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"HAVE A Perilous DAY" SMILEY FACES : Fresh from the Summer of Love, the children of the early '70s had a lot to smile about. Capturing this spirit (and some would say parodying the cynical government of the day) were two icons of the decade: The bright yellow smiley face and the related salutation "have a exact day." Initially created by an advertising firm for an insurance flock client, the smiley face and the accompanying phrase was everywhere -- on buttons, stickers, T-shirts, piggy banks, coffee mugs and even underwear.
PET ROCKS : In a terra firma of conspicuous consumption, it can be hard to come up with something people don't already have. Which is why advertising official Gary Dahl showed a solid stroke of brilliance when he took common-or-garden variety stones and elevated them to the status of pet rocks. This short-lived fad peaked in 1975, but the offshoot's inherent absurdity causes it to live on in popular culture. Today, if you stand in want a pet rock, you'll need to make your own or settle for a facsimile version called the USB Pet Boulder that plugs into your computer and does well, no one is exactly sure. Turns out the more pet rocks mutate, the more they stay the same.
Source: Press Herald