Buzz
The '90s are known for many things—but today, they’re mostly remembered for their legacy—the nostalgically-inclined X-ennial middle generation, who proudly refer to themselves as '90s kids. You might be a '90s kid if you often begin your sentences with, 'Aw man, 'member…?' You might also be a '90s kid if you believe the best version of everything was the one you experienced when you were 10. You might even be a '90s kid if you caught the Jeff Foxworthy joke and found yourself rolling your eyes.
One thing we can all agree on as '90s kids is that we grew up amidst some of the weirdest trends. Our toys, technology, food, and furniture were all bizarre, at least until we collectively moved past them and onto the next strange craze. Here’s a look at ten of those bizarre trends from the '90s—let's take a moment to reflect and hopefully do better in our next childhoods.
10. Furbies
Let’s get these unsettling little creatures out of the way first, so I can close some tabs and never have to gaze into their soulless, robotic eyes again. Furbies were, at best, annoying trinkets that occasionally shouted Simlish, and at worst, they were like miniature demons designed to haunt children. It's been said many times before: this was one strange trend. Sure, the rise of home robotics was inevitable, but we all envisioned our future home robots as humanoid butlers or charming metal dogs—not creepy, budget-friendly Mogwai lookalikes that stared at you while you slept.
Somehow, Furbies were the reigning sensation for a couple of years, around 1998 and 1999. During that period, an estimated 15-20 million Furbies found their way into homes worldwide, amusing children by secretly recording them and learning their speech patterns. However, a series of revivals in the 2000s didn’t quite capture the same magic, and for now, Furbies have cooled off, relegated to the back burner of pop culture.
9. Big Mouth Billy Bass
Let me say this plainly: It’s a mounted fish. But it's not real. And it sings. A song—perhaps the most grating song you’ve ever heard. And it only sings when someone passes by. Ugh. As someone who once received a Christmas gift from my mom—a towel with 'butt' on one side and 'face' on the other—I can confidently state: joke gifts are rarely good gifts.
If you know someone who’s into fishing, get them a rod and reel or a real mounted bass. Don’t get them something that forces them into that awkward, 'Why on earth did they get me this?' moment, followed by the dreaded fake gratitude performance, 'Gee thanks, grandma!' This bizarrely successful fish raked in over $100 million in its first few months on the market, and soon gave rise to spin-offs like the Christmas Billy Bass, Buck the Animated Deer Head, and a new Alexa-enabled Billy Bass—guaranteed to confuse a bunch of hippies when they ask their assistant to 'play Phish.'
8. Wassup
Let’s be honest: Budweiser was absolutely dominating the advertising scene in the '90s. I still remember the iconic trio of frogs—'Bud,' 'Weis,' and 'Er'—and even their lesser-known, yet still memorable, chameleon sidekicks. Then in 1999, Anheuser-Busch introduced the 'Whassup?' commercial, which took their advertising reign to even greater heights. The ad won a Clio, the advertising industry's equivalent of an Oscar, and was inducted into the Clio Hall of Fame. And everyone saw this ad.
You know they did, because suddenly everyone was saying 'whassup,' but in different variations—raspier, longer, and often barely intelligible. I was a preteen at the time, and this meant that every single person at my school said 'whassup' daily—in the hallways, at lunch, during recess. Then I'd come home, and my dad's friends were saying it too. It was the kind of cultural wildfire that made news anchors learn the word 'memetic'—a full decade before they learned the term 'meme.'
7. Blow-up Furniture
I’m going to place the blame for this one squarely on shows like 'Clarissa Explains It All,' 'Blossom,' 'Saved by the Bell,' and every other '90s sitcom where the characters' rooms were always brimming with extravagant, neon-colored furniture, bowling alley carpets, and quirky thrift-store finds.
There was a lot of wish-fulfillment happening in '90s kids' shows when it came to home decor. The characters seemed to have everything, and everything was perfectly unique and wildly eclectic. It was all so kitschy. Naturally, this led normal kids to dream of putting their own stamp on interior design. Enter blow-up furniture. If you've ever sat in an inflatable chair while wearing shorts, you know exactly why this trend was doomed from the start—but for a time, it was all the rage.
With just a few inexpensive items, kids could transform their rooms into something big, bright, and full of personality. They could make the space entirely their own. Of course, anything inflatable in the hands of a child is bound to pop eventually, but that didn’t make those fun nights spent on the blow-up couch watching *Clueless* or chatting with Nate on your clear-plastic wall phone any less memorable.
6. Pokemon
Yes, Pokemon is still going strong, and in many ways, it’s only becoming more popular. But when discussing the weird and wonderful creations of the '90s, you simply can't leave out this iconic sci-fi anime dogfighting card game/RPG. Whether you loved it or had a soft spot for it (because really, how could you hate Pokemon?), the premise is undeniably bizarre.
