The Real Reason Unicorns are Extinct (Sketch)

You could think of this as the second in a series of “The Real Reason…” sketches. I may disappoint you though. I’m not sure how many more ideas I have on this theme. (None at the moment.)

Or you could think of it as the first in a series of “Sketches About Poop.”

Now that would be a winning bet. I often sketch for a particular child, on request, and she (rightly) thinks poop is hilarious. If are mature, you may have forgotten.

In other words: I have a backlog of poop sketches ready to publish, if I dare.

In fact, it was that child’s drawing of swirls with the rainbow tool that inspired the idea for this drawing.

When Did We Establish That Unicorns Poop Rainbows?

It seems like unicorns have always pooped rainbows, but I did some research, and this not the case.

The Bible mentions unicorns at least seven times, and poop 30 times, but it is silent on the color or any characteristic of unicorn poop.

I searched the literature (i.e. I used Google) and it’s really hard to find anything online from before 2006, and I don’t trust the publication date of any page I found claiming to be from 2006.

I even used the Wayback Machine. which turned up some false positives, such as an archive of a now-defunct site of ASCII art poop jokes that launched in 2001.

Google Searches for unicorn rainbow poop

The first time there was any search volume for unicorn rainbow poop was in September 2004. That’s when the first pioneers set out. What they found back then, and what inspired their searches, I don’t know.

Searches spiked in 2015, right after Squatty Potty launched its now-famous marketing campaign.

But how this idea first entered the world’s imagination, and then spread, I could not find the answer.

Somewhere there is a graduate student looking for a thesis topic. You’re welcome.