Anyone who enjoys memes (who doesn’t?) has surely by now accumulated a mental menagerie of internet-famous animals. Mine include: Grumpy Cat, the Ikea monkey, Moo Deng the pygmy hippo, Paul the oracle octopus and – my personal favourite – Roger the hot kangaroo (go on, look him up).

Now we have Jimothy, a raccoon with short spine syndrome. A familiar sight in his neighbourhood in Seattle for his unusually rounded appearance and scuttling movement, Jimothy went viral on Instagram two weeks ago and has since taken over the world. Within weeks of his debut, there has been fan art, merchandise, multiple tattoos, a stadium “theme night” and even a civic ceremony.

Even going by the internet’s longstanding enthusiasm for weird little guys, the scale and suddenness of his ascent has been striking. It’s easy to see why people, brands and even baseball teams have jumped on Jimothy: he’s cute, unproblematic and not at all political. Unlike with Taylor Swift’s wedding, say, or the Coldplay kiss cam couple – to name two recent shared, seismic cultural moments – Jimothy poses no........

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