Weekly Written Analysis 5-1

The Mini-Cooper is a current popular culture item. The Mini-Cooper was first introduced in the United Kingdom in 1959. The car was considered an icon of the 1960’s. The Mini was designed by Sir Alec Issigonis of the British Motor Corporation. The car was designed in response to the oil crisis in the late 1950’s when the sale of large cars had declined. In 1969, the car was featured in the 1969 film, The Italian Job, which made it a star. The film was remade in 2003 and featured the new Mini.

The Mini was made in different varieties. There was the Mini-Van, the Mini-Pickup, the Mini-K, and the Mini-Countryman. In 1961, the Mini’s name was changed to Mini-Cooper to reflect the collaboration of the British Motor Corporation and the Cooper Car Company. At that time, the car was turned into more of a performance car with the redesign of the engine. By 1977, there were over four million cars sold around the world. However, the United States missed out on the Mini fever because of new emissions standards. In 2001, the Mini brand was purchased by BMW. Before BMW bought the Mini, the car was still popular, but production was very limited. This kept the Mini popular and in demand.

In 2002, the Mimi made its American debut. The new Mini was bigger and better than ever. The Mini is now sold in three different styles, the Mini-Hatchback, the Mini-Convertible, and the Mini-Clubman. The Mini still ranks among the world’s top performance vehicles. Owner’s of the Mini’s love to personalize their cars with the Union Jack symbol and racing stripes. The car is great on gas and has incredible personality. This is a car that one day I will drive!

References
“Miniusa.com. (2009). Miniusa.com. Retrieved June 17, 2009 from the Mini website found at http://www.miniusa.com.

Journal Article Analysis 1-3

The article found in the Journal of Popular Culture, “Wearing out Racial Discourse: Tokyo Street Fashion and Race as Style” talks about how fashion perceptions of the Japanese have changed. Japanese fashions were viewed as being very westernized. Their fashion lacked any identity of their own. Now street fashions are making a statement about the Japanese and their views on race.

The Japanese were often accused of copying western fashions. They lacked creativity. Now many Japanese are taking some traditional Japanese clothing items and pairing them with other items to create their own style. One of the latest styles is known as “kogyaru”. Kogyaru is an exaggeration of styles. The style favors dark tanned skin. This is opposite of what was the tradition of pale skin being prized. The shift in the color of the acceptability of different colored skin has helped with being more accepting of different skin colors. The kogyaru style calls for a dark face, white or pale lipstick and white or pale eye shadow. The white or pale lipstick is said to make the face appear darker and the white or pale eye shadow is said to make the eyes appear wider. This style is said to resemble the western style of blackface. The style also calls for platform boots and miniskirts, which is an attempt to make the legs appear longer. And the most striking feature is the bleach blonde hair with blue or hazel colored contacts.

The kogyaru style is a contrast to the prized features of Japanease women from the past. Many Japanese women have been known to bleach their skin. Pale skin was thought to make the women appear more delicate and aristocratic. The lighter skin put the women in a higher social standing because it meant that they did not work outdoors. The desire for lighter skin is thought to be derived from western culture where lighter skin is favored.

The amount of bleaching cosmetics is now in competition with the tanning salons. The popularity of tanning is thought to emulate some of the western style of tanned skin that is found in California. There is racial division among the Japanese who place African descendents into a lower regard. In the past, the lighter the skin, the higher up in you rose in the social hierarchy.
The racial history of Japan began when the U.S. ship of Commodore William Perry entered Urago Bay. The Japanese were forced to sign the trade agreement with the U.S. Japans reaction to the impending foreign influences was to learn as much as they could about the western culture. They were deteremined to turn itself into a modern colonial power. However, they were not able to fully emulate the western powers because they were of Asian descent, not the favored Caucasians. When the Japanese visited the U.S. as part of a study group, they saw firsthand how blacks and Native Americans were treated. This made an impact on the way they viewed darker colored skin.

At one point in history, the Japanese were considered to be “honorary whites”. This served the purpose of Nazi Germany to have the Japanese’s strong military forces join their forces and the South Africans who viewed Japan as a strong trading power. By assigning the Japanese the white status, it helped to dispute the fact that the Asian culture was inferior because of Japans rising modernization and military power.

The desire for Japanese to become westernized led to the first medical procedure to add an upper fold to the Asian eye in 1896. These surgeries are still continued today. The desire to also bleach the hair and wear colored contacts has led us to believe that the Japanese are trying to look more Caucasian.

Foreign models are used in much of the advertising. Caucasians are thought to be more glamorous and they evoke freedom. The foreign models are used because they represent the standards of attractiveness. Foreign models are also used because the Japanese frown upon inappropriate behavior such as kissing and nudity.

This article surprised me. I never thought that the Japanese were desperate to look like Caucasians. It is sad that because of their past it has led the Japanese to not embrace their culture and identity. If everyone looked the same, it would be a very plain world. The popularity of the western culture has degraded the Japanese culture. Hopefully they will eventually embrace their culture on day.


