Tipping Point: Doug West

Malcolm Gladwell delivers thinking out of the box viewpoint of social epidemics in the United States in "The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference". Malcolm questions why certain social trends are overlooked and thrown into the dumpster while other trends reach the “Tipping Point” and explode in popularity. Malcolm uses several examples such as hush puppies, cigarettes, and outsourcing American jobs. He goes into great detail of the origins of these “Epidemics”. These ideas and products all started as an unpopular and untrendy thing to do. Powerful and effective social marketing was the main cause cigarettes became popular. The ability to sell the idea that cigarettes are “rebellious, and cool” to a young generation has made the cigarette business explode since the 1960’s. The cigarettes are addictive, but smoking cigarettes has become an unstoppable lifestyle for most users. Malcolm’s intention is to make the reader question why Americans follow the trends and to recognize how much social media and word of mouth interactions influence our lives. With all this said why are Uggs popular? Someone explain that to me please.