Thursday, July 8, 2010

Silly Bands: Fad or Trend?


Two months ago, I blogged about the rise of silly bands among youngsters. Silly Bandz is still the best-known brand in this fad, which has stretched for nearly a year.

Once mainstream media outlets grab hold of a fad, it's only a matter of time until it flames out. Today's WSJ has an article about Silly Bandz, pointing out that to keep the fad going, the brand will have to keep branching out to expand into related products. Silly Necklaces and Silly Buttons are two products already on the way.

USA Today says silly bands are becoming a trend. Quiznos is building a kids' meal around them. Toys 'R' Us sells tens of thousands of Silly Bandz packs every day.

Silly Bandz faces competition from dollar-store copy-cats as well as from manufacturers with licenses they can snap on the bands. Forever Collectibles, which specializes in items with major league sports logos, has a line of licensed baseball silly bands.

So when will the silly bands fad fade? My prediction: By the end of 2010, silly bands will be out of steam. They're a fad, not a trend, IMHO.

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