“What Silly Bandz do you have?”

This has become a common question as many young people wear the rubber band bracelets that come in different shapes and colors.

And since mid-September, some familiar shapes have appeared on the wrists of many WKU students.

Packs of WKU-themed silly bandz hit the shelves of the WKU Store last month and are selling very well, according to Lacey Jackson, who handles marketing for the store.

“I don’t see them slowing down any time soon,” Jackson said.

The WKU bands are manufactured through a company called FanZBandZ, and come in a pack of 15 for $5.99, Jackson said. The bands come in five shapes: Big Red, the letters W-K-U, a red towel, a basketball player, and a football player. Each of the five shapes comes in red, white and black.

The bands are a way for people to express themselves, Louisville freshman LaVella Hall said.

“You can get things that represent yourself,” she said.

Bowling Green freshman Dustin Gentile said the bands are a conversation starter.

“And you can trade and get new ones,” he said.

Reagan Dwayne Brown, an associate psychology professor, said there’s no real logic behind trends.

Brown said that when a celebrity starts a trend, sometimes a lot of people follow that trend mindlessly, such as the fashion trends Madonna started in the 1980s.

Louisville junior Jennifer Lenhart said she thinks the bands might be so popular because of the social stigma.

“Perhaps people follow trends like this because they see people wearing something and want to feel included,” she said.

Silly Bandz were originally produced by BCP Imports. They’re made of 100 percent medical-grade silicones and are molded into many different shapes, according to the company’s website.

Since then, BCP Imports has produced Silly Bandz in shapes of popular icons such as Hello Kitty, Dora the Explorer and even Justin Bieber, according to the company’s website.

Jackson said the WKU bands have been popular, and she estimates that about half the inventory of the bands have been sold since they first went on sale.

She said she thinks the WKU bands have done well because of the overall popularity of the bands and because WKU timed the sales to begin the same week as the first home football game.

Jackson said the WKU Store strives to update its merchandise according to trends and customer demands.

“The bands are a lot of fun,” she said.

Since so many bands come in a pack, Jackson said she thinks it’s a good way for students to split them with friends and save money.