Where were you when Harambe was shot?
Every year an unknown video goes viral, a new shoe line becomes popular or Snapchat develops an update that’s either loved or hated, but each is incessantly referenced regardless. Here’s looking back at the ineffable trends of 2016 and attempting to predict 2017.
Pop culture
In terms of memes, 2016 started out with a bang. ‘Damn Daniel’ and his super white vans came into our lives in February 2016 and it started a one-month period where it was both the best and the worst of times to be named Daniel.
In July, a gorilla was shot at a Cincinnati Zoo when a young boy climbed over the fence and what started as national news piece in CNN and in The New York Times ended up becoming arguably the biggest meme of 2016. To really highlight how much people loved referencing Harambe, stories circulated that the gorilla had received 11,000 votes in the American presidential election.
How could we forget the heart-wrenching time when, as President Obama’s eight years in office came to an end, we were all blessed with the Obama-Biden memes that commemorated a White House bromance for the ages.
While we’re only three months deep into 2017, we haven’t been disappointed.
In September 2016, a 13-year-old girl named Danielle Bregoli went on Dr. Phil to discuss the problems she had with her mom. The Internet didn’t find the video until recently, but her now iconic threat “cash me ousside, how bou dah?” might not be going away anytime soon.
Not to mention the $30,000 to $40,000 she makes for appearances and her merchandise featuring items like a $250 blanket with her face on it.
Fashion
In 2016, we saw a lot of the 90s come back, which means stores across the nation stocked with bomber jackets, velvet baseball hats, chokers of every colour and basically anything Adidas.
According to experts at Saks Fifth Avenue and Bloomingdales, we’re going to be seeing a lot more sneakers and styles influences by athletic wear in 2017, so grab a pair of Adidas joggers as soon as possible.
Food
2016 was the year of smoothie and acai bowls: basically a deconstructed smoothie which you then eat out a pretty wooden bowl. They make any Instagram page pop and are good for you, so why these bowls took off in 2016 isn’t too much of a mystery.
A viral video came out on Facebook last month which shows a store in Southern California that’s been making “sushi donuts” — rice shaped into a donut form with avocado puree or spicy crab inside and then topped with salmon, avocado or tuna.
This is officially combining two of the most amazing foods in the world and also the two biggest food crazes of the year.
In 2017, experts at BBC food and The New Yorker predict that tacos will be the big food trend to complain about. So it may be time to buy some tequila and send a message in the group chat for everyone to come over for Taco Tuesday.
In the first few weeks of 2017, we saw the Women’s March, marches for Planned Parenthood and protests on President’s Day. As we often turned to memes and social media trends in 2016 — possibly to distract from the turmoil experienced around the world — 2017 might look a little more serious with people focusing on having their voices heard through the Internet.
At the end of the day, we could be one tweet away from the next big pop culture moment we’ll tell our kids and grandkids about when reminiscing about our university days. And it won’t be sushi donuts.
Tags
Food, Lifestyle, students, trends
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