Posted on 04/01/2015 7:15:30 AM PDT by Wolfie
Creator of the Pet Rock, Gary Dahl, Dies at Age 78
Gary Dahl's invention of the pet rock made him a millionaire after it went on sale in 1975.
Gary Dahl, the creator of the Pet Rock—”one of the most ridiculously successful marketing schemes ever,” Newsweek once said—died at age 78 on March 23.
Dahl first came up with the concept as joke while working as a freelance copywriter, but the idea of a minimal-effort “pet” and its clever packaging resonated with the times—and quickly made him a millionaire after the rocks went on sale for $3.95 apiece in 1975, the New York Times reports. “People are so damn bored, tired of all their problems,” Dahl told People that year. “This takes them on a fantasy trip—you might say we’ve packaged a sense of humor.”
(Excerpt) Read more at time.com ...
Bob Seger – Like A Rock
Stood there boldly
Sweatin’, in the sun
Felt like a million
Felt like number one
The height of summer
I’,d never felt that strong
Like a rock
I was eighteen
Didn’t have a care
Working for peanuts
Not a dime to spare
But I was lean and
Solid everywhere
Like a rock
My hands were steady
My eyes were clear and bright
My walk had purpose
My steps were quick and light
And I held firmly
To what I felt was right
Like a rock
Like a rock, I was strong as I could be
Like a rock, nothin’, ever got to me
Like a rock, I was something to see
Like a rock
And I stood arrow straight
Unencumbered by the weight
Of all these hustlers and their schemes
I stood proud, I stood tall
High above it all
I still believed in my dreams
Twenty years now
Where’,d they go?
Twenty years
I don’,t know
I sit and I wonder sometimes
Where they’,ve gone
And sometimes late at night
When I’,m bathed in the firelight
The moon comes callin’, a ghostly white
And I recall
I recall
Like a rock, standin’, arrow straight
Like a rock, chargin’, from the gate
Like a rock, carryin’, the weight
Like a rock
Like a rock, the sun upon my skin
Like a rock, hard against the wind
Like a rock, I see myself again
Like a rock...............
It probably was the most ridiculously successful marketing scheme ever . . . . until the Kardashians came along . . . . .
ROCK MUSIC PING!
“I Am A Rock” - Simon and Garfunkel
I am a rock,
I am an island.
And a rock feels no pain;
And an island never cries.
Gary Dahl was a visionary, but I don’t think even he could imagine at the time that we’d elect one president in 2008 and again in 2012.
“Everybody must get stoned” - Bob Dylan
And a year later, they elected Mr. Peanut.
It's ridiculous success does not hold a candle to that of the ridiculous marketing scheme that hoodwinked millions of people in to electing Barack Obama president of the United States...
...twice.
The man was a genius. RIP.
I wonder if he’ll have a pet tombstone with air holes...
Rock Me Baby
Song by B.B. King, Eric Clapton
Rock me baby, rock me all night long
Rock me baby, honey, rock me all night long
I want you to rock me baby,
Like my back ain’t got no bone
Roll me baby, like you roll a wagon wheel
I want you to roll me baby,
Like you roll a wagon wheel
Want you to roll me baby,
You don’t know how it makes me feel
Rock me baby, honey, rock me slow
Yeah, rock me pretty baby, baby rock me slow
Want you to rock me baby, till I want no more
PT Barnum knew.
What’s your take on Al Gore’s claim as to his having Invented The Pet Rock??
I could only get my pet rock to obey one command: “Stay!”
“What’s your take on Al Gore’s claim as to his having Invented The Pet Rock??
Definitely true. I was there when Gary invented the Pet Rock with Al gore.
—Brian Williams
He used to hang out at the OAK in Los Gatos.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.