Y2K Fads: The Craze of Silly Bands
October 7, 2021
By Amanda Bang
Looking back 10 or so years, there were huge amounts of trends and fads that were present in our lives as 2000s kids. We were putting colorful feather hair extensions, shouting “let it rip” with our beyblades, and going frantic about what high score we made on games like Temple Run or Doodle Jump. Our lives were filled with fast moving trends that jumped from one to another.
One fad that is particularly intriguing and gained a large amount of popularity quickly was Silly Bandz. Suddenly emerging in the late 2000s, these silicone-based bands started acting as a fashion statement, a toy, and depending on the rarity of the bands you owned, a symbol of wealth and popularity. Children were seen wearing a whole arm full of these silicone bands, trading them whenever they were in recess or playing with their friends, begging and nagging their parents to buy another pack of them, and even crying if those bands accidentally broke or got lost.
For some small, stretchy band, it affected the 2000s kids more than an emotional level. This specific fad had a special craze to it, resulting in an impact on not just children’s entertainment but for their education as well. Some schools in New York, Texas, Florida and Massachusetts had to ban these Silly Bandz because they caused a distraction to the classroom, according to a Times article that was published in 2010.
So the big question is, where and how did these Silly Bandz suddenly arise in the late 2000s? According to the official Silly Bands website, Robert Croak, the head of the company, first encountered the idea to make these bands after seeing poorly made rubber bands in China.
He took his idea to his Ohio office and created a silicone based, artistic bracelet that took a big hit after some celebrity interaction with people like Shakira.
From then, the trend took off. The silicone bracelet could be found in 15 different countries according to a 2010 article from InterExchange. According to them, Silly Bandz have reported to have made about $200 million from that year alone.
Why Silly Bandz might have been such a big trend might lie in the characteristics of the bands itself. Similarly to other fads of the past like baseball cards, Silly Bandz had a collecting element to it. There were bands that were considered common and rare, and many of the children’s goal was to find the coolest, prettiest, and the rarest band out there. This allowed for a large demand of these bands, which could have contributed to its popularity. Furthermore, unlike some of these fads, Silly Bandz were on the affordable side, as a 12-pack of the silicone bands were sold for around five dollars.
Recently, there has been a lot of clothing and fashion items that are coming in-style that are reminiscent of the 2000s styles, like low-rise jeans or velvet sweats. With these items coming back, it does raise a question of the possibility of fads like Silly Bandz coming back as an accessory.