Yes, yes, I know. Father’s Day was yesterday. If you haven’t bought a gift by now then I’m afraid we can’t help you too much. However, with the holiday just gone it’s a good time to check out the trends and get an idea of what gifts were most popular and what that says about how we view our dads.

Mashable.com provided some great information based on web searches in the last month. Even if only one third of shoppers actually buy their gifts online, nearly 70% of them at least do some research online. Judging by that, Mashable found that the most popular gifts vary by state. While golf equipment seem to be popular gifts in sunny Florida, and grill tools are common in Texas, the traditional necktie gets a lot more attention in Minnesota.

It’s worth noting that even though the top gifts may vary from state to state, most of them are standard on any list of suggested father’s day gifts. If you were to judge by said lists, you might come to the conclusion that fathers can be divided into 3 categories:

-Barbeque & Beer Lovers

-Golf Players & Professional Sports Fans

-Hardware & Gadget Junkies

Before I mock the simplicity of this idea, I should admit that my own father fits nicely into the first category. But somehow I have trouble believing that this is a helpful paradigm for most Father’s Day shoppers. Let’s assume that if you’re reading this you are a particularly savvy consumer and choose your purchases carefully. You plan ahead and think carefully about who you’re buying for. That means you won’t be accepting what marketers throw at you, even if it is an NBA branded, barbequing gadget. So what did you get? Did your gift choice fit into these categories or did you find a way to show that the special father in your life breaks the mold?