The London Fire Brigade statistics have gotten a lot of traction over the last few days after reporting a significant increase in the amount of people trapped in objects - especially handcuffs. On the back of their announcement that 79 people had to be freed from handcuffs over the last three years, London fire officer Dave Brown said “I don’t know whether it’s the Fifty Shades effect, but the number of incidents involving items like handcuffs seems to have gone up. I’m sure most people will be Fifty Shades of red by the time our crews arrive to free them.”

It isn’t the first time Fifty Shades of Grey has been cited as a potential reason behind some unusual statistics. Hardware stores, for example, have noted an increase in rope sales in line with the increased popularity of E.L. James’ trilogy of ‘erotic’ novels.

It’s almost impossible to fully attribute Fifty Shades with these unusual increases. But then again, it’s not the first time a literary or cinematic sensation has been associated with an explosion in the popularity of certain activities or products. Are people really that swayed by what they see on screen or read on a page? Well...

Owls and Harry Potter

Hedwig the owl proved one of the most enduringly popular icons of the Potter franchise. Many fans wanted to get in on the magic, and it has been said this caused a marked increase in the amount of owls being raised has pets.

Unfortunately, this had many negative side effects, with one owl sanctuary in North Wales noting only last year that they were still feeling the effects of the many abandoned pet owls. The owner told BBC that owls simply do not make good pets, as a result of factors such as their smell and wild tendencies.

It has also been suggested that J.K. Rowling’s books have helped make boarding schools popular again, albeit of the non-wizarding variety.

Wine and Sideways

It might not be as big a name as others on this list, but the success of comedy-drama Sideways has been of much interest to the wine community. With the main characters’ fondness for Pinot Noir and (very vocal) distaste for Merlot, there have been claims that the wines have experienced sales increases and decreases respectively. Indeed, it has even been informally dubbed ‘The Sideways Effect’.

Although much of this remains anecdotal, at least one in-depth study found there is some statistical truth to the theory - although Pinot Noir increases have been far more significant than Merlot decreases.

Archery and The Hunger Games

Katniss Everdeen wielding a bow-and-arrow has become one of the most recognisable images of The Hunger Games books and films, and it appears as if many young fans have considered the fictional heroine somewhat of a role model. Membership in archery clubs has increased by upwards of 75%, while NBC reported that archery was their number one most-watched Olympic sport last year.

Archery USA even wrote to author Suzanne Collins, stating that, following many years of struggling with public perception and resources, “when Katniss Everdeen started brandishing her bow and arrows on movie screens across America, our phones began (literally, began) ringing nonstop”.

Let’s just hope all those new archers are never put in a situation when they have to fight to the death on a tropical island for the amusement of a deluded ruling elite.

James Bond and everything

Advertisers have been known to spend millions of euro in order to have their products featured in the latest Bond outing. It’s gotten to the point where rampant product placement is part and parcel of a 007 film, and the films have been attributed to increased sales of everything from watches to Heineken. Last year it was reported that Skyfall encouraged a 405% increase in sales of cutthroat razors on the back of this scene:

However, as with many of the cases mentioned above, it’s always going to an almost insurmountable challenge to measure the definitive relationship between a film appearance and sales. As Live Science points out in a feature on James Bond’s commercial and branding influence, “statisticians and scientists caution that correlation does not imply causation: Just because sales of a product featured in a film increase does not conclusively prove anything.”