Popular Culture Blog - Assignment 1-2

          Popular culture has so many definitions or so many interpretations.  However, in its basic form, it embodies those elements of everyday life that we choose to help form the way we think and behave.  These ideas are common to certain groups at certain times and will probably change many times over.  We are influenced by so many mediums including television, radio, magazines, friends, and teachers to name a few.  Most of the time, we do not even realize how these forces are affecting us.  At the risk of dating myself, Miami Vice was a huge television hit in the mid to late eighties.  The style of clothes worn by the stars may have been more popular than the program itself.  Men everywhere wore colored T-shirts under their sport coats, no socks with their shoes, and a full (although manicured) five-o'clock shadow.  It was everywhere.  Today, the style is sagging - wearing pants half-way down your derriere.  Have you heard the song, "Pants on the Ground"? Another example could be the Oprah Book Club.  If Oprah does it, we all should do it.  People everywhere belong to book clubs.

            Since popular culture appeals to the masses, it makes sense to be more in tune with what the majority of people want.  If an organization is in tune with what is thought to be normal or accepted by the masses, they have a better chance of producing and marketing a product that meets their wants and needs.  In today's business environment, most companies appeal to the masses through their web pages or through the use of Facebook, Twitter, wiki's and blogs.  Staying abreast of what is popular, can help give companies a competitive advantage.  I am sure whatever becomes the next big thing in technology will also be the newest business driver.

            They are doctors, lawyers and business men and women by day, and easy riders when the work day is done.  I chose Harley Davidson as my popular culture icon.  The Harley always exemplified freedom, America and the open road.  It also brought out some of the "bad boy" or "bad girl" in everyone.  Easy Rider, the film, was a popular culture hit that brought much attention to Harley Davidson.  I never realized how large the Harley culture really is until I vacationed one year in Orlando, Florida.  Bike Week was being held in Daytona that very week and we just had to go.  The whole city and beach was just inundated with motorcycles, especially Harleys.  It was amazing!