It's Popular, Now It Sucks: Difference between revisions

{{quote|''"Poseurs! I hated Zoidberg before it was cool."''|'''Bender''', ''[[Futurama]]''}}

In some cases, it's not an unreasonable complaint if the quality of the work begins to suffer as a result of the artist's popularity. If the artist begins to squander their talent or water down what made it interesting to make it acceptable to the [[Lowest Common Denominator]], or [[Pandering to the Base]] rather than expanding themselves as artists in the process, then it's not unreasonable that the fans might start crying foul. Likewise, if the artist becomes a [[Small Name, Big Ego|raging egomaniacal tool]] who believes that they can [[Fan Disillusionment|treat their fans like dirt]] and [[Protection From Editors|don't need to listen to their editors]], things might go downhill fast. Perhaps their fame will rise [[Artist Disillusionment|beyond a level they can cope with]]. On another, more subjective note, the popularity and acclaim of an actually solid artist or work may rise to hyperbolic, unwarranted heights, which can have a negative effect if [[Hype Backlash|the hype cannot possibly match the reality]]. Where live performances are involved, larger, less intimate venues will generally be required - perhaps a situation in which the performers don’t come across so well -- andwell—and audience demographics may change, the newcomers behaving differently to the older fans, causing an overall change in atmosphere. And finally, some things ''are'' better in small doses, in which case the last thing you want is to be over-exposed to it.

In either case, this elitist tendency essentially turns [[Fandom]] into a speculations market -- ifmarket—if you like it before it's popular, or if you hate something because it's popular, only then does your profit margin in coolness points amount to anything when you fling away your shares in the fandom in horror of the masses. (Incidentally, note the jargon here. "Speculations market". "Profit margin". "Shares". [[Not So Different|Ironic, no?]]) Of course, if it never Sells Out, no one will get the name recognition when you say "I liked X before it was popular." Ironically, fandoms of little-known works almost always expand by word of mouth -- ''the very reason it became popular'' is that these people kept talking about how cool it was, and enjoying acclaim from being the one "in the know" about a good work before anyone else. (Which they lose when it becomes popular.) For further irony value, these snobs often claim to be X's [[Fan Dumb|original and/]][[Logic Bomb|or true fans]] -- but—but, in dropping X like a hot potato after X becomes popular, they actually reveal themselves to be fair weather fans (or, if you prefer, foul weather fans), since if they truly were a fan of X, then they would be supportive of X becoming popular.

As you can see on the quote, sometimes people only just trash something that's popular because they want to be accepted by their peers -- youpeers—you'd be surprised how many people actually ''do'' trash stuff that's popular may have [[Complaining About Shows You Don't Watch|only read an opinion leader's review no matter how flawed and]] marred with [[Hate Dumb]].

Many of these works that get this tend to get subjected to the fallacy that "the more mainstream something is, the more critical people are of it." High profile works in particular are prone to getting picked apart, while lesser known works are looked on much more favorably, with their flaws mostly overlooked, or perhaps even [[Complaining About People Not Liking the Show|granted immunity to]] [[Unacceptable Targets|any form of criticism]] [[Sacred Cow|in any way]].

* This seems to happen with [[Girl Show Ghetto|any form of entertainment that catches on with teenage girls]]. Even if something was liked and respected before it had fangirls, it is written off as valueless the moment the [[Squee|squeeingsquee]]ing starts. If a form of entertainment is manufactured with this demographic in mind from the beginning, it is immediately shunned and becomes an object of ridicule. Whether this attitude stems from this trope or the idea that anything enjoyed by young females is automatically inferior is anyone's guess.

** Also shown in the very first strip of [https://web.archive.org/web/20131025075605/http://www.mitchclem.com/nothingnice/1/ Nothing Nice To Say]

== Anime &and Manga ==

=== Specific ===

* ''[[Akira]]'' has managed to avoid this fate, despite that most people are actually familiar with the old dub ([http://canaaadaaaa.ytmnd.com/ "KA-NAY-DAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!!"]) that, strangely, neither Otomo or Macek themselves agreed with. If anything, the only [[It's Popular, Now It Sucks]] that Akira is getting is the [[I Liked It Better When It Sucked|2001 redub]], which you would ironically ''think'' would be better received. (More thorough translation, they actually ''know'' how to pronounce Kaneda's name, and the fact that the 80s dub got a PG-13 rating thanks in part to the [[Animation Age Ghetto]] while the 2001 redub is rated R...)

* ''[[Dragon Ball]] Z'' befell this wonderful fate during the late 1990s and early 2000s. Arguably one of the things that got anime into the mainstream, within five years or so it was very popular to bash it horribly. Some would argue that ''[[Naruto]]'' is basically the same thing -- massivelything—massively popular until it overplayed its welcome, and then is met with a thousand fiery hells.

* There was once a time in which ''[[Inuyasha]]''; as well as pretty much every [[Rumiko Takahashi]] series, had a fanbase that was free to exist in public. But then, they became popular - Immediately, saying you like a Takahashi series nowadays, ''especially'' ''[[Inuyasha]]'' is tantamount to [[Suicide by Cop]].

* ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' was once considered a [[Gateway Series|gateway anime]] in the 90s and an icon of feminism and girl power. Then when people realized everyone was watching it (especially the dubbed version), it became trendy to bash it for being "kiddie" or [[Real Women Never Wear Dresses|sexist]]. Furthermore, despite the fact that many men used to be proud to claim themselves as fans, you're pretty much required to call it gay now if you're a dude.

* Sadly, Art itself is very subjected to this trope ''far'' too much. Sometimes, it's done out of jealousy. Just got a creation of yours noticed? Congratulations -- youCongratulations—you've either sold out to the masses of pretentious waffle makers, or have sold out to the [[Lowest Common Denominator]]. Thankfully it's not ''entirely'' hopeless... some people actually ''will'' congratulate you in getting something of yours on display so people can see it if this happens. But it may be hard to appreciate them with jealous artists saying, "Well ''I'' can do better" or "My stuff is ''too sophisticated'' for them."

* Any artstyleart style that becomes popular is subject to this trope, with anime being the whipping boy in the west.

* Even serious art sites like [[Concept Art]] can become subject to this trope. While less vicious than say, [[Deviant ART]], artists who make the jump from 'just posters' to 'established professionals' can expect to lose a couple web-friends out of jealousy or the belief that the artist in question is pandering to a mainstream audience.

** A common rallying cause for the aforementioned old guard comes when the original media takes a shift after a movie release to bring the series back to something of an earlier status quo. This is often intentional so that new fans (brought in by the film adaptation, for example) can settle into the original media without too many jarring changes.

** ''[[The Dark Knight Saga]]'''s explosive popularity caused [[Batman]] to become a more popular cultural icon than ever. Many long-time Batman fans feel spited by the Bat's new-found mainstream status, resorting to the [[It's Popular, Now It Sucks]] mantra. They must be extremely good at holding grudges for decades on end though, since Batman has been a "mainstream" cultural icon since the 60s.

* Just about every fan of [[Jhonen Vasquez]]'s comics (like [[Johnny the Homicidal Maniac]]) from "back in the day" seems to hate and look down on fans who found out about Jhonen's work through his cartoon show, ''[[Invader Zim]]'', a show that -- beingthat—being a cartoon on a big name children's cable channel -- waschannel—was accessible to a ''much'' larger and more varied audience than his early comics.

== FanfictionFan Works ==

* A Fritz Fraundorf's [[Fanfic]] parodies this tendency in music, with a music store clerk who ''only'' likes unpopular bands. The ''instant'' one band he's been promoting is talked about on the radio in the store, he begins to trash them.

=== In General ===

=== Specific ===

* The original ''[[Batman (film)|Batman]]'' (1989) managed to avoid this, if only because [[Tim Burton]]'s movie was so massively hyped and generated so much controversy that it was bound to attract the interest of just about everyone, whether they liked it or not. As near as one can tell, ''Batman'' energized three very large, vocal and/or influential sectors of the viewing public: young adults, who delighted in Burton's "hipster" aesthetic and edgy humor; film critics (most of them older people) who were offended or even outraged by that same edginess and only watched the movie because it was so huge they just couldn't ignore it; and hardcore Batman fans, who were just so thrilled to finally get to see a true cinematic treatment of their hero that they didn't really care (or at least didn't care too much) that Burton's take was so radically different. (Incidentally, ''Batman'' ended up attracting a surprise fourth demographic: children, many of whom thought the movie was a lot of fun [[What Do You Mean It's Not for Kids?|even though it was intended primarily for adults]].) Generally, It's Popular Now It Sucks only applies to works that enjoy a ''moderately'' high level of popularity. If a work becomes ''insanely'' popular, as ''Batman'' did in '89, it turns into a phenomenon so awesome that no amount of backlash can truly hurt it.

* After ''[[The Dark Knight Saga]]'', [[Christopher Nolan]]'s next film ''[[Inception]]'' received a similar treatment. After the initial wave of glowing praise, the film garnered its fair share of detractors. The main reasons given by viewers who dislike the film are one or more of the following: it's too complex, it's not as complex as everyone makes it out to be, it plays with an idea but doesn't develop it, there are (or seem to be) contradictions within the film regarding the "rules" of dreaming and that it attempts to pander to an action film fanbase with its spectacle, slighting fans of serious cyber punk science fiction and psychological thriller films.

* ''[[The Matrix]]'' [[Limited Special Collectors' Ultimate Edition|collector's edition]] contains a meta-example. The [[Alternate DVD Commentary|alternate commentaries]] in it are explained as existing because every other DVD commentary is always [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|the cast and crew commenting on the development of the film]], and a film like theirs deserves commentaries by college philosophers and movie critics instead.

* ''[[Star Trek (film)|Star Trek]]'': [https://web.archive.org/web/20100314111611/http://www.theonion.com/content/video/trekkies_bash_new_star_trek_film This Onion News Network video] pretty accurately reflects the [[They Changed It, Now It Sucks|attitude]] of a certain type of [[Star Trek]] fan towards [[Star Trek (film)|the 2009 movie]]. They must be extremely good at holding grudges for decades on end, since [[Star Trek]] has been a cultural icon for decades. Luckily despite the stereotype, surprisingly otherwise averted by the Trek fanbase, as discussions and polls on the TrekBBS consistently show that about 80 to 90% of the fans like or love the new movie.

