"One of the Most Ridiculously Successful Marketing Schemes Ever"
July 18, 2015 2:31 PM Subscribe
Rock star
posted by leotrotsky at 2:38 PM on July 18, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by leotrotsky at 2:38 PM on July 18, 2015 [2 favorites]
Stone age Beanie Baby.
posted by fairmettle at 2:42 PM on July 18, 2015
posted by fairmettle at 2:42 PM on July 18, 2015
.
posted by Going To Maine at 2:46 PM on July 18, 2015
posted by Going To Maine at 2:46 PM on July 18, 2015
I am still waiting for the opportunity to have my own pet Rock.
posted by KTamas at 2:59 PM on July 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by KTamas at 2:59 PM on July 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
Sad, his pet rock outlived him. I hope the family finds it a good home.
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posted by Drinky Die at 3:06 PM on July 18, 2015 [14 favorites]
.
posted by Drinky Die at 3:06 PM on July 18, 2015 [14 favorites]
Pet Rock seemed really witty at the time (to me as a kid anyway). It captured a sort of gonzo sensibility in the climate.
posted by Miko at 3:10 PM on July 18, 2015 [6 favorites]
posted by Miko at 3:10 PM on July 18, 2015 [6 favorites]
My parents had one and thought it was hilarious. Thanks for bringing them some fun. That's about the highest compliment I can give.
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posted by MarvinTheCat at 3:10 PM on July 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
.
posted by MarvinTheCat at 3:10 PM on July 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
Pet Rock SHOULD have been a music genre. In fact, when I used to listen to the '70s/California/Folkrock/Smoothjazz/Softrock/Pop, before it was christened "Yacht Rock", I thought "Pet Rock" would've been the best thing to call it all. In fact, I still do.
And yes, I owned a Pet Rock. It came at a time when I was living in an apartment building that did not allow "real" pets, and it gave me no solace. In fact, it taunted me. "You don't deserve a REAL animal. You get ME." Years later, when a friend jokingly gave me a tamagotchi, (after having had dogs, birds and fish, most of whom had died while in my care) I threw it back in his face.
posted by oneswellfoop at 3:28 PM on July 18, 2015 [5 favorites]
And yes, I owned a Pet Rock. It came at a time when I was living in an apartment building that did not allow "real" pets, and it gave me no solace. In fact, it taunted me. "You don't deserve a REAL animal. You get ME." Years later, when a friend jokingly gave me a tamagotchi, (after having had dogs, birds and fish, most of whom had died while in my care) I threw it back in his face.
posted by oneswellfoop at 3:28 PM on July 18, 2015 [5 favorites]
...died in March.
This just in, geologically speaking ?
posted by y2karl at 3:32 PM on July 18, 2015 [7 favorites]
This just in, geologically speaking ?
posted by y2karl at 3:32 PM on July 18, 2015 [7 favorites]
-sheds single tear of fondue-
posted by thelonius at 3:45 PM on July 18, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by thelonius at 3:45 PM on July 18, 2015 [2 favorites]
My mood ring alerted me that something was up in March. Now I know why.
RIP & rock on.
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posted by futz at 3:54 PM on July 18, 2015 [4 favorites]
RIP & rock on.
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posted by futz at 3:54 PM on July 18, 2015 [4 favorites]
Rock in peace
posted by hellojed at 3:55 PM on July 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by hellojed at 3:55 PM on July 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
Farewell Gary.
I just got the Pet Rock's geek successor in the mail today.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 3:59 PM on July 18, 2015 [2 favorites]
I just got the Pet Rock's geek successor in the mail today.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 3:59 PM on July 18, 2015 [2 favorites]
🌋
posted by ardgedee at 4:31 PM on July 18, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by ardgedee at 4:31 PM on July 18, 2015 [3 favorites]
I just got the Pet Rock's geek successor in the mail today.
want
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 4:36 PM on July 18, 2015 [3 favorites]
want
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 4:36 PM on July 18, 2015 [3 favorites]
I see I'm not the only one who made the tamagotchi connection.
posted by oheso at 4:38 PM on July 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by oheso at 4:38 PM on July 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
He had a bar in Los Gatos called Carrie Nation's. Another story... A friend came over and they were doing some messy work around his house. He remembered that he had to go to the Mercedes dealer to pick up his new expensive car. So the two of them in their dirty clothes jumped into his old car and drove to the dealership. They got out and walked in and were seriously ignored by the sales people. He had to approach somebody and specifically ask about picking up his car. Suddenly they were really friendly. He may have made money from selling people rocks but he at least had a good sense of humor.
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posted by njohnson23 at 5:02 PM on July 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
.
posted by njohnson23 at 5:02 PM on July 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
That tungsten thing is clearly a purebred pet rock. Regular steel suppliers are undercutting the kickstarter on ebay, btw.
posted by idiopath at 6:51 PM on July 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by idiopath at 6:51 PM on July 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
Oh I wanted a pet rock so bad but my parents were not on that particular consumer train, no matter how much I pleaded. They said we couldn't afford it but I disagreed- I thought they were just being mean. Rather, with the benefit of hindsight, they just thought it was an incredibly stupid thing to spend money on, obviously.
