Dear Crabby,
Are you familiar with emojis? They’re those little images on your smartphone you can use when texting – smiley faces, hearts, etc. Well, the one that really gets me is the poop emoji. And it’s everywhere: pillows, sheets, Halloween costumes… and what I want to know is how in the world did poop become so popular? Especially as kid’s toys.
Thanks,
Walter Closet, II
Dear Mr. Walter Closet, II,
It seemed like Halloween was barely over and stores were already pushing their wish books. Well, I don’t know if that’s what they call them anymore, but you know what I’m talking about. Those magazine-styled publications with glossy pages, filled with every toy any girl or boy could possibly want (and play with for a whopping 10 minutes). For my kids it was the Sears Wish Book. As soon as that sucker landed on our doorstep, they took turns dogearing pages and making lists for ‘Santa’ that were a mile long. Thankfully, I’m to the age where I don’t really have to worry about getting the ‘it’ toy for anyone. But I do know exactly what you’re talking about. As I was shifting through the Sunday paper, I saw a blurb that one of the hottest toys this Christmas is expected to be the Poopsie Slime Surprise Pooey Puitton. I’ll give you a moment to let that sentence sink in. Basically, this toy contains over 35 ‘magical’ surprises like 12 Unicorn Food Bottles (slime powder) and mystery scents—all packed in a glamorized purse shaped like poop! And the best part is you can get your hands on one for mere $70!! Or if you’re completely insane/desperate, check out eBay where you can scoop one up for closer to $100. You don’t even want to know what my dad would have said or done if I asked him to spend $70 bucks on something shaped like poo. Suffice to say, it wouldn’t have ended well for me.
So, how did we get to the point where poop became an acceptable image to put on t-shirts, leggings, bedding, pillows, and much, much more? Well, first of all if you can believe it, the little stinker has been around for 10 years now. Want to hear something funny? When the emoji was created it wasn’t supposed to be poop at all, but rather a chocolate soft serve swirl emoji. In fact, I’ve heard of people still trying to use it like that. Bet those are some interesting text conversations. Where was I going with this – OH! – before it became the cutesy emoji people love today, it originally was just a swirly brown pile of poo surrounded by buzzing flies. As you might imagine, people were less than impressed. Most everyone thought it was too vulgar to use and the creators had a hard time getting it added to places like Gmail. Then it underwent a makeover – borrowing some inspiration from a Japanese cartoon character named Dr. Slump (goodbye flies and hello smile!). From there, once Apple added an official emoji keyboard on its iOS operating system, the poop emoji skyrocketed in popularity. I did a little Googling and learned Arizona, New Jersey, North Dakota, Wisconsin, and Wyoming are the states that are big fans of the poop emoji. Good information to know in case you ever visit one of those states and want to talk like a local.
And that’s the long and short of it. People got used to seeing it, thought it was cute, and started putting the image on everything they could think of. Just give something an adorable face and all of a sudden it becomes acceptable to have a poop-themed birthday party or ask Santa for poop presents. Sometimes there’s no accounting for taste or sense when it comes to these trends. I mean, look at the popularity of pet rocks back in the 1970s. The inventor, Gary Ross Dahl, became a millionaire thanks to shrewd marketing and presentation. A rock for crying out loud!
Anyway, I hope this answers your question and that you end up on ???????? nice list.
Dear Crabby