In the 60s, "Letters of Happiness" were disseminated across the world. Their contents were as such, "Please send a letter with identical contents as this one to X people in X days. If you do not send enough, you will lose your good fortune."
These letters were re-written into what has become known as "Letters of Misfortune" in the 70s. Their contents are as follows, "Please send a letter with identical contents as this one to X people in X days. If you do not send enough, you will become unhappy."
And following this came a comment such as, "My friend suffered from (X misfortune or disaster) because he didn't send more letters."
Compared to the "Letters of Happiness", which did not circulate so often, the "Letters of Misfortune" quickly spread throughout the world.
The consequence of "becoming unhappy", when compared to the passive effect of "losing one's good fortune", must have made people feel uncomfortable. Even if such a thing could never happen, anxiety will still remain in the corner of the receiver's mind.
The letter does not say anything about why the receiver will become unhappy or what kind of misfortune awaits them. This gave people a vague sense of worry and fear.
The "Letters of Misfortune" are completely unfounded, of course. But, people thought, "If it's possible to avoid misfortune with so little effort..." and began to send out letters one after the other. With the number of letters increasing exponentially, it's no wonder they became a social phenomenon.
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