* Certain parts of the ''[[Transformers]]'' fandom, over the year or so before the release of [[Transformers (film)|the 2007 live-action movie]], preemptively expressed the sentiment that "It's going to be popular! That sucks!" Everyone else was rather confused. It becomes very silly when people accuse ''Transformers'', a franchise that was created specifically [[Merchandise-Driven|to sell toys]], of selling out. <br /><br />Of course, this being ''[[Transformers]]'' fandom, a [[Broken Base]] if ever there was one, there's also a very vocal segment that runs counter to this trope, and cheered every time it topped charts. Transformers is somewhat a subversion as more fans were happy with the movies success as it made the franchise relevant again in the eyes of the public. More relevance means more plastic (and even better, more ''die-cast metal''), which has always made 'True Fans' happy even if they despised the related series.

* Often inverted for Gluten-Free diets. Outside of places like California or Boulder, CO, if you had a gluten allergy in the 90s...good luck finding gluten-free stuff outside of expensive specialty stores or health food stores! Now that Gluten-free diet has become a fad diet (or that people are actually more aware of Gluten-free diets), those with Gluten allergies can actually go ''out to eat'' more often and actually ''not'' have to shop at expensive health food stores. (Course, those are ''still'' pretty much the best places to go if you have a gluten allergy, but still.)<br /><br />However other fad diets this has pretty much played through, some of them aren't actually ''meant'' to be taken seriously and are often misunderstood. (i.e. Atkins isn't just about eating nothing but meat forever and ever, and the Grapefruit Diet isn't eating ''just'' grapefruit..it's eating grapefruit ''before'' each meal)

* This happened to ''[[Harry Potter (novel)|Harry Potter]]'' with the massive turnout for ''[[Harry Potter (Franchise)/Harry Potter and Thethe Order of Thethe Phoenix (novel)|Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix]]'' -- many—many "fans" assumed [[J. K. Rowling|JK Rowling]] could get away with writing absolute crap from then on. However, they didn't so much drop the fandom as [[Unpleasable Fanbase|stick around to complain about everything]], thus proving their worth as True Fans.

** Happened to a lesser extent with the influx of new fans [[Harry Potter (film)|the filmfilms]] brought, but the fact that most of them read the books anyway reassured the original fanbase somewhat.

* The success ''Chaser's War On Everything'' practically relies on the cast remaining anonymous. Of course, as the show increased in popularity they have needed to do more of their farcical stunts overseas, where they are not so well known. As a result of this, many of their older fans are getting bored of them and jumping ship, so to speak. Of course This hasn't stopped a good chunk of them [[Unpleasable Fanbase|complaining]] that the show is ending after its [[British Brevity|3rd Season]].

* The first season of ''[[ICarlyiCarly]]'' was relatively low key, especially in the online fandom. It exploded in popularity in Season 2, and along with an increased emphasis on the [[Shipping]], lead many to quit watching.

* Kids TV shows tend to get this the most. Most likely a major cause of [[Hatedom]] and [[Periphery Hatedom]] towards shows such as ''[[Barney and Friends]]'' and ''[[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers]]''.

* There seems to be a substantial backlash of this sort to anything by the legendary comic ''[[Monty Python]]'', (especially, however, ''[[Monty Python and Thethe Holy Grail]]''). Some people might just be [[Seinfeld Is Unfunny|sick of the inevitable quotations]], since so many people know the quotes and love them. Others have different objections.

* In the ''[[Community]]'' episode "[[Community/Recap/S2 /E09 Conspiracy Theories and Interior Design|Conspiracy Theories and Interior Design]]" an in-universe example occurs when their blanket fort makes the newspapers and inspires similar blanket forts in campuses across the country, Troy and Abed decide it must be destroyed.

** [https://web.archive.org/web/20131026123131/http://store.dieselsweeties.com/products/elitism This T-shirt] pretty much sums up this trope. As does [http://www.google.com/imgres?q=music+snobs&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&biw=1920&bih=829&tbm=isch&tbnid=DYOs2lFnrhdfKM:&imgrefurl=http://stackofdimes.com/%3Fp%3D1116&docid=aVtXaiSlPcgmXM&imgurl=http://stackofdimes.com/media/bands1.jpg&w=500&h=358&ei=904OT4etDZSNsAKRxrzfAw&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=156&sig=113431404822408667155&page=1&tbnh=135&tbnw=188&start=0&ndsp=37&ved=1t:429,r:3,s:0&tx=58&ty=54 this one].

* This also happens when a good song is well-liked by several people and is then subsequently given high prominence on a radio station's playlist--listenerplaylist—listener-selected or otherwise. In fairness, even the best song can become yawn-some when it's played on the radio all the live-long day, but this does not make it any more ridiculous to hear music elitists bashing it just because it's on the radio.

