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.

Assignment 1-2

Popular culture can be anything from a trend, such as in the 1980’s when wearing leg warmers were the thing to wear, to a tangible item, such as the popularity of the Cabbage Patch Kids.

Popular culture affects everyone. Your own wants and your family’s wants are influenced by popular culture. It changes the way we live our lives. We are now almost addicted to our cell phones. We cannot get away from them. You are now able to be reached anywhere. This is great for emergencies, but not for when you are sitting in a movie theater and you receive a call. People now have a harder time getting really away from the office while vacationing. They can now access the internet from their cell phone, which means they can check their work email. This has lead to the elimination of real down time for many.

The understanding of popular culture in the business environment is necessary for keeping up with trends. When online classes were first started, they were not widely accepted as being like a traditional class. The acceptability of obtaining a degree online is now much greater. As with a lot of new technologies, it takes awhile for the general population to become comfortable with the it. In my own career, the idea of employees doing forms online was foreign. Now the use of online forms is becoming more acceptable. I foresee in the future that paper will become a thing of the past and most things will be done on-line via an employee self service platform.

I would consider Cabbage Patch Kids to be an example of a popular culture artifact. The Cabbage Patch Kids was a creation by Xavier Roberts. He hand crafted the dolls starting in the 1970’s and the dolls are now mass produced today. The dolls were so popular in the 1980’s that they were being sold for hundreds over their retail price. There were even fights that broke out in attempts by parents to purchase a doll for their child for Christmas. The popularity of the Cabbage Patch Kids is an example of how once an item is on the radar of the news media, the popularity can far exceed what was ever anticipated.