The Pop It button toy, which gained worldwide fame in 2021 during the lockdown, continues to be popular with children and adults. It allows you to escape from the daily routine and relieve stress, and by the principle of action is close to air-bubble packaging.
Only if the latter is disposable, then Pop It is a reusable product. The bubbles in it do not burst, but are squeezed out to the other side, after which the process is repeated, but in the opposite direction.
Pop It
History of creation and popularization
The invention of Pop It belongs to the designers Theo and Ore Koster from Israel. Their family company Theora Design produces a wide range of toys and board games: at the moment - about 200 varieties. These include the Pop It, which is made from silicone rubber. If this material had existed 50 years ago, Pop It would have appeared in 1974. It was then, according to Ora Koster, she came up with the idea of creating a reusable pimply toy that could captivate a child for a long time.
Delayed for a long time, the project was only launched in 2014. Despite Koster's expectations, he did not gain the popularity that one could have hoped for. Pop It toys were in low demand until the spring of 2021, when several videos with this toy “shot” on the social network TikTok.
One of them - with a monkey quickly pushing bubbles - scored a record 500 million views, and Pop It began to spread rapidly, first among children and teenagers, and subsequently among adults around the world.
Different from Simple Dimple
Many people confuse Pop It with the Simple Dimple toy, which is also equipped with extrudable bubbles. In fact, the difference between them is not great: Simple Dimple has a plastic body and fewer bubbles, usually from 2 to 6 pieces. A key ring may be present on the plastic case - to use the toy as a keychain.
Pop It, on the other hand, is made entirely of silicone rubber and is equipped with a large number of bubbles - up to 36. It is much larger than the Simple Dimple, and it is not as convenient to carry around. The shape of the toy can be anything: from a standard circle and rectangle, to a heart, strawberry, pineapple, apple.
Destination
Pop It, the world's most widespread toy, was originally intended for young preschool children. According to experts, it really is able to improve the motor skills and sensory integration of the child and teaches him to better understand tactile and visual signals. Pop It also affects the auditory receptors - when the bubbles are squeezed out ("pop") when pressed.
As useful as this toy is for young children, today its main "consumers" are teenagers aged 13 to 19. She is often seen in entertainment videos posted on TikTok, YouTube and other platforms.
There are even games/contests using Pop It. For example, two players roll a die and squeeze out the resulting number of bubbles. The one who did not have enough “pimples” to squeeze out loses. And subscribers of many TikTok channels can count on bonuses and gifts if they guess under which Pop It bubble the blogger hid the ball.
Interesting facts
- Pop It owes its success to the TikTok platform. If videos with millions of views had not appeared on it in 2021, this toy would most likely have remained unclaimed.
- Statistics show that the vast majority of Pop It buyers are women between the ages of 35 and 44. This does not mean that they use the toys themselves. Shopping is most likely made for children.
- During the Pop It boom in 2021, a major US retailer made $35,000 a month selling bubble toys alone. At the same time, the cost of each of them averaged only 5-8 dollars.
Don't overestimate the benefits and possibilities of Pop It. In fact, this is a very simple and uncomplicated toy. But this is its advantage - the ability to be distracted at any time by the thoughtless pressing of bubbles. And if in children this process develops motor skills and sensory skills, then it gives adults the opportunity to clear their minds, get distracted and relieve accumulated stress.
