Inspiration came to Gary Dahl without leaving any epic mark. He had his Eureka moment at a bar in the small town of Los Gatos, California, in the ’70s. It was night. A drunken night. And Dahl listened distractedly as his friends complained about how annoying it was to take care of their dog or cat when he laid down his pearl after a long day of work: Dahl assured that his pet did not need any care. Reason? He wasn’t covered in fur, feathers, or scales, and he certainly didn’t need a walk, his sandbox changed, or his feeder filled. “I have a stone for a pet,” he explained to his confused colleagues.

It may sound crazy or like a bar counter joke, but the truth is that Dahl’s idea was a good one. Enough to make him a millionaire and launch an idea that still triumphs today among South Korea’s stressed-out office workers.

To explain this, it is better to start from the end.

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From stress and stones. South Korea is one of the countries with the highest average annual working hours. The 1,910 hours with long 52-hour working weeks was surpassed by only four countries, well above countries such as France, Japan or Spain. Statista reminds that a survey on work stress was conducted in the country in 2022, and 62.2 percent of those interviewed said they felt anxiety in their position in the last two weeks. In fact, 12.7% mentioned high levels of stress. This being the case, it is not surprising that there are South Koreans who like to have a pet waiting for them when they leave the office and arrive home after a tiring day.

The problem is that dogs need to be walked. Cats, canaries, iguanas, hamsters, fish and other traditional pets also need significant care. So…why not go beyond traditional pets with fur, feathers or scales and get a rock? Exactly the same. A beautiful, polished, heavy and, above all, inanimate piece of rock that does not require great attention or great expense.

the rock of my loves. The above may seem shocking, but owning a rock as a pet has become so popular in South Korea that Wall StreetJournal just devoted an extensive report to this phenomenon. It’s a film in which he talks to South Koreans who decide to share their time and intimacy with small pieces of polished minerals.

They know they are just lifeless rocks, but they still realize that treating them like pets helps them cope with their daily lives. He lives alone in Seoul and last year received a strange gift from one of his friends: a stone.

“I’ll make sure you’re okay.”. The quote within the quote is from Ko Hyun-seo, one of the South Koreans joining the weird pet rocks trend. His situation is slightly different from Lee’s. He is 28 years old and lives in Gimje, North Jeolla Province. He added his bright eyes, eyebrows and straw hat, which gave him a unique look, to his rock, which he called “Is It Real?” The presence of singing comforts him. Nothing else. No less.

“Every day when I come home, I look at the rock to make sure it’s okay,” Ko admits. A similar statement is shared by Lee, a thirty-something researcher at a pharmaceutical company who joined the rock trend during a particularly challenging time. in the laboratory. She names her pet Hongduggae and shows him wrapped in a towel, with two big, bulging, gooey eyes on her: “From time to time, I would complain about how difficult my work day was. “Of course it’s an inanimate object that can’t understand you, but it’s like talking to your dog and can be comforting in a way.”

“feeling of peace”. There are more testimonies, although they all point in the same direction. Where most of us see rocks, those who choose to join this trend see something else: an innocent, simple and fairly economical way to escape, or simply a way to make their routine more bearable.

“There’s a certain sense of peace knowing that this natural rock has gone through a lot to reach its current state,” says Koo Ah-young, another 33-year-old office worker from Seoul. Like Lee, he tried his hand at rock during a particularly stressful time at work, in the midst of a team change and trying to adapt to his new responsibilities. WITH TWSJ He explains that he didn’t want to make his concerns known to his friends or family, so he started doing it on a fearless rock, eventually even giving it a name: “Bang-bang-i.” He carries it with him in his pocket when he goes to the gym or goes for a walk.

But… What about Gary Dahl? South Korea’s new trend may seem to have little in common with the boozy soiree that Dahl and his colleagues staged in California in the mid-1970s, but that just seems to be the case. Both episodes – what happened to Dahl that day almost half a century ago, and what happens to Koo or Lee now – actually have an interesting connection: rocks. And its potential. For Dahl, a businessman and advertiser, this spontaneous comment made him realize that selling stones as pets was crazy enough, if he decided to use this idea on a commercial level: either a big crash or a millionaire. In his case it was the latter.

Pet Rocks (and millions of dollars). Dahl worked with two colleagues who helped him undertake the investment. He went to a building supply store and bought piles of stones, smooth and polished pieces from the Mexican coast. But if his idea was a huge success, it was not so much because of the product (there are gems everywhere) but rather because of its ingenious packaging. marketing accompanying him.

Renamed Pet Rock, each rock was placed in a cardboard box with ventilation holes and a soft wood wool base. The package is completed with a final nod: a fun guide on how to feed, care for, and train Gems. Eccentric? Maybe. Successful? Definitely. as you remember New York TimesPet Rock was released in time to sneak into the 1975 Christmas campaign, and its provocative concept quickly caught the attention of newspapers and television.

These rocks, which came with a box, bearing, and instruction manual, were a commercial success. For at least a few months, Pet Rock fever continued, and they went out of fashion as quickly as they triumphed. It is estimated that 1.5 million stones were sold in this short period. They’re $3.95 each, which isn’t bad considering Dahl paid a penny for each stone. He made so much money that he eventually opened his own bar. And although this has registered the Pet Rock trademark, it has not been able to prevent the emergence of imitators who devote themselves to selling stones placed in boxes.

From USA… to South Korea. Pet Rock had its heyday in the United States a few decades ago, but that hasn’t stopped the concept from resurfacing in South Korean cities thousands of miles away. The Asian version doesn’t have Dahl’s branding behind it, nor do the ’70s and ’20s approaches entirely overlap – Koreans go to the rocks to find more peace from jokes or pranks between friends, which is probably the hook of the ’70s. but the basic idea is the same. That a song can be more than just a song.

A clearly visible success. If there’s anything in common between American fashion in ’75 and South Korea’s current fashion beyond stardom with stones, it’s that both can have considerable visibility. Homemade rocks aren’t just a home trend, with some Seoul residents growing them in the privacy of their homes. as you remember TWSJA popular television actor has revealed himself in 2021, and there are also singers from K-pop groups who are not shy about showing off their pets.

The company Chess Peace, for example, claims to receive between 150 and 200 orders each month, completing its catalog with options that go far beyond simple grayish pieces. The range of options includes, for example, rose quartz “love stone”. Stones are often rich and round, usually purchased for $7.50 to $11, and can be added with accessories such as glasses, hats or tiny scarves. Some are characterized by already drawn faces; and in other cases it is their respective owners who are responsible for customizing them.

Current executives of the original Pet Rock brand say they are testing the Indian market and are working on an AI Pet Rock that will allow their quirky pets to talk to their owners. Of course, there is also Korean among other languages.

Pictures | Jody McIntyre (Flickr) and Webmontag Frankfurt (Flickr) (Cover image was taken in Japan and does not match the fashion style of the post)

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via | Wall StreetJournal