In this way, their lack of longevity is their greatest strength. When trying to understand any social phenomena, social scientists often emphasize the need for a certain critical distance from their objects of study. It is incredibly difficult for someone to understand the social circumstances in which they are currently entangled. At the same time, however, scientists know that there are specific insights to be gleaned from experiencing the event firsthand that an outside perspective can never hope to gain.
In this way, fads give us unique access to understanding ourselves a little bit better. We can study, from a distance, something that we have experienced directly, thereby gaining lasting value from it. It may seem that there is nothing comparable between the enormous changes that has wrought and a silly six-month fad like SillyBandz.
The world is currently suffering under the huge weight of a pandemic and all its devastating consequences. And as acutely disastrous as it is today, we will one day be past it. When that day comes, we are going to want to find meaning behind all the suffering we witnessed and experienced. And a world changed for the better is a beautiful goal to strive for. The changes the pandemic brings about in us may not be immediately apparent in measurable ways. And though it might be tempting to see this and despair, and to condemn all the pain as meaningless, it is important to remember the lesson of the Silly Bandz.
Silly Bandz were a fad, not a trend. They disappeared, and by most metrics, have provided no value to us. Spotlight Players Take a Risk. Thai, Trig, and Tennis. Black Holes and the Unknown: Mr. Music Chat with Mr. Why Is It So Quiet? Cancel reply. Your email address will not be published. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. Yeah I still have my collection of silly bands stored in my room and I still play with them and trade with my friends from time to time!
Close Menu. RSS Feed. Submit Search. Home Staff. Features What Happened to Silly Bandz? I remember my mom saying once, "I don't understand why you don't just go get a job. Then, the lid blew off. I went to a trade show in China around and saw shaped rubber bands created by a Japanese designer.
Months later, the idea came to me to make them bigger, thicker, and more detailed. So Silly Bandz was born. It was an insane few years. At our peak, in , we were selling more than a million packs of Silly Bandz a week. We had people driving to our offices from Alabama, Indiana, Kentucky, you name it, because they couldn't get through on the phone, and they needed Silly Bandz for their stores.
Packs of bracelets that had been previously flying off store shelves stopped selling and storeowners were forced to offer two-for-one deals in order to get rid of the surplus. As with other toy fads, such as the hula-hoop , Silly Bandz mania was short lived. However, although American children are no longer interested in collecting Silly Bandz, they are easily recycled and reused for their original purpose, as rubber bands.
A Pennsylvania native, Sarah Wadlinger has a B. Career Training USA is a cultural exchange program that enables current university students and young professionals from all over the world to pursue internships in the U.
Read about the adventures others have had and get excited for yours. American Fads: Silly Bandz. Tweet Share Email. Career training USA U. Intern or Train in the U.
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