Nevertheless, they got me a pet rock- wild-caught, and nestled in some easter-hay in a little yellow metal cage I don't know where they got. I won't say I was properly appreciative at the time- I won't ever say I wasn't entirely a dick to them sometimes, no- but I did keep that thing for years and years, my own custom-made pet rock.
posted by hap_hazard at 7:03 PM on July 18, 2015 [22 favorites]
Nevertheless, they got me a pet rock- wild-caught, and nestled in some easter-hay in a little yellow metal cage I don't know where they got. I won't say I was properly appreciative at the time- I won't ever say I wasn't entirely a dick to them sometimes, no- but I did keep that thing for years and years, my own custom-made pet rock.
posted by hap_hazard at 7:03 PM on July 18, 2015 [22 favorites]
That is a super sweet story about your parents, hap_hazard.
posted by Miko at 7:50 PM on July 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Miko at 7:50 PM on July 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
Apropos of nothing, I just realized I've never seen a pet rock wearing a burqa.
Then again maybe I have, burqas conceal a lot.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 9:36 PM on July 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
Then again maybe I have, burqas conceal a lot.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 9:36 PM on July 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
so this is why my rock isn't eating
posted by mattoxic at 12:56 AM on July 19, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by mattoxic at 12:56 AM on July 19, 2015 [2 favorites]
I'm gonna try to bring a pet rock tomorrow on a flight
I did bring some rocks onto a flight once. Sometimes I like to pick up rocks from interesting places I visit. I was only traveling with carry-on luggage at the time, so the rocks showed up when they x-rayed my bag. They asked what the hell I was carrying, and I said rocks. It wasn't really until that moment that I realized it was kind of an odd thing to be transporting. I explained that they were from the terminal moraine of the Athabasca glacier, and he gave me a very pained look and waved me through.
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 1:50 AM on July 19, 2015 [2 favorites]
I did bring some rocks onto a flight once. Sometimes I like to pick up rocks from interesting places I visit. I was only traveling with carry-on luggage at the time, so the rocks showed up when they x-rayed my bag. They asked what the hell I was carrying, and I said rocks. It wasn't really until that moment that I realized it was kind of an odd thing to be transporting. I explained that they were from the terminal moraine of the Athabasca glacier, and he gave me a very pained look and waved me through.
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 1:50 AM on July 19, 2015 [2 favorites]
I have lost my pet rock, which I got for a birthday present sometime in the 70's, just in the last year or so and I think of him often. He was shiny and curved, and one googly eye was dented. I thought enough of my pet rock to keep him for all this time; to lose him now seems ... neglectful. He's probably just hanging out behind the TV cabinet. I believe he will be unearthed one day.
RIP, Gary.
posted by h00py at 5:05 AM on July 19, 2015 [1 favorite]
RIP, Gary.
posted by h00py at 5:05 AM on July 19, 2015 [1 favorite]
My pet rock's name now is Gary, if I ever find him again. For all this time he's been nameless. It seems appropriate. Plus, it kind of suits him.
posted by h00py at 5:05 AM on July 19, 2015
posted by h00py at 5:05 AM on July 19, 2015
They didn't really catch on here, as far as I know, so I had no idea what they looked like and for some reason I had expected them to have googly eyes.
posted by Too-Ticky at 5:52 AM on July 19, 2015
posted by Too-Ticky at 5:52 AM on July 19, 2015
They asked what the hell I was carrying, and I said rocks.
I got pulled aside for questioning once in 2002 or 2003; I had been in England for a week at a math conference and somebody apparently found it suspicious that I had been away that long with just a book bag and a small briefcase. Anyway, for the record, here is the questioning I underwent at Dulles:
-- So, you say you've been at a... math conference, is that correct?
-- Yes, that's right.
-- [eyes narrow, cunning] Do you know that guy... that proved Fermat's theorem?
-- Um, you mean Andrew Wiles? I mean I don't know him personally, but...
-- [moue] yeah... yeah, ok. Go ahead.
I still don't know what that was all about exactly. But now I'm just glad I wasn't smuggling rocks at the time.
posted by Wolfdog at 9:42 AM on July 19, 2015 [3 favorites]
I got pulled aside for questioning once in 2002 or 2003; I had been in England for a week at a math conference and somebody apparently found it suspicious that I had been away that long with just a book bag and a small briefcase. Anyway, for the record, here is the questioning I underwent at Dulles:
-- So, you say you've been at a... math conference, is that correct?
-- Yes, that's right.
-- [eyes narrow, cunning] Do you know that guy... that proved Fermat's theorem?
-- Um, you mean Andrew Wiles? I mean I don't know him personally, but...
-- [moue] yeah... yeah, ok. Go ahead.
I still don't know what that was all about exactly. But now I'm just glad I wasn't smuggling rocks at the time.
posted by Wolfdog at 9:42 AM on July 19, 2015 [3 favorites]
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