Apparently fun is not so easy to come by in the U.S. these days. According to the Trident Fun Index, a national study conducted to measure the state of fun in America, it appears that the economy and limited personal time are taking a toll on the amount of fun we're experiencing as a nation. In fact, 19 percent of respondents said they can't even remember the last time they had a good time. To make matters worse, fewer than 18 percent take the opportunity to do something just for fun each day.
"We found that people simply lack the time these days to have spontaneous fun," says Leslie Philipsen, senior brand manager, Trident, a Kraft Foods brand. "When we heard that, we knew we had to do something as a brand to help people see that little things in life can go a long way. Trident is that little something that can liberate fun at any given moment."
The Index also found that 55 percent strongly agree that their fun is limited by the amount of money they have, no surprise in a time when everyone is stretching each dollar as far as they can. But in these times people need to be more creative about sparking fun in their lives, like doing small things that don't cost a lot of money such as chewing a favorite flavor of Trident gum or listening to a good song (which nearly three in five survey respondents reported) or even something as simple as receiving a message from a friend (reported by 52 percent of respondents).
So who really does have the most fun? While about a 33 percent say that a friend is the most fun person they know, 16 percent actually think they are the most fun person in their social circles. Who has the least? Some 33 percent of Americans think that accountants are the most in need of more fun, more so than police officers (31 percent), followed by lawyers (27 percent) and even doctors (25 percent).
It's no surprise that a majority of Americans have a lot of civic pride, 65 percent of those surveyed say they live in a fun city or town. But, when it comes to hometown pride, there is no greater rivalry than Boston versus New York. Despite this longstanding battle, the Fun Index reveals that neither of them wins the title of most fun city in the country. Of those cities surveyed, that honor goes to Atlanta, followed by New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Dallas, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Boston, Houston and Philadelphia.