References
Black, D. 2009. “Wearing out Racial Discourse: Tokyo Street Fashion and Race as Style.” The Journal of Popular Culture. Volume 42, Number 2. Pg. 239-256.

Weekly Written Analysis 4-1

M&M’s are a current popular culture item. M&M’s are candy coated pieces of milk chocolate. The candies were first introduced in 1941 by the Mars Company. At the time of their introduction, they came in brown, yellow, orange, red, green, and violet. Tan replaced violet in 1949, and blue replaced tan in 1995. The founder of Mars, Forrest Mars, Sr., got the idea for M&M’s during the Spanish Civil War when he saw soldiers eating chocolate pellets with a hard shell over it. Mars created his own process for the hard candy coating in 1941 and had the process patented.

The M&M initials that are printed on the candies are derived from the initials of Forrest Mars and Bruce Murrie, who was the son of the then president of the Hershey Corporation. Bruce Murrie owned 20% of the Mars Company at that time. With this alliance with the Hershey Company, it allowed Mars to use Hershey chocolate. At the time of production, chocolate was being rationed due to the war. During WWII, the candies were exclusively sold to the military due to the ability of the candy to not melt.

In 1954, the catch phrase “melts in your mouth, not in your hands” was born along with the world famous “spokes candies”. The “spokes candies” are my favorite part of the M&M candies. There is “Red” who is the cynical one, “Yellow” who is the happy and gullible character, “Blue” who is the cool one, “Green” who is the sexy female character, and “Orange” who is neurotic. These “spokes candies” have been featured in many commercials which has appealed to many kids and adults alike. They have also been featured in their own video games. In 2005, the dark chocolate variety was introduced during the Star Wars III movie premier in the Mpire promotion.

In 2004, the on-line store was introduced. This allowed people to order the M&M candies in a variety of colors with their own phrases on them. Companies have also used this to place logo’s on the candies. The online store offers the candy in a variety of colors and flavors that can only be ordered from the online store. The M&M’s come in a variety of flavors off of the store shelves. The flavors are plain M&M’s, Peanut M&M’s, Almond M&M’s, Peanut Butter M&M’s, Mint M&M’s, Mini M&M’s, and Dark Chocolate M&M’s in both peanut and plain. Over the years, different colors have been introduced via public voting.

References
“MMS.com. (2009). M&M’s.com. Retrieved June 14, 2009 from the M&M website found at http://www.mms.com/us/about/mmshistory.

Written Analysis 3-1

The iPod is a current popular culture item. The iPod was launched in October 2001 by Apple, Inc. iPods come in a variety of colors, from plain black and white to chrome pastel colors. There are various versions of iPods. There is the iPod classic, the iPod Touch, the iPod Nano, and the iPod shuffle. The features of the iPods can vary depending upon the type of iPod you own. Some iPods, such as the shuffle only play music. However, other iPods store and play music, videos, pictures, and books.

The iPod is sold worldwide. There have been millions of iPods sold since the portable music players went on the market. They are the best known portable music player and the best selling music player. However, Apple has had its various struggles with negative publicity surrounding the iPods. Apple has been criticized because the batteries in the iPods cannot be replaced by the consumer. Some iPods had the capability to replace the batteries with third party instructions and batteries, but the newer iPods have the batteries soldered into the iPod, which makes it impossible to replace the battery. Apple would rather have the customer purchase a refurbished or new iPod rather than replace the battery.

iPods play music that has been purchased from the iTunes store, which is a company of Apple. The average purchase price for a song is $.99. The drawback to purchasing iTunes music is that you can only play music that was purchased on iTunes on an iPod; the music is not compatible with other portable music players. Music that is purchased from other sources can be converted to an iTunes format, but there are some companies that are direct competitors to iTunes that is not compatible with the iPod music format.

There are various accessories that can be added to the iPod, such as a docking station, remote controls, FM radio tuners, and wireless earphones. Now some car manufactures are making car stereos iPod compatible that you can connect your iPod directly into your car. I do not see in the near future the popularity of the iPod to decrease. It will be something that will be widely owned by at least one member of each household.

References

Wikipedia. (2009). Wikipedia. Retrieved June 2, 2009 from the Wikipedia website found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ipod#cite_note-0

Assignment 2-1 Written Analysis 2

A current popular culture topic is the popularity of Jay Leno and the Tonight Show. Jay Leno’s chin is his famous trademark. His clean cut humor appealed to mainstream America. Jay Leno isn’t a good looking man, but he appeals to many people because he just seems like a nice guy. When Jay was a child, his humor was already a standout.

