FOMO, short for Fear Of Missing Out, has gone more and more rampant in the "marketing" of products, both in the physical world and the digital environments that people take part in. There is no doubt that anyone has seen at least one example of a FOMO product, or has even bought one sometime.

FOMO forms a danger to the safety of all sorts of people, ranging from children, to their parents, and from neurodivergent people to the "simply" compulsive buyers.

1. Children, in general, are impulsive. "I see, I want.". Yes, they should be taught that they can't have everything. But not every child learns this in time to not be affected by FOMO. On top of that, children, teens, and honestly, people of any age group (but mostly the younger ones), can experience social pressure. "If you don't get this, you're not cool like us". They might steal from their parents just so they can get something. This can sometimes be reverted, but oftentimes, especially digitally, a proper refund is not possible.
2. Neurodivergent people, depending on their mental conditions, might experience a need to belong, stronger than the neurotypical, especially if they're the only one who is mentally "different". When something fancy comes by, of which the idea of owning it brings them joy, they might make financial decisions that end up detrimental for their health and safety, like spending money supposed for rent or food on a trinket or digital cosmetics. This also counts for impulsive buyers in a different way.
3. Less of a danger, but still a concern for social lives- FOMO can cause or increase the desire to not participate in social activities, out of fear of, or the jealousy caused, by (potentially) seeing somebody that has something that they didn't even have a chance of obtaining. This can fuel the Fear Of Missing Out further, as missing out on future products would mean that they have more and more things they would need to "watch out" for.

Examples of FOMO products, both simple and more specific, can include, but are not limited to;

1. Literally Seasonal products. These can vary from simple food products, like chocolate easter eggs, to seasonal variations of collectible toys (For example, the Spring/Easter versions of certain Skylanders, back when those were a popular children's game.). These vary in how intense the FOMO can affect their sales, as some of these, especially foods, are simple and returning products that return every time the applicable time period returns. However, physical and digital products tend to be taken out of production or sale, sometimes without notice, forming this Fear Of Missing Out.
2. Special promotions and materials. Think of a franchise's 10 or 25 year anniversary, where they release a special item on a singular run of production, or perhaps simply concert tickets for a special performance that is only ever going to happen once. Depending on popularity, these can already be priced higher than average items, and sometimes, it will run out of stock far before anyone that is not an extreme fan can get their hands on it. This, once again, can form this Fear Of Missing Out, as people will sometimes change their entire schedule merely to have a chance at obtaining one of these limited products, lest they would end up at the mercy of resellers that sometimes ask triple the original price, if not more (think for example of the PlayStation 5 having been out of stock for a long time, or the aforementioned concert tickets, making buyers reliant on scalpers who resell them at higher prices)
3. Lastly, perhaps the most noticed case of FOMO in the present day, is simply found in digital games. Battle/Seasonal Passes, (fake) sales that can only be bought for a limited time upon reaching a specific rank or level, or a circulating in-game store, with no predictability on when an item would return, if at all. These games, found on all platforms, from mobile to console to PC, tend to include at least one of the listed things, especially if they're "free to play". Children might (accidentally) use a parent's credit card to buy in game currency, or an item directly, most often just because they "want it".. But when a child is aware of the temporal nature of this store, is when they are the most sensitive to it. And I don't think there is a need to explain what happens when a child "must" have something.

FOMO and related content has been around for a long time, that is true. But that shouldn't mean it has to be tolerated. In fact, this petition is meant to bring better awareness to the public about the effects of FOMO, and why it should be regulated better on the market. The desired outcome of this petition, is for companies worldwide, especially those that target the sensitive groups, to have to change their methods:

• Companies, for both physical and digital products, should have to provide a clear and reasonable statement, reason, and an easy to find time period, when they intend to make the sale of a product temporary (with no return). Obvious exceptions include severely outdated models, versions, printings, and the like, but this should include anything else not excluded, including digital content. The purpose of this specific change is to provide clarity to everyone when something is a temporary product, and in what period it is available.

• Example of a way this is done well: "This special product, released for the 5 year anniversary of our company, is intended to be sold in the period of 3 months after this announcement. After this period, production will end, so if you are interested in our product, make sure to get it while it's available.".
• Example of a way this is not done properly: "We're releasing this product for a month, because we feel like it, after which it will never return and you'll only be able to get it from indirect resale.".

• When something is meant to return at any point in time, be it by circulation or the simple decision of "let's re-release this sometime", companies should need to provide a clear statement, on when, before the end of the products release cycle. To keep a mild surprise factor, and leniency on these time periods, companies may announce a rough estimate period, instead of a specific date, but only of up to 3 months. This is meant to make clear to those that think that they'll miss out, that they have another chance, and allows them to prepare for the said product's return with as low of a risk as possible to miss out again.

• Past FOMO-bound products, that don't have a proper reason not to return, should be returned into available circulations. Due to the nature of physical productions, this might only be possible digitally, so the only examples will be made for this environment. Exclusivity, or "why else would someone buy this?" should not be a reason to keep something out of circulations, for example. This can bring an opportunity to parents to explain that (almost) anything their child wants in a game, can return in the future if they're patient enough. At present, in the case of digital Passes as an example, many products are never to return simply because they were released in one such pass, making this explanation to children currently invalid. Not only does this harm even those who bought these temporary passes, as in the case of the popular game "Fortnite", you need to reach a level with this Pass active to earn a specific cosmetic, forcing them to spend lots of time or more money, but those who were too late to be present at all don't get a chance to earn it later, either. Applying this change can reduce the effects of those who behave in an elitist, show-off way on those who are sensitive to FOMO, as almost anything that they have, could end up being rereleased. This can also reduce (often against the Terms of Service for these) the (re)sale of accounts that own specific digital items for the mere reason that everything has to return at some point.

I thank you for reading this petition to the end, and I hope you sign it. Together, we can make our voices heard and hopefully, spark a change in the methods that companies use to sell their products. And at minimum, we can spread more awareness about it. FOMO should never be the solitary reason something is sold at any point in time.