** Look up any [[YouTube]] video of any song that appeared in ''[[Call of Duty]]: Black Ops'', such as "Fortunate Son" by [[Creedence Clearwater Revival]] or "Sympathy For the Devil" by [[The Rolling Stones]]. Take note of all the comments bashing people who have heard of the two songs through the game. For bonus stupidity points, ask yourself why they aren't going the same with, say, ''[[Forrest Gump]]'' for the former. (Then again, ''COD'' itself is a victim of this trope; see below.)

=== Specific ===

* [[ABBA]] This complaint arises in their fan community every time there is a major surge in interest, the latest being the success of ''[[Mamma Mia!]]''. Interestingly, each wave of popularity leads to a status increase for past newcomers, to the point where "Goldies" (newcomers after the release of the "ABBA Gold" album), who were ridiculed on their arrival, are now praised as "true fans" by the older fans who criticized them. Many of these older fans ignore the fact that they first liked the band in the 1970's, at the all-time peak of their success and popularity.

* Against Me! not only got this, but their fans got outright hostile about it. Fans claimed the band sold out when they moved from the tiny No Idea label to Fat Wreck Chords in 2003, to the point where fans slashed the tires of the bands tour van and vandalized it and reportedly poured bleached over their merch table. The bizarre thing is that Fat Wreck Chords was well known for being anti-establishment indie label. Ironically, there was a lot less outcry when the band left FWC for an actual major label, Sire Records in 2007.

* [[Anthrax]] was accused of selling out when they chose John Bush as their new lead singer and with their more mainstream-sounding album, ''Sounds of White Noise''. The band's rhythm guitarist, Scott Ian, commented on this in an interview saying, "The bottom line is, everyone in this business is in it to make money. Myself included."

*** And as [http://www.cracked.com/article_19061_5-artistic-geniuses-who-only-became-great-after-selling-out.html this article] from [[Cracked.com|Cracked]] explains, even before that success, the band's image and musical style were a complete 180 from what they would later become famous for.

** Similarly, some of those who take this attitude don't even provide or consider the "'60s" qualifier and just compare them to whatever current pop act they don't like or which happens to be at the top of the charts, without any consideration for how 1960s popular music and contemporary popular music might be totally different. This one tends to work both ways, however, with subscribers to this trope who happen to like the Beatles often driven to paroxysms of fury that anyone might ''dare'' consider or compare the Beatles to a 'mere' pop group -- despitegroup—despite the fact that, at least early in their career, this is arguably a fair comparison in many ways.

* [[Blue Öyster Cult|Blue Oyster Cult]]. The popularity of their song "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" as a result of it forming the centrepiece of the popular ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' skit "More Cowbell" has seen something of an injection of new fans based on this song -- muchsong—much to the irritation of the existing fans, who feel that the band's other songs are being overlooked in the process.

* [[David Bowie]] usually falls victim to [[They Changed It, Now It Sucks]] accusations due to his penchant for the [[New Sound Album]] trope, but the deliberately mainstream pop-rock of ''Let's Dance'' (1983) -- which resulted in the biggest-selling album of his career -- ledcareer—led to criticism along these lines as well. It got worse when his next two albums (''Tonight'' and ''Never Let Me Down'') followed in that vein to diminishing returns. In the end Bowie himself felt dissatisfied with his output and moved on, first to the unsuccessful [[Hard Rock]] group Tin Machine and then to solo work that was driven more by art than commerce.

* Lene Marlin. The Norwegian singer had a huge success in Italy and Japan (of all places!) with her first album, ''Playing my game''. Released with little fanfare, the album was not technically exquisite, but most fans loved it anyway and thought of it as simple yet made with passion -- musicpassion—music for the sake of itself, rather than in the pursuit of the holy dollar. As a result it was a surprise hit, and good times were had by all. Then year 2003 came along, and with it the highly anticipated release of the second album, ''Another day''. Cue many of the fans (the most outspoken ones, usually) lamenting sore disappointment that Lene had sold out, that while the quality of the music had improved that of the lyrics had plummeted, that the album had been written to cash in on the success of her name, [[Blah Blah Blah]]. The third album, ''Lost in a moment'', was unsurprisingly met with even more bashing.

* [[Metallica]], oh, good lord, Metallica. The most evident example is their 1991 self titled album, aka "The Black Album", which was the most mainstream of their albums at that point and also marked a change in their style from thrash to a more general metal sound. It provided them a lot of success, at the time making them the biggest metal band in the world but also gave them an incredible amount of hate and sellout accusations from their original fan base.

** [https://web.archive.org/web/20140816164126/http://www.bustedtees.com/blamecanadafornickelback Blame] [[South Park|Canada]] for Nickelback, [[Canada, Eh?|eh]]?

** On the other hand, [[Limited Special Collectors' Ultimate Edition|bonus track]] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DL65tMM1_y0 "Muny"] has become the same for the other side of the debate, with said motto being "Bitches want my old shit, buy my old mixtape."

* [[Pearl Jam]] actually kind of inverted this to turn less commercial, everything after ''Vs''. were [[New Sound Album|New Sound Albums]]s.

