Crunchies Explained

The Crunchies was an industry award given out from 2007 to 2017 by several technology blogs to the Silicon Valley companies and venture capitalists they cover.^{[1] [2] [3]}

The awards have been sponsored and co-hosted by blogs such as GigaOm, TechCrunch, VentureBeat, and ReadWriteWeb (which no longer participates), and tabulated from votes on their sites.^[1] Awards have been given out at ceremonies at various theaters in San Francisco, California.^[4]

The award, a plastic sculpture of a primate standing on top of a computer with a bone in his hand, is a reference to the opening scenes of 2001: A Space Odyssey, or possibly to a scene spoofing that movie in Zoolander.^{[1] [5]}

On November 9, 2017, Techcrunch announced that the award show would be ending as part of the streamlining of operations by parent owner Verizon Communications.^[6]

Notes and References

1. News: AFP. Internet's young turks rally for big blogs Crunchies awards. January 18, 2008. December 16, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20101030005359/http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5heM-ykCtBeIUQEjzWX_8n_2mdCPQ. October 30, 2010. dead.
2. News: Business Insider. No Love For Google At The Crunchies This Year. Matt Rosoff. February 1, 2012.
3. News: The New York Times. A Song of Silicon Valley. January 11, 2010. Damon Darlin.
4. News: Los Angeles Times. Silicon Valley turns out for Crunchies. January 11, 2010. Jessica Guynn.
5. News: Wall Street Journal. Here's A Shiny Award To Perk You Up. January 19, 2009. Scott Austin.
6. Web site: The Crunchies, where Silicon Valley went to be celebrated and skewered, is ending. Bizjournals.com. November 23, 2021.