Ken Hakuta (born 1951), known as Dr. Fad since 1983, is an American businessman, inventor, and television personality. Hakuta, as Dr. Fad, was the host of the popular children's invention TV show ''The Dr. Fad Show'', which ran from 1988 to 1994. The show featured children's inventions and promoted creativity and inventiveness in children. Hakuta was the organizer of four Fad Fairs, conventions of inventors with fun, wacky ideas, in Detroit, New York City and Philadelphia.

Overview

Hakuta imported and merchandised the Wacky Wall Walker, one of the best selling toys of the 1980s. The Wacky Wall Walker became a fad hit in 1983, and over 240 million units have sold. In 1983,

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

aired an animated

Christmas special Christmas themes have long been an inspiration to artists and writers. A prominent aspect of Christian media, the topic first appeared Christmas in literature, in literature and Christmas music, in music. Filmmakers have picked up on this wealth o ...

, '' Deck the Halls with Wacky Walls'', to capitalize on the toy fad. Their popularity peaked after the

Kellogg Company Kellanova, formerly known as the Kellogg Company and commonly known as Kellogg's, is an American multinational food manufacturing company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, US. Kellanova produces and markets convenience foods and snack f ...

inserted them as free prizes in cereal boxes. The

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...

program " I Love the 80s: 1983" features Dr. Fad and the Wall Walkers. Hakuta is also an art collector and is particularly known for a large group of

Shaker Shaker or Shakers may refer to: Religious groups * Shakers, a historically significant Christian sect * Indian Shakers, a smaller Christian denomination Objects and instruments * Shaker (musical instrument), an indirect struck idiophone * Cock ...

items, furniture and other pieces, that he purchased in 1991. These are now part of the so-called

Mount Lebanon Shaker Society Mount Lebanon Shaker Society, also known as New Lebanon Shaker Society, was a communal settlement of Shakers in New Lebanon, New York, New Lebanon, New York. The earliest converts began to "gather in" at that location in 1782 and built their firs ...

collection. In 1998, Hakuta built on his long-standing interest in herbal medicine to found AllHerb.com, an

eCommerce E-commerce (electronic commerce) refers to commercial activities including the electronic buying or selling products and services which are conducted on online platforms or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile comm ...

company offering herbal remedy products and information. AllHerb.com sought to differentiate itself from other competitors in the space by positioning itself as "the most authentic resource for herbal medicine available today"; for instance, one of its spokespeople was a

shaman Shamanism is a spiritual practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with the spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritual energies into ...

, tribal healer, and herbalist from the

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

vian

rainforest Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree Canopy (biology), canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropi ...

. AllHerb.com ceased operations in February 2000. Hakuta has been featured in numerous media including: ''

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'', ''

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'', the ''

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'', the ''

Detroit Free Press The ''Detroit Free Press'' (commonly referred to as the ''Freep'') is a major daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest local newspaper owned by Gannett (the publisher of ''USA Today''), and is operated by the Detro ...

'', ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

'', ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'', ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...

'', ''

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'', ''

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'', '' Inc.'', ''

Entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entrepreneu ...

'', ''

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'', ''

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'', ''

60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who distinguished it from other news programs by using a unique style o ...

'', '' 48 Hours'', ''

Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous ''Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous'' is an American television series that aired in syndication from 1984 to 1995. The show featured the extravagant lifestyles of wealthy entertainers, athletes, socialites and magnates. Cast and crew Th ...

'', ''

Oprah Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954) is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and media proprietor. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', broadcast from Chic ...

'', '' Geraldo'', ''

Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'') is an American morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It was the first of its genre on American television ...

'', ''

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'', ''

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'', ''

The Don and Mike Show The ''Don and Mike Show'' was an American nationally syndicated radio talk show hosted by the shock jocks Don Geronimo and Mike O'Meara, which aired from December 1985 through April 11, 2008. The show debuted on WAVA-FM in 1985 as ''The Morning ...

'', ''

Larry King Larry King (born Lawrence Harvey Zeiger; November 19, 1933 – January 23, 2021) was an American TV and radio host presenter, author, and former spokesman. He was a WMBM radio interviewer in the Miami area in the 1950s and 1960s and beginning in ...

'', and numerous radio shows around the country. There are two

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

case studies on AllHerb.com: "Ken Hakuta: AllHerb.com" and "AllHerb.com: Evolution of an E-tailer".

Personal life

Hakuta was born in Seoul, South Korea. His Korean name is Paik Kun (), and he was born as the first child of Paik Nam-il, who was the CEO of a textile manufacturing company originally owned by his father, Paik Nag-seung, who was accused in 2002 of having been a

Chinilpa From the late 19th century and until 1945, a number of ethnic Koreans worked with the Empire of Japan. Some of these figures contributed to or benefitted from Japan's colonization of Korea, and some actively worked to counter the Korean independe ...

, or traitor and collaborator with the Japanese during their occupation of Korea. The textile manufacturing company was the biggest of its kind during the Japanese colonial era in Korea. His family relocated to Japan in 1951, where they changed their Korean surname to a

Japanese name in modern times consist of a family name (surname) followed by a given name. Japanese names are usually written in kanji, where the pronunciation follows a special set of rules. Because parents when naming children, and foreigners when adoptin ...

based on the original

Chinese character Chinese characters are logographs used to write the Chinese languages and others from regions historically influenced by Chinese culture. Of the four independently invented writing systems accepted by scholars, they represent the only on ...

(白). Ken Hakuta subsequently grew up in Japan. He received his Master of Business Administration from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

in 1977. Hakuta married Marilou Cantiller, a

Filipina Filipinos () are citizens or people identified with the country of the Philippines. Filipinos come from various Austronesian peoples, all typically speaking Filipino, English, or other Philippine languages. Despite formerly being subject to ...

he met while the pair worked at the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

, in 1977. The pair have three children: Justin, Kenzo, and Aki. Justin is the former husband of comedian

Ali Wong Alexandra Dawn Wong (born April 19, 1982) is an American comedian and actress. She is best known for her Netflix stand-up specials ''Baby Cobra'' (2016), ''Hard Knock Wife'' (2018), ''Don Wong'' (2022), and ''Single Lady'' (2024). The last of t ...

. Hakuta is the nephew of the video artist

Nam June Paik Nam June Paik (; July 20, 1932 – January 29, 2006) was a South Korean artist. He worked with a variety of media and is considered to be the founder of video art. He is credited with the first use (1974) of the term "electronic super highway" ...

and was the manager of Paik's

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

studio at the time of his death.''The New York Times''
/ref> He is the

executor An executor is someone who is responsible for executing, or following through on, an assigned task or duty. The feminine form, executrix, is sometimes used. Executor of will An executor is a legal term referring to a person named by the maker o ...

of his uncle's estate.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hakuta, Ken 1951 births Living people 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American inventors 21st-century American businesspeople 21st-century American inventors American people of Japanese descent American people of Korean descent American retail company founders American toy industry businesspeople Businesspeople from Seoul Businesspeople in online retailing Harvard Business School alumni