http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AnyoneRememberPogs

note Not really. Pogs were introduced in Mexico and South America as Tazos in the 90s and new ones continue to be released and be somewhat popular to this day. Thankfully they are now Deader Than Disco ... Or are they?

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Do you know what Pogs are? Do you care? Does anybody who knows care?

Throughout human history, people have become obsessed over the darndest things, especially in the consumer-driven economy that sprung up during the 1950s. Hula hoops, pet rocks, pins, breakdancing, various child stars, One-Hit Wonder bands, Silly Bandz, fidget spinners, and (of course) pogs were all once insanely popular, but like most fads they faded away, and these days most of us look back on all the hooplah and laugh.

Thus, comedies can generate laughs simply by making an off-hand reference to a fad that was once wildly popular, but is now considered ridiculous. Sometimes this takes the form of a pointed comparison between a current fad, or a thinly-veiled parody of it, and one that used to be popular but is now Deader Than Disco, with the implication that the current fad is headed the same way.

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If the show is about Remembering Pogs (humorously or seriously), we have I Love the Exties. If it's a character who just can't leave his pogs behind, he's Disco Dan. If it's so ridiculous that the today's kids don't believe it was actually real, it's Aluminum Christmas Trees. When the use of a widely popular fad ends up dating a work to a specific time period, it's Unintentional Period Piece. When the fad in question later manages to withstand the test of time, that's It Will Never Catch On. When the fad in question actually progressively Zig-Zags this trope as time goes on, that's Popularity Polynomial.

Compare Zeerust and Cyclic National Fascination.

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Examples:

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Anime and Manga

An early episode of the Pokémon dub includes a Macarena reference. Dogasu runs a site dedicated to the changes made in the dub, and even he had to snigger a bit at that.

runs a site dedicated to the changes made in the dub, and even he had to snigger a bit at that. The reference to Crystal Pepsi in the dub of FLCL. It was an attempt at a Cultural Translation of a reference to a similar fad soft drink sold in Japan, Cherio.

Live Action TV

The last episode of Beakman's World actually does this to a then-current sensation: Beakman : You wrench 'em, I'll drench 'em, let's Macarena!

Everyone in the entire friggin world, including the makers of the song : LET'S NOT!

Jon Stewart uses a slightly more serious version of the trope in a lot of his standup. He mocks the tendency of politicians to pander to the Lowest Common Denominator by saying they're "Just like you. I'm a common man!" "Really? You watch eight hours of television a day? You thought the Macarena was fun?"

An episode of Teen Angel had the titular character going back in time to try to prevent his death. When his past self demands proof he's from the future, he says "I know this may be a little hard to believe...but the Macarena is just a phase.", followed by his past self bemoaning his huge investment in "Planet Macarena" stock (which he later plans to sell and invest in Tony Danza t-shirts instead).

An episode of Murphy Brown had Murphy and Kay realizing they had met before during the Bicentennial at a Starland Vocal Band concert (which consists solely of them replaying their One-Hit Wonder "Afternoon Delight" over and over), of whom Kay was the manager. Murphy purchases a Pet Rock to "bash [her] blind date's head in", talks to Kay about how miserable both are, and Kay "accidentally" gives Murphy the key to backstage for her to sabotage the event.

In an SCTV sketch, Woody Allen was trying to do a film project with Bob Hope, but found his outlook too old-fashioned - Hope was just as put out by Allen's morose personality and tells him "Your mood ring is turning black." Allen replies "My mood ring, what is this, 1968?"

Magazines

The MAD parody of Pokémon introduced Hokéycon as the latest "flavor of the week" fad destined to rot in closets everywhere. One later panel had a fanboy who boasts that Hokéycon is "a phenomenon whose popularity will never, ever fade" being approached by another desperate to trade him any number of Beanie Babies, Smurfs, Power Rangers or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in exchange for a single Hokéycon card. (Hilarious in Hindsight, as all of these are still being made in some form, even though they're not as wildly popular as they once were—as is Pokémon itself, which is still one of the top selling video game series overall. For the record The Pokémon anime and trading card game have dropped off, but still command sizable fan bases. Many stores still sell Beanie Babies, Power Rangers aired its 22nd season in 2015, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles had a new cartoon in fall 2012 , and The Smurfs had a movie out in July 2011.

Newspaper Comics

A Zits strip has Jeremy and Pierce reacting this way to Walt's description of tiddlywinks.

Video Games

Webcomics

Web Original

Western Animation