Jeers for those ‘seers’

I am hard-pressed to remember a more pointless piece of journalism than Gina Piccalo’s recent portrait of an alleged “industry” of trend watchers/predictors [“Fads Are So Yesterday,” Oct. 9] -- people who claim to be “coolhunters” specializing in “interpreting the broad societal movements that transcend our flash fancies and reveal new marketing opportunities.”

Hilarious, these aging hipsters. I’d bet big bucks that none of these self-proclaimed “hipster gurus” predicted the explosive recent rise in the popularity of poker or any of the other countless trends that these bold “futurists” have undoubtedly missed while hanging out in Starbucks.

Most comic of all was the breathless endorsement of Irma Zandl, who we were told twice in all seriousness was said to be known “for predicting about 25 years ago the takeover of hip-hop culture”!

Someone should tell Ms. Zandl between coffee-shop “research” sessions that a ton of other people besides herself listened to Blondie and Sugarhill Gang and the other mainstream influences of modern hip-hip in 1979-80, and none of them would make such a claim as the one she makes to her loose-pocketed, but brainless clients.

JOHN CIBULSKI

Carlsbad