16 Things That Were Made Popular (Or Unpopular) By Movies
![16 Things That Were Made Popular (Or Unpopular) By Movies](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/3/5/820335_320x180.jpg)
We used to think we were perfectly independent minds, floating blissful and free in the waters of pop culture. It turns out many of the most seemingly innocent preferences were actually influenced by the galaxy brains in hollywood. There's a surprising (or maybe not so surprising) number of feature films that have had a massive impact on cultural trends. We didn't even see it coming!
Yes, of course you’re too sophisticated to be influenced by movies, TV, and such stuff. Not everyone has your mental fortitude, though, and many desire what is shown to be good (or shun what is shown to be bad). These are a few examples of trends that originated on the screen.
Did you know Bill Murray's “Lost in Translation” caused a massive boom in Japanese Whiskey?! Kind of makes sense. Who knows how many people have been guzzling white russians ever since the big lewbowski dropped.
Want to learn about more ways movies have brainwashed millions of unsuspecting viewers? Scroll down for more wild examples!
The Avenger's Shawarma
![The Avengers made everyone crave shawarma. After the movie came out, many people who had never tried the Arab dish felt like giving it a bite. The owner of a shawarma place in Queens reported that, The first four or five weeks I was running out of shawarma by 3 or 4 o'clock.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/3/4/820334.jpg)
Source: MTV
The Dude's White Russians
![The Big Lebowski revived the White Russian. Once looked down on as a cocktail for people who'd drink whatever crap they were poured, the Dude- favored Caucasian became a drink for true hipsters in the decade following the release of the movie](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/2/7/820327.jpg)
Source: The New York Times
Bill Murray's Japanese Whisky
![Lost in Translation caused Japanese whisky to explode. Before Bill Murray's fictional ad, most people weren't even aware that Japanese whisky was a thing. Afterwards, demand grew so big that brewing company Suntory had to discontinue some of their whiskies, unable to meet demand.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/1/9/820319.jpg)
Sources: Men’s Journal, Forbes
Maverick's Navy Thrills
![Top Gun caused U.S. Navy recruitment figures to spike.Perhaps expecting to replicate in real life the movie's sexy, high-energy thrills, many people enlisted as soon as they walked out of the theater. And we mean literally as soon as they walked out - the Navy set up handy recruiting stations to catch psyched up moviegoers.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/3/1/820331.jpg)
Source: Screen Rant
Harry Potter's Owl
![Harry Potter caused people to get owls as pets (not a good idea) The Harry Potter movies coincided with an explosion of owls being adopted as pets - and then abandoned, because really, what they hell were they thinking. It got so bad that at some bird sanctuaries, 90% of all owls were captive-bred.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/2/3/820323.jpg)
E.T.'s Reese's Pieces
![E.T. made Reese's Pieces famous. Mars is probably still regretting saying no to Steven Spielberg's request to use M&M's as alien bait. Hershey took the deal that Mars turned down, and within two weeks of the film's release, sales of Reese's Pieces tripled.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/2/9/820329.jpg)
Source: Hershey Community Archives
Bug Bunny's Meat
![Bugs Bunny turned people off eating rabbit. Demand for rabbit meat went down after World War II - and Bugs Bunny is partly to blame for it (at east according to the American Rabbit Breeders Association), as people who had grown up with the sassy rabbit were revolted at the idea of eating him.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/2/8/820328.jpg)
Source: The New Yorker
Rachel's Haircut
![Everyone wanted to look like Rachel from Friends. During the height of the show's popularity in the '90s, hair salons kept getting requests for Rachel's haircut (which probably annoyed stylists, as the Rachel is hard to pull off). Even more recently, during the 2021 Friends reunion, demand for the haircut went up by 179%.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/2/1/820321.jpg)
Source: Glamour
Baby Driver's iPods
![Baby Driver brought iPods back. After audiences took a look at Baby's collection of stolen iPods, sales of the vintage player on eBay multiplied almost tenfold.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/2/6/820326.jpg)
Source: Gizmodo
The Blair Witch Project's Town
![The Blair Witch Project made people invade Burkittsville. The witch was fictional, but the sleepy Maryland village was haunted for real - by tourists, who either didn't know or didn't care that the movie wasn't actually shot there. Many residents were not happy about the rude visitors, or the marketing- driven falsification of their town's history.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/2/4/820324.jpg)
Source: Thrillist
Bridget Jones' Chardonnay
![Bridget Jones's Diary was blamed for chardonnay's decline. Chardonnay has made some of the world's greatest wines. Everyone appreciated it - until Bridget Jones, said British wine writer Oz Clarke in 2008. According to Clarke, the slump in chardonnay's sales was to be blamed on Bridget pouring herself a huge glass whenever her life was a mess.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/3/0/820330.jpg)
Source: The Independent
Carrie's Name
![Carrie caused fewer Carries to be born. In the 1970s, Carrie as a name for girls was in an upwards swing in popularity - but it took a sudden dive just after Brian De Palma's horror movie came out.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/2/0/820320.jpg)
Source: Behind the Name
Popeye's Spinach
![Popeye made people eat their spinach. Popeye wasn't created by the spinach industry to boost sales, but he might as well have been. In the 1930s, the sailor's fondness for his performance-enhancing vegetable was credited with a 33% increase in U.S. spinach consumption.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/3/2/820332.jpg)
Source: Business Insider
Sideways' Wines
![Sideways made pinot noir wine a top seller (and damaged merlot). The California wine industry credits Sideways with boosting the popularity of pinot noir, with production nearly doubling since the movie came out. Conversely, this Sideways Effect has been blamed for making merlot a shunned wine, as Paul Giamatti's character refuses to drink it.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/3/3/820333.jpg)
Source: NPR
Link's Ocarina
![The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time boosted demand for real ocarinas. Not only was the game a top seller, but it also caused a small boom in the little, flute-like musical instruments. Some artisanal makers saw their business more than double due to fan demand.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/2/2/820322.jpg)
Source: The New York Times
Marlon Brandon's T-Shirt
![A Streetcar Named Desire made T-shirts what they are today. T-shirts were underwear - not wearing anything over it made you look like someone who didn't bother to get dressed. That's probably what the movie was aiming for with Marlon Brando's Stanley Kowalski - which backfired, as he made wearing only a T-shirt a fashionable thing.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/2/5/820325.jpg)