{{quote| ''Well now I've got some/A-dvice for you, little buddy''<br />

''Before you point the finger/You should know that''<br />

''I'm the fuckin' man,/And if I'm the fuckin' man''<br />

''Then you're fuckin' the man as well/So you can point that''<br />

''Fucking finger up your [[Metal Scream|AAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS]]''<br />

''All you know about me is what I've sold you/Dumb fuck''<br />

''I sold out long before you ever heard my name''<br />

''I sold my soul to make a record/Dip shit''<br />

''And [[Punctuated! forFor! Emphasis!|YOU. BOUGHT. OOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE]]!'' }}

** And something happened to [[Kurt Angle]] between [[World Wrestling Entertainment|WWE]] and [[TNA]], as he came there minus the IWC fans who called him one of the best workers in the world, instead ridiculing [[Small Name, Big Ego|his delusional radio interviews and etc.]] and his past refusals to address supposed drug problems.

* [[CM Punk]] was a [[Smart Mark]] darling on the independent scene, with the fans hailing him as quite possibly the best wrestler in America (or at the very least, the best wrestler in [[Ring of Honor]], which is kind of synonymous these days). Then he signed with [[World Wrestling Entertainment|WWE]], and became the centerpiece of its ECW revival, and now all of a sudden you can't go into a wrestling forum without hearing about how Punk is overrated and a sloppy wrestler. Some of this might be spillover anger from the ECW revival being mishandled; but Punk was one of the few bright spots of the show, and yet he seems to get the most criticism. Now that he's moved away from ECW onto Raw and then Smackdown and become world champ, the criticisms have only gotten worse.

** Partially due to [[Hype Backlash]] -- a—a lot of [[Smart Mark|SmartMarks]] kept hearing how great Punk was from ROHbots when he was working long main event matches, against top level opponents, with free reign over his character and promos. Five minute extended squashes over Justin Credible didn't quite match up...

** At the start of 2010 Evan Bourne was a jobber getting squashed by [[Sheamus]] most weeks. Many fans were complaining about how unfair this was to him. In the middle of the year he got a bit of a push by main eventing Raw and working great matches with [[Chris Jericho]]. Suddenly cue large amounts of threads bashing him for not looking old enough or some even complaining about how weak his kicks were. Oh boy.

** This happened with John Cena. Hell back in 2003 when he faced [[Brock Lesnar]] for the belt at Backlash, the majority of fans '''wanted''' him to win the title. Nowadays any IWC fan wanting Cena to win a title is almost unheard of. The main reason he's hated is because he's got a large kid fanbase.

* A bit of a borderline example. When former [[Ring of Honor]] champion Tyler Black decided to sign a [[World Wrestling Entertainment|WWE]] developmental contract in late 2010, the ROH fans immediately turned on him and called him a "sellout". Black admitted in a later interview that this bothered him, and he used those feelings as part of the [[Face Heel Turn|heel character he became due to the news]]. (In perhaps a bit of irony, Black supposedly also had the chance to re-negotiate his ROH contract, or also sign with [[TNA]]. Who convinced him to sign with [[World Wrestling Entertainment|WWE]]? The aforementioned Evan Bourne).

* Speaking of Apple, Apple Inc itself has become this. While still an underdog in the [[Computer Wars]], the company has recently diversified beyond home computing, its dominance of the portable music player market and the downloadable music market (with the iPod and iTunes respectively), along with the success of iPhone, has made the company highly profitable even though it doesn't retain the share of the PC market it enjoyed in its computer-heyday. Recently it overtook long-time competitor Microsoft's share value. However, Apple's increased presence in these new markets and among ordinary people becoming Apple users (not to mention Steve Jobs' sporadic rants about competing products or Apple's heavy-handed tendency to enforce litigation against anyone who leaked details of unreleased or rumored products) have invoked this trope, where long-time fanboys are upset that the company is no longer part of the counter-culture they aspire to. The shift from its previous "Think different" campaign to the present somewhat-elitist [[Take That]] and [[Strawman Product]] advertising as well, not to mention that Apple seems to get away with [[Double Standard|anything bad they do]] unlike Microsoft, and its [[Fan Dumb|often snobbish user base]] also contributes towards this.<br /><br />Some say that this may mark the end of "''Microsoft's empire''" and are calling Apple "''the new Microsoft''", but there's little sign that Microsoft is becoming "''Unpopular, now it Rocks''" considering that Microsoft is still dominating in the [[Computer Wars]].

