Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Gary Dahl (entrepreneur)


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was no consensus. While there is no consensus whether this should be kept or merged, there isn't any consensus to delete the article/text. The rest can be handled editorially. Star  Mississippi  02:02, 30 January 2022 (UTC)

Gary Dahl (entrepreneur)

 * – ( View AfD View log | edits since nomination)

Proposing delete or merge with Pet Rock. He is the founder of Pet Rock, a company that sold rocks and had a short success for 6 months. He is only known for that. He hardly made $4 million and not in anyway a household name. Caphadouk (talk) 10:21, 15 January 2022 (UTC) Relisting comment: Originally soft deleleted, but undeleted and relisting by request. Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks, ✗  plicit  23:43, 22 January 2022 (UTC)
 * Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Businesspeople-related deletion discussions. Caphadouk (talk) 10:21, 15 January 2022 (UTC)
 * Note: This discussion has been included in the list of North Dakota-related deletion discussions. Shellwood (talk) 10:46, 15 January 2022 (UTC)
 * Note: This discussion has been included in the list of People-related deletion discussions.Caphadouk (talk) 10:11, 22 January 2022 (UTC)
 *  Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion and clearer consensus.


 * Delete Pet Rock already has some biographical information on Dahl and so I don't think this article is necessary. Although I did find it interesting that he won the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest but that fact is also listed on the contest page. I'm old enough to remember that Pet Rocks were a big deal covered in the media in the mid-1970s but all of the relevant information is covered in the article about them. Liz Read! Talk! 00:40, 23 January 2022 (UTC)
 * Weak Keep (Changed my vote - evidence of enough articles now, and he is noted for a few things, apart from pet rocks it would seem) Not enough RS, falls short of WP:GNG, unless more can be found. Merge with Pet rock (which indeed was a worldwide phenomenon at the time) Deathlibrarian (talk) 01:36, 23 January 2022 (UTC)
 * @Deathlibrarian, wondering if you have seen the sources presented below? Eddie891 Talk Work 02:42, 24 January 2022 (UTC)
 * Ahh..ok, I will have a look and re-evaluate - thanks for the heads up. Deathlibrarian (talk) 07:52, 24 January 2022 (UTC)
 * Keep or merge to pet rock. Deletion is clearly inappropriate since there's a viable merge/redirect target. However, Dahl himself independently meets GNG: obituaries in The Telegraph, The New York Times , ABC , LA Times , NPR , Reuters  and more; Remembrances in Entrepreneur , Inc.   (both meh sources); Profiles in The Charlotte Observer (1976) , The Salt Lake Tribune (1977) , The News and Observer (2000) , Newsweek (1980, article titled Pet Rocks: 'Tough Act to Follow', 428 words about his other efforts), The Philadelphia Inquirer (1980) , The Tampa Bay Times (1982) . This is a wealth of enduring, significant coverage.There's quite a bit more that mentions Dahl and focuses on the rocks (rather than these profiles, which are the other way around). There's nothing that says facts must only be findable in one place on Wikipedia. Dahl's work with the pet rock made him famous, and when coupled with the couple other things he did including win the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest , Carrie Nation's bar , "Sand Breeding Kits"  and "Red China Dirt,"    I think there's just about enough for a stand-alone article. If not the content should be merged and redirected rather than simply deleted. Eddie891 Talk Work 17:17, 23 January 2022 (UTC)
 * Keep. He is mentioned in over 100 scholarly articles and the basic gist on brief review is that it isn't that he created the Pet Rock so much as that in this act, he innovated a brand strategy that than became influential and copied. Novellasyes (talk) 18:37, 23 January 2022 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.