lives.
- “One guy has photoshopped a monkey and a frog onto his chest.” Talk about wild body art.
