The absurdly popular Pokemon was this year's most wanted fad, according to searches by Lycos users.
Welcome to our Lycos 50 recap of the year in fads. What qualifies as a fad? We asked four questions:
1) Was there a catch phrase?
("Is that your final answer?")
2) Were jokes e-mailed?
("Hillary and Monica go into a bar...")
3) Was money spent like crazy?
(See: Pokemon)
4) Did anyone dress up funny?
(See: Star Wars)
A "yes" answer to any of these was considered a strong fad indicator. So without further ado, here is our final answer on the web's most-requested fads of 1999:
THE TOP 10
1. Pokemon
2. Star Wars: The Phantom Menace
3. The Blair Witch Project
4. Beanie Babies
5. Low carbohydrate diets
6. Palm Pilots
7. Viagra
8. Hip Hop
9. The Teletubbies
10. Harry Potter books
HONORABLE MENTION:
11. Lewinsky mania
12. Feng Shui
13. Mambo #5
14. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
15. 1970s nostalgia
Rookie of the Year Award: Blair Witch Project. Now getting a fresh buzz from home video.
Bore of the Year Award: Monica Lewinsky.
Hot in '98, Not So Hot in '99: Furby, Lara Croft, Dawson's Creek.
Ones to Watch for 2000: Reiki, Dragonball Z, 1990s nostalgia.
Tomorrow we'll feature our penultimate list, 1999's Most Wanted News Events. Join us, won't you?
Note: These rankings reflect all terms entered into the Lycos search engine by users between January 1 and Thanksgiving (November 25) 1999. All spellings and search variations are included in these totals; for instance, searches for Star Wars Phantom Menace and starwars are counted as searches for Star Wars. For more details about how we create these lists, please see our Lycos 50 FAQ.
The absurdly popular Pokemon was this year's most wanted fad, according to searches by Lycos users.
