In the 2008 comedy “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” full-frontal male nudity was considered funny — mostly because American movies traditionally don’t show that. Much of popular humor is simply a reaction to established norms, and it works.

Trends are everywhere, in humor and elsewhere. But the most powerful short-term trends are reactionary, whether in movies, music or politics.

As humans, and especially as Americans, we go overboard and then push against whatever we did in the first place — see the culture war, most of what’s funny on YouTube and virtually any mainstream social movement.

Being in tune with trends makes products successful. If energy drinks are popular, start an energy drink company. But capitalizing on reactionary trends is really key.

There’s a simple strategy here. Step 1: Figure out what product, theme or social norm is mainstream. Step 2: Guess the lifespan of that trend and what the reaction will be — or just hop on board whatever the reaction already is. Step 3: profit.

In a popular Domino’s commercial, the pizza company’s CEO announced the “Big Taste Bailout” $5-bucks-each deal, claiming it was for Main Street and not Wall Street. The ad’s potshots at unpopular Wall Street CEOs and corporate bailouts got it airplay on CNN and easy Internet popularity — and Domino’s isn’t alone in basing marketing campaigns on populist-like responses to the recession.

Politicians that capitalize on reactionary trends have seen astronomical success.

Even his harshest critics credit Obama with understanding the massive shift in American political culture. His campaign, touting optimism and a theme of a new direction for the country, was unbelievably successful in large part because it built upon the reaction to an era of cynicism, what can be partially linked to Bush’s legacy.

And being jaded and disgusted with the mainstream used to be the mainstream in some ways.

During Obama’s campaign, mainstream was in the direction of optimism and forward thinking. Without minimizing Obama’s accomplishments — he deserves enormous credit for more than just his brilliant political skills — much of the success of his name brand is due to his political campaign’s alignment with the political temperature.

Reactions can be short-lived, so timing the masses’ waves isn’t always a great long-term strategy. But here are a few bandwagon reactions for corporate America to consider jumping on:

- Media transparency: The Obama Administration has, or at least claims to have embraced this mode of operation. Twenty-first century corporate public relations strategies increasingly emphasize openness and honesty with the public.

As the traditional media evolve or die, it makes sense to take extraordinary steps in the direction of full transparency. One Slate.com writer offers an RSS feed to track his mistakes. What if online news providers started publishing independently verified fact-to-error ratios?

- Anti-hedonism: The absolute overwhelming theme of music today is hedonism — sex and money and earthly pleasures. While no one can deny the mainstream appeal, it’s doubtful that the current pop-culture trajectory is sustainable: This is going to get old eventually, and the music labels that figure out what to do instead are going to be rich.

- Information overload: The direction of 2009 appears to be that there are no information monopolies, everyone is a consumer and producer of information and there are an infinite number of ways to communicate. At some point, the role of an Internet gatekeeper has got to come back in style.

Reaction-based movements are perhaps the best way for people and society to establish equilibrium, and as new facts and ideas come to light, massive upheavals in social and political norms are only healthy.

The next wave in social media, the next short-lived music trend, and the next successful political campaign will be in some ways, the product of a reaction to the establishment.

In an infinitely complex and imperfect world, that’s probably the best we can do.

Reach Matt at matt.culbertson@asu.edu