Hype

I'll admit that sometimes I buy into hype. It can be fun! For example, Twilight, Harry Potter, and Wicked. There's a ton of hype surrounding all three of them, and in my opinion the books/movies live up to the hype. And now I begrudgingly admit that I have jumped on the Farmville band wagon on facebook. That's a fun little game. But then there are times that the product doesn't live up to the hype, yet people keep hyping it up. This is where my annoyance comes in.

Example #1: My in-laws took my kids to the new in-n-out burger a couple of weeks ago and said that the line was just ridiculous. If it wasn't for my father-in-law that had his heart set on it they probably would have turned around and gone somewhere else. A few months ago when our family went to St. George we decided to stop at in-n-out. This was actually my first experience with this hyped up restaurant. I'd seen people with the t-shirts, and I've heard about how delicious it is so I was expecting a really great meal. Well, after standing in the most ridiculous line for a good 5-10 minutes & wrestling with my children, I looked up to the menu board and realized that it was pure burgers! No kids meals, no chicken nuggets, no variation in sides, nada. Nothing but burgers! I was shocked. I then said to myself, this must be one awesome burger if that's all they sell. Well, after we sat down (outside because there was absolutely no sitting room inside) I finally bit into this so-called fabulous burger. I paused a moment, looked over at Matt and said, "I don't get it." I definitely did not get the hype with this burger only restaurant. The burger wasn't gross or anything, it was just okay. Burger Bar serves up a much more delicious burger than that.

Example #2: For weeks my kids and I have been driving by the new Chick-fil-a that opened up on Riverdale Road. And for weeks the drive thru line as been wrapped around the building, and the parking lot has been filled to capacity. I don't get it. I mean, just around the corner there's a Chick-fil-a in the mall that's been there ever since I can remember. I admit, I was a little excited to see an actual Chick-fil-a restaurant outside of a mall open up. But seriously, the lines that I've seen at that place are outrageous.

So why is it. I get it when the hype lives up to it's claim. I'm not one to shy away from the bandwagon. I think it makes life fun. But when the hype doesn't live up? Why? Maybe it's just an opinion thing and where your priorities lie. I'm a lover of books and movies, so when I hear good hype about one of them I jump in feet first. And I guess I'm not that much of a lover of food, and my two examples just happen to be restaurant examples. Maybe that's what it is. But then again, Transformers 2 is now the 10th highest grossing film of ALL TIME, and that movie absolutely sucked (for lack of a better word)! I mean it passed Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (awesome movie) in how much it made. Ridiculous!! But that movie was so hyped up, and people bought into the hype. So now my theory just got blown out. What's your opinion on why this kind of thing happens? Please help me understand...