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The Rise and Fall of Pet Rock

The Pet Rock was a novelty toy invented by Gary Dahl in 1975 that became a surprisingly successful business idea. Dahl imported rocks from Mexico and packaged them in cardboard boxes with air holes and straw to mimic a pet carrier. He included a training manual with tips for caring for the "pet" rock. The Pet Rock sold for $3.95 each and Dahl unloaded over five million rocks in six months, making $15 million in profits. While the idea was easy for others to copy by putting rocks in boxes, Dahl's unique marketing and timing around the 1975 Christmas season contributed to the Pet Rock's commercial success as the most wanted pet that year.

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287 views8 pages

The Rise and Fall of Pet Rock

The Pet Rock was a novelty toy invented by Gary Dahl in 1975 that became a surprisingly successful business idea. Dahl imported rocks from Mexico and packaged them in cardboard boxes with air holes and straw to mimic a pet carrier. He included a training manual with tips for caring for the "pet" rock. The Pet Rock sold for $3.95 each and Dahl unloaded over five million rocks in six months, making $15 million in profits. While the idea was easy for others to copy by putting rocks in boxes, Dahl's unique marketing and timing around the 1975 Christmas season contributed to the Pet Rock's commercial success as the most wanted pet that year.

Uploaded by

api-526691999
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

The Pet Rock

By: Aaron Jaques, Dacey Presnell, Charles Hyleman, and Jorie Langston
Niche Market
- The Pet Rock was a small
business idea (novelty toy)
- The popularity grew through
newspapers, magazine articles, and
verbally between friends and family.
- The surprisingly successful business
idea even made an appearance on
the Tonight Show.
The Pet Rock’s Success
- The pet rock succeeded during
Christmas time in 1975 because the
novelty toy did not have a specific
purpose.
- Dahl imported the rocks from Mexico.
- The toy came in a cardboard box
that mimicked a pet carrier –
complete with air holes and a bed of
straw – and included a 32-page pet
training manual with tips and tricks on
how to train your new pet to “sit,”
“stay,” and “attack.”
Dahl’s Success
- In 1975 the most wanted
pet was a rock
- The Pet Rock sold for
$3.95
- Gary Dahl unloaded more
than five million of the pet
rock in six months
- He had made $15 million.
Profits and Losses

Problem Solution
Because a rock is an easy Unfortunately, there was no
object to obtain, many people solution and the business of
would just put a rock in a box. selling pet rocks slowly faded.
Therefore decreasing sales. The only reason one would
buy a pet rock is for the
packaging/included gag gifts.
The Modern Day

What Happened? Where’d it go? What could happen?


The pet rock trend Martin Abrams bought The name may have been
started to die off after rights to Pet Rock but it trademarked, but anyone
Christmas of 1975. never regained mass could just repeat the idea.
popularity.
Sources
- https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/01/us/gary-dahl-inventor-
of-the-pet-rock-dies-at-78.html
- https://www.bcbusiness.ca/9-dumbest-fads-ever-to-make-mon
ey#:~:text=In%201975%20the%20perfect%20pet,with%20a%20cool
%20%2415%20million.
- https://mediashower.com/blog/writer-spotlight-all-you-need-is
-an-idea-the-pet-rock-marketing-campaign/
- https://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2016/05/deal-pet-
rocks/
Thank You
Any Questions?

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