When we think of pets, we typically think of cats or dogs. Perhaps even more obscure animals, such as parrots or lizards. We think of pets as animals meant to provide companionship and love, but in return, they must be taken care of. What that means for each pet wildly varies, but all pets require a degree of care and responsibility.

The Pet Rock takes an entirely different approach. As the name suggests, a pet rock was simply a rock packaged as a pet and sold to curious buyers. The packaging of a Pet Rock featured a dog-carrier-like box complete with air holes and a bed of straw for the rock to rest on.

The idea for a Pet Rock came about when Gary Dahl, the creator of Pet Rocks, was intoxicated (as you might expect from the concept). Sitting at a bar, he mused about all the work that goes into taking care of a pet. He joked with another bar patron that having a pet rock would give him no trouble at all. He thought the idea was so crazy it just might work. And so, the pet rock began to be packaged and sold to buyers soon after.

It became such a success that in the months between August and December of 1975, more than a million were sold. It was such a brief fad, yet so commercially successful. It made Gary Dahl, the creator, a millionaire.

Looking into the Pet Rock’s success story, we come to ask why it was so successful without serving any real purpose. It all came down to the strategic marketing and promotion of the product. 

The Pet Rock was marketed in a satirical manner and primarily as a joke. The absurdist concept of owning a pet rock wasn’t about the actual rock. It was about a collective joke that everyone was in on. It spread through word of mouth and media buzz, allowing the rock to become such a sensation at the time. 

The use of satire in the product was something that had never been used before. Was it just that simple? Could you just put a rock in a box and sell it? The public’s curiosity also helped the product get attention in the early days, but after it started becoming popular, no one was interested in the rock itself. People wanted the attention and excitement of owning a piece of such a significant moment in pop culture.

The period in which this took place also cannot be overlooked when observing the astronomical success of the Pet Rock. In 1975, times were fast-paced. Amongst political turmoil and cultural shifts, the Pet Rock represented a harmless indulgence just for fun.

Looking back at this curious product, the Pet Rock represents a relic of an era, a giant satirical joke that everyone was in on. Its success is so fascinating to look back on because it was such a massive moment in pop culture and represented so much to everyone, then you remember that it was just a simple rock.