* Ubuntu has made Linux more user-friendly and easier for newbies. Many GNU/Linux ''users'' complain about how mainstream this operating system has become, hence moving to other obscure operating systems such as Plan 9, BSD, and Haiku. A few long-time users are annoyed that the newbies seem more interested in getting actual work done than hacking the kernel.<br /><br />Heck, Linux itself is becoming this trope for some so-called ''experts'' which only tell people to ''Google it, n00b''. (One wonders if those are paid by Google or just want a job there)

** Similar to the Red Sox example, the 2009-2010 Chicago Blackhawks experienced this trope. Having ''finally'' been allowed to show Hawks games on the air,<ref>the owner at the time felt it was wrong to air them on TV because it alienated fans who bought tickets.</ref>, combined with the Hawk's potential to reach the Stanley Cup, the otherwise [[Runt|least-popular Chicago team]] became The Big Thing for a while. This ''really'' ticked off the die-hard fans who had stuck with the team through the [[Dork Age]]. It didn't help that the 'new fans' were significantly different from the die-hard fans demographically: they were younger, more ethnically diverse, and enjoyed a wide variety of sports. Many of these new fans even enjoyed the successful minor league Wolves up in Rosemont before jumping on the bandwagon, who took advantage of the doldrums of the Blackhawks to build their fanbase up out of fans who wouldn't support the Hawks.

** The Saskatchewan Roughriders of the CFL got this treatment. In a league of 6 to 8 teams (depending on the years discussed), the Roughriders have won 3 championships in 100 years (which is about 1/5th of how many they should have won, for those wanting to keep track). After each win, new fans were instantly shouted at for being not a true fan. It gets worse when, at any other time, the rest of the league will laugh at you for cheering for the lovable loser.

* The game of baseball -- notbaseball—not so much any rise in popularity in itself, but the reason why it does. When home run and scoring numbers skyrocket, more people flock to the ballpark -- muchballpark—much to the chagrin of purists, who insist that "pitcher's duels" are the best type of games.

* Every edition of ''[[Dungeons and& Dragons]]'' ever, save the first.

** Shooter games got this with the massive popularity of games like ''[[Halo (series)|Halo]]'' and ''[[Call of Duty]]'', and now some gamers are screaming for the death of the genre just because they got popular with the masses.

** It is expected for MOBA to go this route as [[Heroes of Newerth|more]] [[League of Legends|games]] get produced and become popular.

* Gamers who play mostly on consoles, handhelds, and PCs will refuse to accept that mobile OS platforms (iOS, Android, and Windows Phone 7) are gaming platforms. Mostly because it has the same effect as the Wii. Also, because mobile OS games tend to focus on quick bursts of rounds or whatnot, they're not real games as well. This is conveniently forgetting the fact that much of the early handheld system library was this in general. You know that best selling game for the Game Boy? Tetris? A round could be done within 10-1510–15 minutes. And this was the most ''amazing'' 10-1510–15 minutes for some people.

** Not to mention, even handheld juggernauts like ''[[Pokémon]]'' were made to be handheld games. (Eg, being able to save everywhere, stuff not taking long) People just refuse to accept this.

=== Specific ===

** For that matter, try saying you like ''[[Call of Duty]]'' in ''general''. The first few games enjoyed [[Sacred Cow]] status; even ''[[Call of Duty: Modern Warfare|Modern Warfare]]'' did because it was different (and because a certain [[Zero Punctuation|internet critic]] praised it). Then it started to become popular. Nowadays if you say anything positive about ''[[Call of Duty]]'', you'll be lucky if you aren't murdered in your sleep.

* ''[[League of Legends]]'' provides an example within a game: there are people in the community that intentionally play unpopular characters, and find to their dismay that their team members leave the queue or flame them all game long because they picked a "bad" champion. But when the character is eventually "discovered" by the mainstream and rises on the tier list, they proceed to complain bitterly about tier lists and flavours of the month, abandon the champion and find a new unpopular character to play. It is apparently considered a badge of honour to claim you liked [[Our Gargoyles Rock|Galio]] or [[Mind Over Matter|Irelia]] before they were popular. This is also expected to happen to [[Obvious Beta|Yorick]].

{{quote| '''Shepard:''' If you've heard of it, it's already too mainstream for me.}}

* ''[[Mother 3]]'', now that the translation has finally been released and is receiving attention, there seem to be a lot of people who want to make clear to everyone that they always thought that the entire ''[[MOTHER]]'' series was overrated tripe.

** ''[[Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne|Nocturne]]'' is beginning to suffer from this, since it's the [[Sequel First|first main]] ''[[Shin Megami Tensei]]'' [[Sequel First|game to be released outside of Japan]] and hence more people have played this one than the original two. There is also a mix of [[Hype Backlash]], as many ''Shin Megami Tensei'' fans have proclaimed this one of the best games ever while deriding the popularity of other games. The trolling can be a headache.

* The ''[[System Shock]]'' series was beloved but never commercially successful. In 2007, ''[[BioshockBioShock (series)]]'', a [[Spiritual Successor]], was released, and actually managed to become successful, becoming a commercial success even while competing with giants like [[Halo 3]]. ''[[BioshockBioShock (series)]]'' was very much like ''[[System Shock]] 2'' , unfortunately, a very similar plot <ref>although with the differences that [[SS 2]]SS2 is about the horror of being alone, while ''BioShock'' is about the horror of having zombies climbing all over the place. There are also some good points about Objectivism being made, but these tend to be glossed over.</ref> and a relatively clunky interface for the PC version as well (as well as the [[Copy Protection|DRM and technical issues]]) as well as a respawn mechanic that, unlike System Shocks, had no cost for use, removing any sense of difficulty. Guess what the ''[[System Shock]]'' 2 fans focused on.