Jay’s career started in the 1970’s as a standup comic. He first appeared as a guest on the Tonight Show in 1977 and in the 1980’s made several successful appearances on other late shows. In the mid 80’s, Jay was made a guest host to stand in for Johnny Carson.
In 1992, Johnny Carson retired from the Tonight Show after hosting the show for over three decades. In a controversial move by NBC, they chose Jay Leno over Dave Letterman who had a show on NBC that followed the Tonight Show. Once Jay Leno took over the tonight show, Dave Letterman left for CBS and for the first year, Dave Letterman beat Jay in the ratings. However, after the first year, the Tonight Show led in the late night show ratings. In 1995, Jay won an Emmy for hosting the Tonight Show.

Jay is known for his famous one-liners, with jokes that openly made fun of celebrities and politicians. One of the most popular segments of the Tonight Show was “Jaywalking with Jay Leno”. Jay would walk the streets and ask random questions of people walking on the street. Some of his questions would be history questions, to popular culture questions. Some of the answers of these pedestrians are classic because their answers were often completely incorrect, which of course was the joke line.

On May 29, 2009, Jay Leno handed over the reins to Conan O’Brien after hosting the Tonight Show for 17 years. Leno’s departure has made headlines worldwide. He is scheduled to host the Jay Leno show starting in September every night at 10:00 p.m. on NBC. Jay Leno is a good example of someone who started out with nothing and went on to earn millions each year in appearances and hosting.

Assignment 2-2 Icon Analysis

The three contemporary icons I choose are the Clydesdale horses from Budweiser, the character of Hannah Montana, and the cartoon character of Winnie the Pooh. These icons have been commercialized to not only sell products, but also it represents some of our history. They are both classic and modern iconic symbols that are easily identified with a wide array of age groups.

The Clydesdale horses have been an iconic symbol for the Anheuser-Busch company since 1933. They were first introduced in 1933 when they were paraded down the street when prohibition was repealed. The horses are now featured in the famous Super Bowl commercials. The commercials are now highly anticipated and are watched over and over on the web. The horses are based in St Louis, Missouri. They are treated very well and are toured throughout the country. The horses represent to me a very successful marketing tool that has appealed to generations.

Hannah Montana is an iconic symbol of the Disney Company. Girls idolize her, imitate her, and aspire to be her. She represents someone who little girls can admire. She is a clean cut character that is for entertainment of the “tween” generation. The character of Hannah Montana has been marketed by companies hoping to cash in on the buying power of the “tween” generation. There have been CD’s, DVD’s, games, and other merchandise produced. It has turned into a multimillion dollar empire. Hannah Montana represents a character that girls can look up to. There are so many young female stars that have taken the wrong path and are setting bad examples for our impressionable youth.

Winnie the Pooh is a classic iconic character that dates to 1926 when his character was created by the mother of Christopher Robin, A.A. Milne. A.A. Milne wrote a series of children’s books that featured Winnie the Pooh and his friends. The book was then made into a film by Walt Disney in 1966. It was then that Winnie the Pooh grew even more popular. Winnie the Pooh is one of the most popular characters in the Walt Disney family of cartoon characters. He has had CD’s, DVD’s, and merchandise marketed with his image. Winnie the Pooh represents innocence for me. He has captured the love of both children and adults. I still love Winnie the Pooh even as an adult and it is something that I enjoyed with my children.

Assignment 1-4

A current popular culture item is the popularity of eBay. EBay was founded in 1995 by Pierre Omidyar. EBay was started as a way for individual people to buy and sell items on their own. It has now grown into a widely accepted place to do business.

With the popularity of eBay, other companies went into partnerships with eBay, such as GM, Disney, and Sun. Other businesses have now opened up “storefronts” on the eBay web site to sell new items, such as IBM. There are also “storefronts” that are owned by individuals who would be considered power sellers. EBay employs over 15,000 people. They also have web sites that are operated globally. EBay also owns half.com, kijiji.com, PayPal, ProStores, Rent.com, and Shopping.com.

Anything can be sold on eBay. When it first started, items that were sold were mainly collectibles. Now people list anything from cars, to houses, to clothing. There are some restrictions on items that can be placed for sale. Items that are illegal cannot be sold and they also restrict items that are illegal to be bought or sold in other countries.

EBay makes their money by charging different fees during the process of the item being sold. When a seller lists their item for sale, they are charged a listing fee. They can also pay additional fees to have a larger add placed and add additional pictures. Once the item has been sold, eBay is paid a percentage of final sale price. EBay also offers the ability to use PayPal to allow a buyer to pay for their item. PayPal offers safeguards to both the buyer and the seller.

With the advent of eBay, it is now easier for someone to make extra money on their own without leaving their house. They can sell items that they would normally sell at a garage sale. And it allows on stop shopping for buyers to go to one place to comparison shop for their items. I have used eBay both as a seller and as a buyer and it is a fantastic web site. EBay tries to protect both the buyers and sellers with various policies it has implemented over the years.

More information about eBay can be found at http://www.ebay.com.