Not just in the looks department, either. Sometimes, it's a matter of 'taste'.

Take, for example, soaps and shampoos.

'Back in the day', there were several common brands that were at least 'neutral' in terms of scent, but nowadays it's pretty tough to find one that doesn't smell like a basket of flowers (a.k.a., 'girly').

Evidently, that's what today's younger men and boys tend to prefer, but I sometimes wonder if they just aren't being given enough choices. Or perhaps the right ones, I'm not sure.

As for the SHOT Show, I looked at the pics at Gunblast but not the videos. There were a few 'old friends' still represented in several of them, and a lot of new guns, too, so the pictorial coverage seemed well-balanced to me. (The show itself might not be, I really couldn't tell.)

In the 'OMG' Category, I did notice Weatherby's Skull-Pattern stock. I even looked for a bigger picture of one to verify what I was seeing. I think it's pretty far over the top, but I'm an old fart; I can also see how some might think it's just funny. Perhaps even 'cool', I'm not sure.

I do think a very large measure of the explosion in popularity of the AR and similar weapons is a direct result of the 1994 'ban', the 2008 and 2012 elections, and all the other Zumboisms that have come to pass in the meantime.