* ''[[The Elder Scrolls]]''. ''Arena'' wasn't that well-known. Daggerfall a little moreso, but still panned due to its [[Obvious Beta]] status...but accepted as [[True Art]] and granted "[[Sacred Cow|Immunity to Criticism]]". Then came ''[[The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind|Morrowind]]'', which was received very well critically ''and'' commercially, ''still'' being sold in its "game of the year" package ''eight years after its release''. Until about 2006, [[Ruined FOREVER|you were NOT allowed to like it]]. [[Fan Hater|At ALL]]. It was derided as pure derivative homogenous garbage, the symbol of everything bad with the gaming industry. What happened when ''[[The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion|Oblivion]]'' came out years later, and likewise given "Game of the Year" awards all around? Mysteriously, the people who had nothing but hatred for ''Morrowind'' were nowhere to be found, having declared it a [[Sacred Cow]] and given it immunity to criticism.

** After the release of ''[[The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim|Skyrim]]'', several "Game of the Year" awards for it, and the spawn of several [[Memetic Mutation|memes]] from it, several older fans of ''[[The Elder Scrolls]]'' derided like they did with ''Morrowind'' and ''Oblivion.''

* ''[[Angry Birds]]''. Mention it in a crowd of hardcore gamers, or mention that it's one of the best-selling games of all time and they'll go on some kind of rant about how it's a sign the gaming industry is in trouble, mentioning "Casual" games.

* ''[[Diablo]]''. So much that its [[Spiritual Successor]] ''[[Torchlight]]'', which isn't as popular, bears [[Immunity to Criticism]]...just because ''it's not Diablo''.

{{quote| '''Sarge:''' Now they've gotten so popular, we get to see them in huge arenas all over the country, and their songs are on the radio all the time. It's great! I'm really happy for them, and for all their success.}}

{{quote| '''Yahtzee:''' ...and one should always support the independents... at least until they start making money, the soulless, sellout ''fucks''.}}

* Indie Pete of ''[[Diesel Sweeties]]'' is the extreme version of this trope -- indeedtrope—indeed, he goes so far as to that he only liked bands "before they released any music". Playing on this theme, Richard Stevens also released a t-shirt design using a Venn diagram. On the left: "Music I Like". On the right: "Music You Like". In the overlap: "Music I Used To Like."

* ''Brax the Alien Rocker'', [https://web.archive.org/web/20140621004036/http://braxcomics.com/3-meet-manny here]:

{{quote| '''Manny:''' I like ''true'' indie music.<br />

'''Brax:''' So, do you like [[Starflyer 59]]?<br />

'''Manny:''' I did up until now.<br />

'''Brax:''' What?! Someone's heard of them, so you don't like them now?<br />

* Calamities of Nature points out the irony of people [https://web.archive.org/web/20130523073827/http://www.calamitiesofnature.com/archive/?c=344 not wanting their favorite artists to become successful] for fear this will mean they have sold out.

** The author also seems to be feeling this way with reader questions...[[Teasing Creator|though it's hard to tell if he's joking or not]].

* You'll probably ''never'' hear anyone glad that their Roleplay chatroom hosts dozens of consistent members. This may be a [[Justified Trope]] -- but—but rarely; just because people might be upset by not being given an opportunity to join in a storyline without being told or players playing a private story out and not giving others who can contribute a chance to join in, as well as trying to get a story ''everyone'' is involved in going only for one person to suddenly go offline or afk and being forced to either wait for them or continuing without them.

* In the [[Vocaloid]] fandom, wowaka and his songs have been experiencing this for a while, especially after one of his songs, World's End Dancehall, debuted at the top of the Vocaloid weekly rankings with an astronomical]] ''1.5 million'' points and stayed on top for two weeks straight (a rarity on the rankings).

* The general consensus on 4chan is that you can tell a [[Memetic Mutation|meme]] has run its course when it's mentioned by a news source. Most memes which the general public knows about ([[Chuck Norris]] facts, [[LOLcats]], [[Over Nine Thousand|OVER 9000]], [[Rickroll|Rickrolling]]ing, [[All Your Base Are Belong to Us]]) inspire little but groan from the average poster. However, this is somewhat justified, since 1. Memes are basically jokes, and these people have seen the joke everywhere by this point, and 2. Memes are usually fads, and other media usually only find out about them long after the fad has run its course.

* In ''[[Sym-Bionic Titan]]'' In-universe. Lance joins a band, then gets kicked off after his appearances draws a huge crowd.

{{quote| Recursive trope!}}

* Every widely known social networking site ([[Facebook]], [[My SpaceMyspace]], [[Twitter]], etc.) '''''ever'''''. Specifically, for Facebook, the introduction of high school and regional networks was what [[Ruined FOREVER|ruined it FOREVER!]]

