An Ode To Silly Bandz
Kara Sutton
Issue date: 2/22/10 Section: Entertainment
Remember the fun-filled pet rocks that reigned 20 years ago? Apply the concept of selling a rock under an alias of "pet" to the most basic office supply, a rubber band, and you have the Silly Bandz. Silly Bandz are rubber bands that are shaped like animals (and more recently as holiday shapes) that, according to the slogan, help you hold things together. You can collect them, trade them, or wear them as a bracelet.
Silly Bandz, goofy bands, silly bracelets, animal bracelets or however else you refer to over-priced, useless rubber products. Somehow the lame marketing scheme of the 90s revived itself to help this trend off the shelf and onto the wrists of children, or everyone, for the price of $5 dollars or more for a pack of 24.
Silly Bandz come in several kinds of "exciting" shapes and colors and they all serve one purpose: the pocketbook of the genius who created them. I admit, as a child I quickly jumped on the bandwagon with Tamagotchis, the handheld digital pets of 1996, as well as Polly Pockets, Pokémon cards, and of course Pogs.
After the demise of the Beanie Baby, one would think parents would learn from over-paying for small, stuffed animals and learn to say "no" to a child begging for a pack of rubber bands playing dress-up. Unfortunately children aren't the only ones sporting Silly Bandz.
Then again, who wouldn't want a deformed rubber band that quickly molds into a pink-elephant silhouette? Or, as I saw one child trade his peer, a red Santa Claus band that, if turned up-side down, resembles a big-nosed man with an even bigger afro.
Silly Bandz, goofy bands, silly bracelets, animal bracelets or however else you refer to over-priced, useless rubber products. Somehow the lame marketing scheme of the 90s revived itself to help this trend off the shelf and onto the wrists of children, or everyone, for the price of $5 dollars or more for a pack of 24.
Silly Bandz come in several kinds of "exciting" shapes and colors and they all serve one purpose: the pocketbook of the genius who created them. I admit, as a child I quickly jumped on the bandwagon with Tamagotchis, the handheld digital pets of 1996, as well as Polly Pockets, Pokémon cards, and of course Pogs.
After the demise of the Beanie Baby, one would think parents would learn from over-paying for small, stuffed animals and learn to say "no" to a child begging for a pack of rubber bands playing dress-up. Unfortunately children aren't the only ones sporting Silly Bandz.
Then again, who wouldn't want a deformed rubber band that quickly molds into a pink-elephant silhouette? Or, as I saw one child trade his peer, a red Santa Claus band that, if turned up-side down, resembles a big-nosed man with an even bigger afro.
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Sports Lover
posted 3/31/10 @ 1:41 PM CST
Which silly bandz will my child like best, and where can i get them inexpensively? Right here: http://www.squidoo.com/silly-bandz
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