tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post1466410755499636465..comments2024-03-27T23:28:20.274-04:00Comments on Face to Face: Is the cupcake craze over?agnostichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12967177967469961883noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-30721569895915433732008-10-20T17:20:00.000-04:002008-10-20T17:20:00.000-04:00That Saturday Night Live video, "Lazy Sunday" that...That Saturday Night Live video, "Lazy Sunday" that went viral in 2005 prominently featured Magnolia Bakery and certainly took the trend nationwide. Also, unless you're controlling for noise from the sports page, a lot of the increase is also due to increasing discussion of schedule strength in the BCS-era college football context. Lame, small-school opponents are nearly universally referred to as "cupcakes."Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06973246177321950299noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-46614300595248697052008-10-17T11:55:00.000-04:002008-10-17T11:55:00.000-04:00cupcake= sugary bread, topped by a glaze made of s...cupcake= sugary bread, topped by a glaze made of sugary-industrial-goo, otfen colored blue or even green<BR/><BR/>when you think about it...........they are kinda disgusting little creations aren't they?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-77227885325509917552008-10-15T23:33:00.000-04:002008-10-15T23:33:00.000-04:00As a general rule, no famous person or thing ever ...<I>As a general rule, no famous person or thing ever starts or accelerates a trend -- usually, it was already gaining popularity, and the famous person (being savvy) picked up on it and decided to jump on the bandwagon.</I><BR/><BR/>Perhaps the best example of a mistaken single-event cause is the belief that men largely stopped wearing hats after John F. Kennedy went bareheaded during his inauguration in January 1961. Sales of men's hats actually had been on an increasingly steep decline for more than 30 years prior to this event. Not to mention the fact that Kennedy wore the traditional top hat during much of the ceremony.<BR/><BR/>Until a couple months ago, when my workplace moved farther south in Manhattan, I would occasionally walk to Penn Station after work. My usual route took me near Magnolia Bakery, which had been featured in the SATC episode. There often would be a long line of people, mostly young women, waiting on the sidewalk to enter the tiny bakery. Sometimes there would be tour buses stopped outside. Keep in mind, this was still going on <I>eight years</I> after the episode first aired.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-58070783606952416162008-10-15T16:30:00.000-04:002008-10-15T16:30:00.000-04:00I am here to spread the knowledge, Agnostic.And yo...<I>I am here to spread the knowledge, Agnostic.</I><BR/><BR/>And you like to come here to spread it for me.<BR/><BR/>We make a good team, Ms. Good Cop.agnostichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12967177967469961883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-38594247019048509122008-10-15T14:08:00.000-04:002008-10-15T14:08:00.000-04:00Wasn't Sex and the City largely responsible for th...<I>Wasn't Sex and the City largely responsible for the cupcake craze?</I><BR/><BR/>As a general rule, no famous person or thing ever starts or accelerates a trend -- usually, it was already gaining popularity, and the famous person (being savvy) picked up on it and decided to jump on the bandwagon.<BR/><BR/>It looks like quite a few people do blame SATC for the cupcake craze, but the data don't support this. The episode they're referring to was broadcast in July 2000.<BR/><BR/>If you look at the graph above 2000, there's a local peak -- that's Jan-June 2000. So it was already increasing and reached something of a peak before the episode aired.<BR/><BR/>The point for July-Dec 2000 is the next, which is down from before. And the next time, Jan-June 2001, is even farther down. It doesn't jump up again until July-Dec 2001 -- and no one can think it took an entire year for SATC to have its effect. It should've showed up in July-Dec 2000 or Jan-June 2001.<BR/><BR/>I have no doubt that the episode brought lots of tourists to that particular bakery, but the cupcake craze is independent of SATC.agnostichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12967177967469961883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-76845195110629455042008-10-15T08:10:00.000-04:002008-10-15T08:10:00.000-04:00I am here to spread the knowledge, Agnostic.I am here to spread the knowledge, Agnostic.Lemmonexhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13323066264528575027noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-41676478636271289752008-10-14T23:47:00.000-04:002008-10-14T23:47:00.000-04:00Wasn't Sex and the City largely responsible for th...Wasn't <I>Sex and the City</I> largely responsible for the cupcake craze?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com