I can only thank Fonzie for contributing to our culture with the expression “Jumped the shark”
It was only 18 months back that I first started hearing people use the expression “Jumped the shark” and I had a feeling as to what it meant in the context it was used.
This was obviously used as a pejorative when people missed the mark, they crossed the point of no return or they on a losing streak that they seemingly aren’t recovering from.
I got to use this term a lot during the historic Trump 2016 Campaign in the work that I did as my small part of helping a major reformation and shift in world politics.
I remember when Hillary Clinton also jumped the shark herself so to speak. Her campaign wasn’t going the way she wanted and she thought that the best way to go was to attack the part of the population that wasn’t supporting her as an attempt to galvanise her own supporters. This resulted in the memorable “Basket of deplorables” line where she attacked a good quarter of the voting public. This ultimately contributed to her rapid demise as things played out (especially in how it was used against her and as useful recruiting tool by her political opponents).
In doing some research, there is a great page on Wikipedia which explains to us the context of “Jumped the shark” and what it means. It goes back to many sources with the main one that resonates with most being when Fonzie jumps a shark on water skis (from the Happy Days franchise).
If you know the type of character of Fonzie being a wog (I can say that being one myself), loving his hair, his cars, chilling and looking cool; he is the last type of guy to consider getting even in the water, let alone water skiing and jumping a shark.
As this was so out of context, it was interpreted as simply a ratings ploy/gimmick. It could be argued to have damaged the franchise (although it continued for years afterwards).
In Marketing, Business & Entrepreneurship; I use this expression quite a lot of describe when someone is making poor desperate moves into trying to reengage interest and has committed that ‘act’ which gets them remembered for the wrong reasons.
My advice and thinking? When it comes to Marketing make sure you don’t just do moves to get interest. Make sure it fits with your brand, identity and what people expect. If your brand is out of date, then don’t ‘jump the shark’. Rebrand yourself and take a new direction.
Thank you for the read, ‘Happy Days’ you rock and thank you Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump for an epic entertaining 2016 – love your work!
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