5 copy trends: The cringe, the funny and the awesome

Copying other people’s mistakes can lead to ground-breaking innovations and even aid the human ability to adapt, research shows. Even animals and birds acquire some of their vital life skills and knowledge through low-cost copying. That’s because the individuals we tend to copy are typically top performers in their field, so we automatically skip the time-consuming trial and error stage.

Copying is such a huge part of today’s society that we had to draw a list of the top 5 hottest copy trends that shaped 2018 and we expect to see in 2019.

1: Second-hand speeches from the first lady

Remember the unveiling of Melania Trump’s ‘Be Best’ plan back in May 2018? If you thought the ‘Be Best’ slogan sounded familiar, it’s probably because you were thinking of Michelle Obama’s ‘Be Better’ response to Oprah Winfrey’s question at a White House Summit back in 2016. And that’s not the only issue eagle-eyed critics noticed in the grand plan – the companion pamphlet appeared to be copied almost in its entirety from the one the Federal Trade Commission released in 2014, when Obama was running the show. What’s worse, this wasn’t the first time the first lady came under fire for alleged plagiarism. At the Republican National Convention in 2016, FLOTUS borrowed a sizeable portion of her speech from one delivered by Michelle Obama in 2008 too.

2. Food-inspired baby names

Choosing a name for a new baby is tough, so it’s not surprising that in 2018 parents have turned to favourite foods as the main source of namespiration. Topping this year’s most popular name options for girls are Saffron, Clementine, Honey, Brie, Cherry and Ginger – closely followed by gems like Plum, Coco and Peaches. When it comes to boy names, new parents seem to be out of the orchards and roaming the veggie patches, as Basil, Kale, Angus, Chip, Caesar and Herb have come out on top.

3. Royal ladies top the list of fashion influencers

Fashion analysts are telling us to forget the Kardashians and the Hadids and to start copying the Windsor ladies. A new research reports shows that over the past decade, quite a few royal influencers have left their mark on the fashion industry, including Queen Elizabeth II, Diana Princess of Wales, and the newest royal, Ms Meghan Markle. The royals have propelled such trends as riding boots, double-breasted tartan coats and “power shoulders”. Copy like a fashion designer, feel like a royal.

4. New technologies copy the science of Mother Nature

The science of copying the inventions of Mother Nature is called bionics. In many cases, the big technological breakthroughs we’re hoping for already exist in nature – we just need to find a way how to replicate them. Scientists are hard at work studying some of the nature’s most amazing inventions and funneling that knowledge into product development. We have recently seen ideas for bulletproof vests made of spider web, a super-adhesive tape that mimics a gecko’s foot and swimsuits modelled on the skin of sharks. If nature is nailing it, why bother reinventing it?

5: Copy trading is a thing

Smart money management is one of the hottest skills right now. For those who want to get into investing but simply do not have the time to study the markets, eToro provides an option to copy the top-performing investors. You can go as far as automatically replicating the same trades as the people you follow, ensuring your money is hard at work while you are doing absolutely nothing.

Simply choose the traders you want to copy, decide on the amount you wish to invest, and copy everything they do, and in real-time, with one click of a button.

COPY ETORO’S TOP TRADERS NOW
Your capital is at risk.

eToro is a multi-asset platform which offers both investing in stocks and cryptocurrencies, as well as trading CFD assets.
Please note that CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 65% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.