A screaming server rack named Bezzy has become the internet’s new mascot. It is a plushie that plays back an actual recording of a data center in Virginia.
Big Data’s producer Alan Wilkis teamed up with New York creative studio Basura on a satirical project known as Adopt a Data Center. It launched alongside a new Big Data single, and its purpose is to get people thinking anew about the data centers that fuel their everyday existence.
Bezzy the Server-Rack Stuffed Animal
The stuffed toy resembles a server rack, yet it comes with arms, legs, and large eyes. Soft and huggable, it takes on human form. Press down on Bezzy’s body, and the noise erupts from within. What comes out is a loud cry lasting several seconds, based on a recording made by someone living near a data center in Virginia. The note attached to the Bezzy toy reads, “Hug me for ear-piercing forever hum.”
“We picked this recording as it was the clearest and most suitably irritating,” wrote Rajeev Basu, the founder of Basura, in an email to WIRED. In an interview with the person who recorded the audio, Basu says they described the sound as “like a car alarm going off nonstop. It’s high-pitched, and it’s all you can focus on.”
Why Data Centers Are a Problem
Right now, data centers are not exactly popular. The major AI companies built them to run their ever-more-power-hungry AI tools, and they now cover thousands of acres across the US. People have pointed to their huge energy use and the growth of gas power around them. They have also been found to be loud, causing noise complaints from neighbors near the sites.
This stunt wants people to view services made by data centers in a new light, as part of their daily lives. It comes with a set of stickers bearing phrases such as “Every data center deserves a forever home” and “Open your heart. And your power grid.”, according to Basu, who says the project grew out of talks with many people living close to data centers across the US. The website itself reads, “Adopt a data center: All they ask for is everything.”.
The Satire Is the Point
The actual object isn’t the main goal here. The joke is meant to draw people into examining the facts for themselves. Once you click “adopt now”, you arrive at a page containing a statement with links to research and accounts about how data centers fit into the world.
“It’s not about whether AI data centers should exist,” Basu says. “It’s about who gets to decide where they go, what resources they consume, and whether the communities living beside them actually benefit.”
Big Data’s Wilkis notes that the data center controversy has produced a rare kind of consensus: the pushback against it comes from both sides of the political aisle. He credits that as the only positive outcome of the whole dispute. The band’s Spotify page itself bears the marker “It’s giving Black Mirror, but make it music”, which refers to a specific platform the group uses for live performance.
“AI is a proxy for decades of widening wealth inequality in America, and data centers are its physical embodiment,” Wilkis wrote to WIRED. “With roughly 40 percent of the stock market’s value riding on a handful of tech companies, the US economy is already a bet on AI’s success.”
The Limited Run
Sadly, only 20 Bezzy dolls are available for $99 from the Adopt a Data Center website and the Big Data storefront. Basura designed the toys, which are handmade in the US.
Basura has produced other work beyond its main projects, including luxury clothing for dogs and a collaboration with Yerba Madre that created dirt shoes. Those shoes were built to fall apart during a walk so they could release wildflower seeds along the way. The studio’s portfolio covers both luxury dogwear and eco-friendly footwear.
What We Make of Bezzy
This project has a clever hook: a stuffed animal that screams like a data center. It’s the kind of idea that stays with you. The creators obviously want people to ask who gets to decide where these facilities go.
The joke is that the toy is a soft way into something that is far from soft. Data centers are vast, consume huge amounts of resources, and are usually left alone until they start making noise. Bezzy forces people to face that truth, even if it’s just for a few seconds of an endless hum that hurts the ears.
The venture serves as a reminder that satire can work as advocacy. Through humor, the makers aim to draw attention to their cause. The stickers and the website direct people toward the research itself, which stands as the true purpose of the stunt.
Key Facts Box
- Price: $99 each
- Quantity: Only 20 dolls available
- Availability: Adopt a Data Center website and Big Data storefront
- Recording: Taken by a neighbor of a data center in Virginia
- Big Data single: Released the same day as the plushie launch
- Stock market figure: Roughly 40 percent of the stock market’s value rides on a handful of tech companies
The Numbers Behind the Project
- 20 dolls — the total number available
- $99 — the price per doll
- Virginia — where the recording was taken
- 40 percent — of the stock market’s value tied to a handful of tech companies
- Handmade in the US — how the toys were produced
The conversation Bezzy sparks is already doing the work.
Source material: “Adopt This Data Center Plushie and Hear Its Piercing Scream,” WIRED.
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