Kodak moment

English

Etymology

• (moment worth photographing): From an Eastman Kodak Company advertising campaign.
• (business's failure to foresee): In reference to the Eastman Kodak Company's decline when cameras and film were overtaken by smartphones and digital technologies.

Noun

Kodak moment (plural Kodak moments)

1. (informal) A sentimental or charming moment worthy of capturing in a photograph.
   • 2003, Marissa Marchan, A Marriage Made in Heaven and Hell:

     Instead she held his hand and they walked together. I looked at both of them and I knew that it was a Kodak moment. I was so proud of my daughter.

   • 2005, Michael Savage, Liberalism is a mental disorder: Savage solutions:

     These Islamic headcutters in headscarves are so warped, they consider beheadings nothing more than a Kodak moment to share with friends, followers, and foes alike.

2. (informal) The situation in which a business fails to foresee changes within its industry and drops from a market-dominant position to being a minor player or declares bankruptcy.
   • 2014, Patrick Connor, Plug In Drivers Not Missin' the Piston, http://www.carswithcords.net/2014/05/plug-in-drivers-not-missin-piston.html

     THIS is your Kodak moment. Kodak moment, in this case, does not mean a moment to capture on film; rather, it means the time in history when an upstart technology changed the game; e.g., digital photography emerged and Kodak chose to ignore it until it was too late.

   • 2015, Clara Denina and Silvia Antonioli, Reuters Platinum sector faces its Kodak moment in fuel cell technology https://web.archive.org/web/20150601040240/http://af.reuters.com/article/investingNews/idAFKBN0OE1SC20150529
   • 2015, David Butler, Book Design to Grow: How Coca-Cola Learned to Combine Scale and Agility (and How You Can Too)

     Every large company or brand or product must adapt to be relevant. Every company is right now afraid of having a Kodak Moment."

   • 2015, Jerry Ross, The Wrong Kind of “Kodak Moment” Will Big Banks Become the Next Victims of Tech Disruption?:

     A “Kodak moment” might better refer to the failure of a once-dominant business to respond to a disruptive new technology--in Kodak’s case: digital photography.