* A rare [[Justified Trope]] example: Beautiful secluded beaches. When only you and maybe a few friends know about the location of a secluded beach, its a wonderful thing but if the wrong people find out about it, before long the word spreads around and lots of people start visiting it which means that the formerly beautiful secluded beach turns into just another busy tourist trap.<br /><br />This is more to the fact that most beautiful, secluded beaches are fantastic surfing spots, mostly because you can get out onto some fantastic waves without having to worry about grommets and boogie boarders getting undearboard. Here in Australia, if you find yourself in a nice secluded spot with a decent swell, the unwritten rule is that you keep it between yourselves and the locals.<br /><br />At least along the Florida panhandle, there are quite a few spots owned by the state as "preserves" of sorts where nothing can be built except for the occasional public crapper. They're nearly always deserted, as the more obnoxious tourists tend to gravitate towards spots covered in souvenir shops and overpriced restaurants.

* This attitude ''pervades'' the ''[[Fur Affinity]]'' forums, as well as the site itself. Mention any popular trend in the ''[[Furry Fandom]]'' and you'll have at ''least'' three responses on why it sucks or is a stupid trend. Mention any popular TV show or anime, and for every response praising the show, you'll see at least three trashing it. Mention artstyles, and, if it's popular, will immediately be decried by the fanbase. The ''Video Games'' forum is also pretty much ''exactly'' this trope through and through. Mention ''any'' game that is popular, and the responses will consist of trashing it, saying they don't get why it's fun, saying it's overrated, and naming an obscure/retro/independent video game that is "vastly superior" in just about every way, complete with [[Fan Hater|Fan Haters]]s keeping all the fans of ''[[The Elder Scrolls]]'' and any game from Japan away from the forums.<br /><br />Furries in general tend to react this way to certain fursonas, due to the assumption that people choose them out of a misguided desire to be cool rather than because they really identify with them. This happens most often with wolves, foxes, and ''especially'' dragons.

* Some people have claimed that this has happened to ''[[Bionicle]]'', despite the fact that the line is only marginally more successful than when it started. This stems from the belief that the repetitive design of their recent sets is because they're pandering to their, newer, younger audience, even though these claims come from people in their late teens, early twenties while the series is labeled as ages 7-167–16. You will constantly see topics like "Is Bionicle Selling Out?" on the forums for popular fansite [[BZ Power]].com, which are constantly getting squished out by the, thankfully, more intelligent majority.

{{quote| '''A comment on the name Seth:''' Cool name. It's masculine, brave, and caring, everything you could want in a boy's name. Too bad it's getting popular.<br />

'''A comment on the name Elias:''' ...I only hope that, with the growing popularity of Biblical names, this doesn't become popular. I hate trendy names.<br />

{{quote| '''Comment on the name Shaniqua:''' Even by ghetto name standards, this is a really butt-ugly name. Come on, it's got that hideous ''kwa'' ending to it and everything. Names with the ''kwa'' or ''kwi'' sound are extremely ugly, unless we're talking about highly un-ghetto-esque names like Quinn. This name sounds hopelessly trashy, and it makes people picture an annoying, somewhat dimwitted girl or woman from the ghetto who either is or will likely end up pregnant by age 16 and who acts like a person from hell towards everyone higher on the social ladder. This name isn't exactly a mature, dignified, sophisticated name, and it will lead to merciless discrimination and jokes.}}

* Using the Phillips CD-I games as a source for [[YoutubeYouTube Poop]] has been frowned upon by the members of the [[You Chew]] community for years now, although some people are still able to make some funny videos using them.

* One of Fametracker's main features was "The Fame Audit", a rather justified/averted form of this trope, where, [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|as the title suggests]], the evaluated the relative merits and demerits of various pop-culture figures, both famous and somewhat under-the-radar, and would determine whether they were getting the appropriate amount of fame, and whether or not for the right reasons. Notable nods included a then-under-the-radar Jon Stewart from when he was only a year into hosting ''[[The Daily Show]]'', where they determined that he deserved even more fame. Cut to the Re-Audit four years later when he was already quite famous, and they not only still loved him, but wanted his fame to continue to grow. ([FT] may be gone, but the former editors are still clearly pleased with his current fame.) In spite of the clear cases where they feel are low-talent (Sharon Stone and [[John Travolta (Creator)]]) or on the wane ([[Michael Jackson]] circa the 2002 audit) among other things, they are rather objective in their assessments, sometimes choosing to either leave well enough alone or suggest a bump up in fame for people they might otherwise be ambivalent about who are nonetheless unpretentious and enjoyable enough to deserve some sort of extended presence. Beyond that, they have recommended that stars they have liked stay at their exact same spot of fame lest they become too overexposed or pushed into overly high-profile projects (see: [[Will Ferrell]] and Steven Soderbergh via their audits), or consequently a bump down for said cases either already beyond that point ([[Stephen Colbert]]'s audit) or simply in need of going away in order to refocus (Lisa Kudrow and [[Edward Norton]]).

** Or maybe it's just that privileged people oftentimes don't get the problems of marginalized groups right when making media.

* When the Netherlands decriminalized marijuana, its use among teenagers dropped from 11% to 8%. Guess we know who was [[Forbidden Fruit|just trying to be a rebel]].

{{quote| ''This page was awesome...until everyone started adding examples. Now this page sucks.''}}

[[Category:It'sDepressing Popular, Now It SucksTropes]]

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