Popular culture is our way of life, it is the various habits we repeat everyday that give our life meaning. It also includes what we have in common as a society such as the type of music the general society listens to, the clothing styles we adapt, the TV programs we watch,etc. In short, it refers to the generally accepted views and habits that we have in common as a society. To me, popular culture refers to the elements that bring us together as a society.
If a business operates to make profit, it must be aware of the popular culture of it's target audience to be able to be successful. For example, if a beef factory wants to open up a branch in India, it will probably lose business because cows are sacred in the Indian culture. On the other hand, if an American fashion store wants to expand its business to India, it will most likely succeed because Indian women are becoming more and more interested in Western fashion. In my future career as an independent business owner, I would learn as much as I can about the pop culture of an area I am interested in locating my business to ensure that I do not offend my target market with my products. In my current position, I try to maintain a professional attitude by avoiding sensitive conversations such as religion and politics.
For this assignment I chose Michael Jackson's Thriller video because it had a huge impact on his success as well as popular culture as we know it today. Even though the song came out in 1983, it is still an epic piece that people never get tired of listening to. The song was voted the most influential pop music of all time and according to the 2006 Guinness Book of Records, it was the most successful music video ever made.
What do you guys think? Was Thriller a big influence on popular culture? Personally, I think Michael Jackson had a big impact on pop music!
I enjoyed reading your article about popular culture. I also enjoyed watching your video. I agree with you, Thriller never gets tiring! I think it's interesting that in 2006 the music video was in The Guinness Book of records; although, I am not at all surprised.
ReplyDeleteThank you! Thriller will always be a classic.
DeleteI agree with you assessment of pop culture. It is what we all have in common in a particular point in time. You are right that it is very important for a business to understand what is popular to their target audience or they will most likely fail. Being able to find your niche market and mass advertise to them by using the current trends will definitely help a business to succeed.
ReplyDeleteAs for your pop culture artifact, I am an 80’s girl (I just dated myself here) and I remember when Michael Jackson’s Thriller video came out. Wow, it was so unique and like a mini-movie that we were all enthralled with it. After that video, the consumer expected more from every music video. Other artists now had to compete to keep up with the trend. Michael Jackson is definitely a huge part of pop culture and with his icon status, his music and videos will be around for generations to enjoy.
Michael Jackson's impact on pop music began long before Thriller, as a young child and before he probably even realized he was making music history with his brothers in "The Jackson 5". I'm also an 80's girl and I had posters and Michael's album. He definitely raised the bar for music videos and may have given R. Kelly some ideas.:)
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