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The Ruttle Report - Fad, Fad, Everywhere a Fad

I just donā€™t understand some of these fads that become the ā€œitā€ thing of the month.

I just donā€™t understand some of these fads that become the ā€œitā€ thing of the month.

Right now, the big ticket item is something called ā€˜fidget spinnersā€™ (think sticking a pencil in the middle of a ruler and twirling it, and youā€™ve got the idea), and there are even things called ā€˜male rompersā€™, which is exactly what it sounds like; an adult male-sized onesie.

To date, I havenā€™t met one self-respecting man who has worn one.Ā  Arenā€™t those just work coveralls, anyway?

Fads seem to come out of nowhere these days, and thereā€™s no rhyme or reason to their pattern or even their success.Ā  But I guess people really *will* buy anything in 2017.Ā  Is it a need to fit in with a certain portion of mainstream society?Ā  Maybe itā€™s something psychological, perhaps?Ā  Or do people actually enjoy these products that they buy?Ā  I personally think that a lot of these popular ā€œmust-haveā€ items that people buy just end up collecting dust on a shelf or in a storage room somewhere after a short amount of time; after theyā€™ve lost what made them ā€œtrendyā€.

Or maybe Iā€™m wrong.Ā  It wouldnā€™t be the first time.

Back in 2000, the New York Times published a review of a book written by Malcolm Gladwell called ā€œThe Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Differenceā€.Ā  The book explored how fads and trends became popular, as well as *why* they become popular, and he shares that thereā€™s even an element of science to all of it.

From the March 5 issue of the New York Times:

ā€œGladwell calls the first such principle the Law of the Few. Ā An idea or behavior spreads because of the unusual qualities of a few key groups of individuals. Ā There are the connectors, networked people who know seemingly everyone and who can make or break reputations on their word alone. Ā There are the mavens, people who acquire such detailed knowledge of a product that others turn to them repeatedly for advice. Ā Then there are the salesmen, those whose enthusiasm for a product can send its sales spiralling upward.

The second law of fads, according to Gladwell, is the Stickiness Factor. Ā All kinds of potential fads exist around us, but only certain ones take. Ā ''Sesame Street'' was failing miserably with test groups when someone, as a last-ditch move, thought of blending real people with puppets. Ā Including a map highlighting the location of the infirmary induced many Yale seniors to heed previously disregarded warnings about getting a tetanus shot. Ā At a time of message overload, finding a way to make something stick is part of making it survive.

Finally, Gladwell discusses the Power of Context. Ā One reason crime declined in New York is that officials put into practice the much-debated broken-windows theory, which held that if subways were cleaned of graffiti and windows were repaired, people would begin to obey the law. Ā Altering the context altered the result. Gladwell offers another example: the Rule of 150. Ā Groups smaller than 150 cannot influence many outside them. Ā Larger groups tend to become impersonal. Ā Knowing that, we begin to realize that one can create a large fad by first creating a series of smaller ones.ā€

I canā€™t say I disagree with all of that.Ā  Influence and a knack for seeing what sticks certainly play into what makes a certain fad or trend popular, and companies have a way of making any particular item seem must-have.

And Iā€™m certainly not someone who was ever immune to fads.Ā  Back at the end of the 90ā€™s and right around the time the year 2000 came into our lives, one of the bigger hair trends at the time was ā€œfrostingā€, or dying your hair with patches of blonde.Ā  There are a few family reunion photos of me at 15 years old with blonde highlights.Ā  Then that fad went away, and 17 years later Iā€™m about as far away from blonde as I can be, with my black-yet-going-grey-in-multiple-areas thing I got going on atop my skull.

Still, itā€™s going to be a long time before anyone sees me fidgeting with a spinner (Iā€™ll stick with my ruler and pencil, thanks) while wearing a male romper.Ā  There are just some things I donā€™t understand, and I simply will not do.

For this week, thatā€™s been the Ruttle Report.

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