The story of Pokemon goes like this: At 10 years old, Ash, a child whose father is mysteriously absent, leaves home to travel the world. He sleeps in bushes and blindly trusts any adult he meets in the most random, shadowy forests. His mission: to find every creature in existence, force them into battle until they lose consciousness, and then imprison them in a Matrix-like digital cage forever. He’ll occasionally release them for ‘bonding,’ but only to ensure they’re physically fit for the next battle. Ultimately, his grand ambition is to catch them all—basically to capture every living thing on Earth, and to do so, he needs a team of battle-ready creatures.
And yes, sure, the franchise has some redeeming qualities. Maybe I cried when Ash released Butterfree. Maybe I still have my first holographic Haunter card. And maybe, when my little nephew asks me to tell him about the old Pokemon, my heart does a little happy dance. But that doesn't make this billion-dollar kids' franchise any less absurd. From the TV show to the games, it's a wildly bizarre phenomenon.
5. AOL Instant Messenger
Let me take you on a journey back in time, courtesy of xX_bannana_hammock_Xx. Before social media as we know it today, online communication was a bit more secluded. Small, niche communities formed around chat services, often discussing (what were then) alternative topics like coding, anime, and comics. Larger instant messaging platforms existed, like the old IRC, but it wasn’t until 1997, when AOL introduced AIM, that instant messaging became a mainstream sensation. AIM launched just as the internet was starting to be woven into daily life, and unlike other AOL services, it was free to any internet user, not just those with AOL accounts. Suddenly, the digital world was open to everyone. And, well, things got strange.
Suddenly, people discovered all kinds of new things: sarcastic away messages, using song lyrics to seem profound, ghosting, the struggles of making a 'close friends' list, and even the thrill of blocking someone from using their own account. That’s right—AIM allowed you to 'warn' someone enough times to forcibly kick them off their own account. I don’t think the AIM developers fully grasped the concept of trolling yet.
4. Pogs
Just to clarify, this is where many of our addictive tendencies first took root. Pogs were collectible cardboard disks, essentially the caps from old milk jugs, but adorned with cool designs. As far as fads go, this one was definitely out there.
They were basically just cardboard circles, but they came with designs like skateboarding Bigfoots, which I suppose added some value. There was a game that revolved around Pogs, where players slammed stacks of them with heavier plastic or metal discs. Still, most Pog fans seemed more interested in the collection aspect than the game itself. And once again: the collection was just cardboard circles. This trend naturally fizzled out, and by 1997, the company that made Pogs popular, Canada Games Company, went out of business. The lasting impact of the craze? We were conditioned from a young age to find value in hoarding things.
3. Nicktoons
Before you pick up your pitchfork, hear me out. The title of this article is 'bizarre' 90s trends—not bad, not good, just bizarre. And Nickelodeon in the 90s was so out there that even the long-forgotten Greek god of bizarreness, Catdogius, could have regained his full strength and taken Zeus’s throne. Want a little test? Google 'most normal Nicktoon' and count the results.
Now try searching for 'Nicktoon' along with terms like 'weird,' 'strange,' or even 'creepy,' and see how many hits you get. While describing the plot of Pokemon without context was fun, doing the same with Spongebob would be career suicide. Take 'Rocko’s Modern Life,' for example. It's so bizarre that even the intro sequence feels like something from a David Lynch dream, but with a side of mescaline and bath salts. Even 'Rugrats,' which should just be a simple show about babies doing baby things, sometimes feels like a surreal fever dream. Don’t believe me? Watch 'Angelica’s Worst Nightmare,' and then we’ll talk.
2. Bowl cuts
Fashion is subjective. What seems stylish now may look ridiculous in a decade, or perhaps even right now, but to a different crowd. However, one thing stands true: bowl cuts. They have never looked good and never will. As the name suggests, bowl cuts are haircuts shaped like an upside-down bowl. Many of these unfortunate styles were made by cutting around actual bowls. This haircut is so universally disliked, so wrong in every way, that not even The Ramones could make it fashionable.
The Ramones managed to make a song about beating a bratty child with a baseball bat (oh yeah) sound cool, but they couldn’t pull off the bowl cut. I know fashion is supposed to be cyclical, but I'd rather bring back the practice of wearing the skulls of enemy tribes as a belt than ever accept bowl cuts again.
1. Beanie Babies
…and hoard we did. The 90s were all about transitioning from one collectible craze to the next. When comparing the money spent to the actual payoff, Beanie Babies were at the top. And they still are, as eBay continues to host hundreds of collectors trying to cash in on their Beanie Baby 'fortune,' only to find that no one’s buying. For many, Beanie Babies are a harsh lesson in the fact that just because something is said to be valuable, it doesn’t mean it actually is. While capitalism does exist, Beanie Babies prove that often, it isn’t true.
In 1995, Beanie Babies took off. They were cute, cuddly, and had adorable names. Their creator, Ty, Inc., began 'retiring' certain Beanies to create a sense of market rarity and drive up demand. This strategy worked like a charm for a while. Both Beanie Baby sales and resales became massive industries. Then came the inevitable collapse, when people started asking themselves questions like, 'What on earth do I do with 500 Bandage Bears, and why did I insure every single one for $10,000?'
