In 1948, Al Capp introduced the Shmoo to the cast of characters in his popular comic strip, Lil' Abner. What started out as a cute, tasty, malleable parable quickly morphed into a merchandising fad of giant proportions, even by today's standards. [more inside]
posted by not_on_display on Jan 22, 2009 - 45 comments

Meal Assembly ... a new trend in figuring out what's for dinner. You go to a professional kitchen and assemble any number of meals, then bring them home and freeze them. Like a salad bar, but more diverse. They provide all the ingredients and the basic recipes, and cut out the shopping, the leftover ingredients ... (and maybe the creativity?). The upside is low cost (as low as $3 a portion), and better portion control. Coming soon to a suburb near you.
posted by crunchland on Sep 6, 2006 - 128 comments

My Ribbon is Bigger Than Yours. The magnetic ribbon backlash begins. (See also: AntiMagnet.)
posted by me3dia on Dec 28, 2004 - 77 comments

When I first saw it I thought, it was fad-freaky Toyko or perhaps fashionably trendy LA, but it's NYC.Let's see... Walk several blocks possibly through a mucking huge park, or park in a expensive pay lot, or take a bus/train/taxi take an elevator to the umpteenth floor of the Empire State Building to take a 25 minute MetroNap in a overgrown egg chair during your lunch hour. Not to mention paying what ever it took to get you there you'll shell out $13 more to take a nap. And no, that's NOT with the optional lunch, or even in a private cubicle. City folk, more money than sense. What ever happend to sleeping under your desk? If it's good enough for George Castanaza, it's good enough for me!
posted by Dome-O-Rama on Sep 24, 2004 - 9 comments

Wave Magazine publishes its 10 Best Internet Fads and ranks Star Wars Kid top. All Your Base was robbed surely?
posted by feelinglistless on Jun 5, 2004 - 59 comments