Trends: An Epidemic Every generation has its own memorable trend, such as leather jackets in the 50’s, leg warmers in the 80’s, and more recently, Silly Bands in the 2000’s. How did these trends come to be? In Malcolm Gladwell’s, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, the author explains that a trend is spread by essentially word-of-mouth until it reaches the pinnacle of its popularity, then eventually fading in prevalence. Not only this, but Gladwell likens trends to that of disease epidemics, claiming that they spread in the same fashion. Gladwell defines the tipping point as, “the moment of critical mass, the threshold, the boiling point” (Gladwell), to demonstrate the tipping point as the height of a trend’s popularity
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Gladwell furthers his claim through the use of extended metaphor and appeal to ethos.
Gladwell’s claim is strengthened by likening the spread of trends to the spread of something familiar to the audience: diseases. Gladwell argues that the spread of trends have a pattern-like quality, much like the way diseases spread. Diseases spread due to a small group that infects a larger mass little by little, sound familiar? Trends most often are first popularized by a small group of “cool” kids, or as Gladwell refers to them, “Innovators.” Gladwell utilizes an extended metaphor in order for the audience to better understand the argument the author presents. Gladwell takes a complex idea, the popularization of trends to the point of saturation, and simplifies it by comparing it to a familiar and easily understood concept, the spread of communicable diseases. Such as the case of Hush Puppies, the shoe brand initially targeted towards the “older” crowd. Though not marketed towards this group, younger, hip teens began to wear these shoes because they knew that most …show more content…
In recent years, Millenials have observed perhaps the most rapid advancement of technology than any other generation, and with that comes the rise of “public figures.” A public figure, as defined by dictionary.law.com, is “a personage of great public interest or familiarity like a government official, politician, celebrity, business leader, movie star or sports hero.” And of these public figures, the most well-known in today’s society would be the Kardashians. As a family, the Kardashians hold the most influence over the young generation as they are viewed as trendsetters, or as Gladwell would label them, Innovators. Whether we like it or not, society cannot deny the vast influence the Kardashian women hold. Taking Kylie Jenner, for instance, she catalysed a whole trend of lip plumping. Derived from the attention she gained from her rumored filled-in lips, people began partaking in the “Kylie Jenner Challenge,” wherein young girls would suction their lips inside of a shot glass in order to increase blood flow to their lips and make them larger. This trend then began a demand for lip plumping products within beauty brands. Kylie Jenner had not even formally addressed the issues revolving around her lips, and yet this trend became a worldwide phenomena, so much to the point that doctors were forced to advise against participating in the trend as it could cause blood clots or other
Gladwell furthers his claim through the use of extended metaphor and appeal to ethos.
Gladwell’s claim is strengthened by likening the spread of trends to the spread of something familiar to the audience: diseases. Gladwell argues that the spread of trends have a pattern-like quality, much like the way diseases spread. Diseases spread due to a small group that infects a larger mass little by little, sound familiar? Trends most often are first popularized by a small group of “cool” kids, or as Gladwell refers to them, “Innovators.” Gladwell utilizes an extended metaphor in order for the audience to better understand the argument the author presents. Gladwell takes a complex idea, the popularization of trends to the point of saturation, and simplifies it by comparing it to a familiar and easily understood concept, the spread of communicable diseases. Such as the case of Hush Puppies, the shoe brand initially targeted towards the “older” crowd. Though not marketed towards this group, younger, hip teens began to wear these shoes because they knew that most …show more content…
In recent years, Millenials have observed perhaps the most rapid advancement of technology than any other generation, and with that comes the rise of “public figures.” A public figure, as defined by dictionary.law.com, is “a personage of great public interest or familiarity like a government official, politician, celebrity, business leader, movie star or sports hero.” And of these public figures, the most well-known in today’s society would be the Kardashians. As a family, the Kardashians hold the most influence over the young generation as they are viewed as trendsetters, or as Gladwell would label them, Innovators. Whether we like it or not, society cannot deny the vast influence the Kardashian women hold. Taking Kylie Jenner, for instance, she catalysed a whole trend of lip plumping. Derived from the attention she gained from her rumored filled-in lips, people began partaking in the “Kylie Jenner Challenge,” wherein young girls would suction their lips inside of a shot glass in order to increase blood flow to their lips and make them larger. This trend then began a demand for lip plumping products within beauty brands. Kylie Jenner had not even formally addressed the issues revolving around her lips, and yet this trend became a worldwide phenomena, so much to the point that doctors were forced to advise against participating in the trend as it could cause blood clots or other