A while back I wrote a blog on this topic for theguardian.com/money, and the comments revealed a real depth of hostility to the online trend.
Mr. Smith credits the online trend spotters at ThisNext.com, and more recently at Stylehive.com, for giving the doll a holiday boost.
"It's good to see Marriott trying to do something new and embrace the online trend," he said.
Rosenthal, however, has said she was not previously aware of the online trend, which consists of men draped on, cuddling with, and posing next to tigers, typically in settings resembling zoos or wildlife parks.
It's possible to see these online trends as Darwinian pressures that will inevitably produce a new breed — call it an Artist 2.0 — and mark the end of the artist as a sensitive, bohemian soul who shuns the spotlight.
As with any online trend, seapunk is probably fleeting.
At this stage, analysts say the Web in China is less about innovation than about quickly delivering on the latest online trend.
As the first ChatRoulette video goes viral on YouTube and shoots to the top of the chart, one online trend meets another.
The online trend runs counter to overall Canadian retail sales, which have grown -- if slowly -- over the last two holiday seasons, according to Maureen Atkinson, a senior partner with the J.C. Williams Group, a research and consulting firm.
An online trend in which members of the public post one-line "British People Problems" has gone viral, with a selection of the posts on US website BuzzFeed attracting more than 230,000 views in 24 hours.
