Whiteboard
Whiteboards became commercially available in the early 1960s, but did not become widely used until 30 years later. Early whiteboards needed to be wiped with a damp cloth and markers had a tendency to leave marks behind, even after erasing the board. Dry-erase markers for whiteboards were invented in 1975.
Big Wednesday
Milius invented the Bear brand of surfboard as a fictional brand to be used in the movie, and even had surfboards made and arranged for a Californian designer to create a logo. The logo, a red diamond with a bear in it, features prominently throughout the movie, on shop windows, T-shirts, car windows and on surfboards. The first boards were shaped in 1977, by famous board shaper, Bill Hamilton. The international distribution of the movie promoted the Bear Label worldwide, with people wanting boards with the bear logo. The brand morphed into an actual successful company after the release of the movie, producing hundreds of boards, and is still active today, with various people producing bear branded boards in different countries.