Feb 03 2014.
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Aunty Acid posts show up on our facebook newsfeed frequently and is certain to give us some daily laughs with witty comments by this aunty. But even though Aunty Acid has become popular over the years, only few actually know the creators of this funny aunty.
Aunty Acid is owned by The Backland Studio which is a character creation studio in Liverpool, England which has created many successful characters over the years such as Goochi Coo, Grumpy Old Gits, Scarlett and Crimson and Suga-Lumps, so Aunty Acid seems to be having excellent company.
Aunty’s character was created by Ged Backland, who is the Managing Director of The Backland Studio Company, and has a varied and interesting career as a scriptwriter and as a copywriter.
Ged fell into the greeting cards industry by accident and ended up working with the great Ralph Shaeffer- the character creator for American Greetings responsible for The Care Bears, Strawberry Shortcake and My Pet Monster to name but a few.
It was from this point that Ged became interested in character creation.
The Aunty Acid Team consists of Ged along with Dave Iddon, who is handling the illustrations, while the social media is being managed by Raychel Backland.
Daily Mirror had a brief conversation with Raychel to get to know more about this infamous aunty and the main idea behind creating Aunty Acid.
Raychel says The Backland Studio team wanted to create a female character to represent someone who had a lot of life experience but was still young enough to have her own teeth, hence her being an ‘aunty’ instead of a grandma.
Raychel thinks that the Acid speaks for itself, since that is exactly what she is, acidic, mouthy, and filled to the brim with ‘sassitude’.
Raychel adds that if a younger character was portrayed in the comic strip the character would be seen as smart-ass 'punk' instead of just smart - cold instead of cool.
So the creators wanted to make Aunty Acid feisty yet approachable, with imperfections and faults that all of us can relate to on some level, and most importantly having the ability to able to laugh them off.
Raychel says that her grandmother's favourite sayings was ‘If you don't laugh you'll cry’, which is a something that The Backland Studio sticks to religiously.
Aunty Acid was originally created to be the ‘female’ version of The Backland Studio’s ‘male’ brand Grumpy Old Gits (GOD) 
(www.facebook.com/grumpyoldgits), but unexpectedly within two months Aunty had taken on a life of her own and was leaving GOG behind, in regards to likes and shares.
Aunty Acid was launched on the social media platform Facebook in March 2012 and within 6 months had 120,000 fans, since then her illustrative style and unique humor has been developed substantially to give her a slightly more colourful, younger, and hipper feel which seems to have really connected with the audience.
The Asian fans often comment on her pink ‘cotton candy’ hair and crazy outfits, and they absolutely love her unique sense of style and fun.
Raychel says apart from Aunty the Aunty Acid Team has already introduced her husband, Walt who has a big following, and her best friend Aunty Dee who appears often. Raychel adds that the Team is expecting to grow the Aunty Acid family over time.
We also asked whether the Aunty Acid Team ever expected Aunty to become so popular and Raychel says that the answer is between a yes and a no, since they knew that Aunty had the potential to be successful as a brand, but they did not expect to reach the dizzying heights of over 1.4 million Facebook fans within 2 years of her ‘birth’ and that is all down to the support of Aunty’s amazing fans who are spread across USA to the United Kingdom, South Asia, and South Africa.
Raychel also adds that Aunty seems to be translating her wit all over the globe and is gaining popularity each day in many more countries.
Raychel promptly shares with Daily Mirror that it is a privilege to be spreading the wits of Aunty in a beautiful country such as Sri Lanka and also says that Ged considers Sri Lanka as one of his favourite places in the world and has been to Sri Lanka a couple of times and has stayed at the Fortress in Galle.
Rachel wishes to thank all of Aunty’s fans from Sri Lanka, regardless of whether they have just joined with Aunty recently or have been with her from the launch of the comic.
And she says that the Team of Aunty Acid appreciates all the kind words and the support they have received from all of the fans and states that ‘We here at Aunty Acid HQ promise to continue working hard to bring you laughter and smiles right through 2014 and beyond!’
You can find Aunty Acid on gocomics.com/aunty-acid, Instagram @auntyaciduk, Twitter @auntyaciduk and Pinterest http://www.pinterest.com/gedbackland/aunty-acid/.
By Radhi De Silva
0 Comments
JANET MIRACLE says:
Feb 03, 2014 at 12:00 amthank you for your wit and courage. aunty acid is just the right combination of humor and sass. I look forward to reading her daily thoughts. it puts a smile on this face. when you consider how mucked up this world is,it is a pleasant distraction. keep it coming.
Helen says:
Feb 04, 2014 at 12:00 amJust recently found your page look forward every day to see your post they are so funny keep up the good work.
Kinza Hussain says:
Feb 25, 2014 at 12:00 amyou guys are just awesomee..and more n morreeeeeeee
Elizabeth says:
Apr 24, 2014 at 12:00 amYou guys are great n funny and artistic are there any other pictures for men like for instance the 20 yr old mind with the old body that will be great for a woman but what about for guys.too funny just a thought thanks
Imma says:
Aug 23, 2014 at 12:00 amI heard of you in febuary, but it took me this long to access your sight, I am in Sweden and i absolutly love your sense of humour up here in the cold and lonely North.
Karen Light says:
May 16, 2015 at 12:00 amHi - just found this site - so cool to see you are home grown!!!!! Love your posts - have been following them for a couple of years now. Really make me laugh and love your get a life attitude!!! Keep em coming. thank you :)
Isabella says:
Jun 15, 2015 at 12:00 amIt's amazing how she speaks right from my heart....every single word!!!!
Bashir kh says:
Aug 02, 2015 at 12:00 amIf we have an idea of such a character would you be able to help me create it
Nondumiso from South Africa says:
Sep 25, 2015 at 12:00 amGood work guys. I love aunty acid's wacky sense of humour she makes me laugh without fail.
Vee Persad says:
Apr 29, 2016 at 12:00 amVery good work. I look forward every day to your posts which seem so realistic in a humorous way