--- description: His invention made him a millionaire after going on sale in 1975 title: Creator of the Pet Rock, Gary Dahl, Dies at Age 78 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc0df21a44ea56047/698786272dce0139f59de502/pet-rock.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [obituary](/tag/obituary/) ## obituary Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Creator of the Pet Rock, Gary Dahl, Dies at Age 78  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 1, 2015 12:50 PM CUT  Product shot of Pet Rock, fad from mid-1970s, displayed w. its own carrying case. Product shot of Pet Rock, fad from mid-1970s, displayed w. its own carrying case.Al Freni—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 1, 2015 12:50 PM CUT Gary Dahl, the creator of the Pet Rock—”one of the most ridiculously successful marketing schemes ever,” _Newsweek_ once said—[died at age 78 on March 23](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/01/us/gary-dahl-inventor-of-the-pet-rock-dies-at-78.html?%5Fr=0 "undefined"). Dahl first came up with the concept as joke while working as a freelance copywriter, but the idea of a minimal-effort “pet” and its clever packaging resonated with the times—and quickly made him a millionaire after the rocks went on sale for $3.95 apiece in 1975, the _New York Times_ reports. “People are so damn bored, tired of all their problems,” Dahl told _People_ that year. “This takes them on a fantasy trip—you might say we’ve packaged a sense of humor.” Dahl eventually came to regret the invention, however, and returned to advertising later in life: despite a trademarked name, knock-off businesses flourished; two of his original investors sued him in the late 1970s, and he paid a six-figure judgment; his subsequent inventions, like the Original Sand Breeding kit, failed to take off in the way Pet Rocks had; and aspiring inventors steadily flocked to him seeking advice. “Sometimes I look back and wonder if my life wouldn’t have been simpler if I hadn’t done it,” he told the AP in 1988. \[[_NYT_](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/01/us/gary-dahl-inventor-of-the-pet-rock-dies-at-78.html?%5Fr=0 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3766827/pet-rocks-creator-gary-dahl-dies/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3766827/pet-rocks-creator-gary-dahl-dies/"},"headline":"Creator of the Pet Rock, Gary Dahl, Dies at Age 78","datePublished":"2015-04-01T12:50:47.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T05:36:31.435Z","description":"Gary Dahl's invention of the pet rock made him a millionaire after it went on sale in 1975.","url":"https://time.com/3766827/pet-rocks-creator-gary-dahl-dies/","keywords":["obituary"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc0df21a44ea56047/698786272dce0139f59de502/pet-rock.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nolan Feeney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc0df21a44ea56047/698786272dce0139f59de502/pet-rock.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Product shot of Pet Rock, fad from mid-1","caption":"Product shot of Pet Rock, fad from mid-1","creditText":"Al Freni—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/obituary/","name":"obituary"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3766827/pet-rocks-creator-gary-dahl-dies/","name":"Creator of the Pet Rock, Gary Dahl, Dies at Age 78"}}]}] ```