Fidget spinners and why I'm no longer Phil, I'm "Lucy's dad"

My good friend and former colleague Marjorie Calder recently posted a great blog on the pros and cons of working from home. I'm very lucky that Big accommodates this when it's needed - and in the Addicott household it’s currently needed.

One of the upsides (as well as the peace and quiet) is the luxury of the school run. I mean that in all honesty as it's a chance to talk to the kids about what they enjoyed about their days. One of the downsides is the school run because I stop being Phil, and become nameless, only referred to by other parents as "Lucy's dad".

You also see just a hint of the incessant peer pressure to which our children are exposed, and an insight in to how marketers target children both directly and through their parents.

This was particularly true yesterday when my 8-year-old came bounding out of school with the immediate demand of going to buy her a fidget spinner.

Me: "Why?"

Daughter: "Because everyone else has them."

Me: "That's not a reason."

Guess what happened next? That's right, I relented and within five minutes had forked out ￡5 of my hard-earned cash which would otherwise have been spent in the pub. This two-minute exchange got me thinking about how this simple product became so popular across the world with, what I can see, next to no advertising or marketing.

This illuminating piece in The Guardian last week tells the story of it's inventor who is watching the global craze revolve around her without commercial success. And this New York Times article charts the history of the gadget stretching back 20 years as a tool to aid sufferers of ADHD.

Floridian Catherine Hettinger is a self-confessed inventor and came upon the idea in a bid to bond with her young daughter. After attempts to interest major toy companies, it was then adopted as a therapeutic aid for children with attention disorders. Fast forward 20 years and it seems to be riding on the coattails of the executive gadget industry – no, I didn’t know there was such a thing either.

But how and why has it become such a phenomenon in the last six months?

Maybe I’m missing something but is there a force that acts over and above even discreet marketing and can’t be controlled, but is ultimately all-powerful and a marketer’s dream – word of mouth. Or am I confusing this with the peer pressure which seems to be stronger and more prevalent than when I was a nipper?

I’ve no doubt that once the playground moves on to the next craze, my daughter’s fidget spinner will be confined to the area of her room where rests the souls of loom bands, Global Hypercolour t-shirts and Pokemon cards. But for the time being, it seems playground word of mouth is driving a craze which even “Lucy’s dad” is prepared to pay for (if just for two minutes’ peace).