A-5-1 OMG!!! The big 4-0!!!

This must be a big year for celebrities turning 40. I know that every year has celebrities turning 40, but for some reason this year must have a particularly intriguing group hitting the big 4-0. Now, I would expect to see this type of information in the latest edition of In Touch or Star magazine, but media outlets from CBS4 in Denver to the Chicago Tribune want to make sure you know which of your favorite celebs will be reaching this milestone in 2009. The interesting thing is that stories like this are becoming mainstream news. I guess we as a society must be fascinated with how celebrities age.

I heard a story on TV this week that caught my ear. It was an entertainment show talking about how Jennifer Aniston will be turning 40 next week. I wasn’t watching the TV, but I stopped for a moment to see how she looked and I have to admit, she looks fabulous! She joins Rene Zellweger, Jennifer Lopez, Gwen Stefani, Ellen Pompeo, and Christy Turlington (cbs11.com) to name a few of the more widely-known females. I’m sure having the funds to support personal trainers, personal chefs, stylists, and make-up artists, all help, but this group certainly seems to be aging extremely well. For a brief moment I thought of my sister-in-law who turned 40 last year and I did a mental comparison of the two. Then I realized how ridiculous that was!

It’s not just the women either. According to the Chicago Tribune (2009) Marc Anthony, Paul Rudd, Josh Holloway, Jack Black, and Jay-Z all hit the big 4-0 as well this year. I thought Marc Anthony was older, but the rest seem a lot younger than 40. Maybe as I get older I get more attuned to the people aging around me. I have to admit that I couldn’t name anyone turning 21 this year, but as far as the list of people turning 40, I feel like I’ve been inundated with it. It seems to be a leading news story when someone famous hits an aging milestone. If you thought you were sick of the Jennifer Aniston birthday news, watch out….according to cbs11.com, Mariah Carey turns 40 on March 27…then J. Lo, Christian Slater, Matthew Perry, Jason Priestly, Tyler Perry, Matthew McConaughey, and so on. As long as there are celebrities, there will be people interested in watching those celebrities age.


References
Chicago Tribute Photo Gallery (2009). Retrieved February 6, 2009, from http://redeye.chicagotribune.com/hc-celebsturning40-pg,0,4002123.photogallery

Dallas / Fort Worth CBS11 Slideshows (2009). Celebrities turning 40 in 2009. Retrieved February 6, 2009, from http://cbs11tv.com/slideshows/Celebrities.40.2009.20.900973.html

Images
Star Magazine (2009). Retrieved February 7, 2009, from
http://www.star-magazine.co.uk/dynamic/2/451x567/6470_1

A-4-1 Snuggies are all the Rage!

If you watched CNN this week, or read the USA Today, you saw the emergence of a pop culture phenomenon called the Snuggie. Marketed as a blanket with sleeves, it looks more like a baby’s layette created for adults. While my family laughed at the commercials with people unable to get their arms out of a regular blanket to answer the phone, people were buying them by the millions. According to USA Today’s Maria Puente (2009) Snuggie has sold over 4 million blankets and they’re showing up on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Jay Leno, and Ellen. In fact, the item that Jay Leno referred to as the “lard ass quilt” (Puente, 2009) is gaining popularity among young and old alike.

Websites like snuggiesightings.com (2009) show people of all ages doing everything from ice skating to laying on the beach in their Snuggie. There are numerous photos of people doing everyday tasks in their Snuggies, including eating out, shopping, and of course drinking. In fact, you’d have to be drinking to buy one of these. I don’t care how cold it is in your house. Why can’t you use a blanket you already have? I know, I know…the price is hard to beat….$19.95 for two, plus they throw in a free book light. But as Jay Leno says, “Why can’t you just put your robe on backwards?” (GMA, 2009). I guess it’s too much of a bargain for some people to pass on.

Regardless, Allstar Marketing Group must be laughing all the way to the bank. The viral marketing buzz has pulled in lovers and haters of the product alike. Lovers of the product are buying it by the millions to keep warm during a time when poor economic conditions are forcing people to cut back on their heating and energy usage. Haters of the product are contributing to the pop culture success by purchasing the product to use in their blog postings and YouTube videos.

This past week alone showed hosts from Good Morning America and CNN wearing Snuggies as they discussed the unexpected success of the product. Sports Illustrated got an early jump on the bandwagon last October when they aired the Snuggie commercial on their Extra Mustard ‘Hot Clicks’ site (2008). Viewers weighed in with comments like “it looks like a KKK robe”, “anyone wearing this looks like they’d belong to a creepy cult”, and my favorite “I don’t own a Snuggie, but I do have something similar. It’s called a coat.”

References
Good Morning America (2009). The Snuggie: the blanket with sleeves. Retrieved, February 1, 2009, from http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/Weekend/Story?id=6716994&page=2

Puente, M. (2009, January 27). Snuggie gets a warm embrace from pop culture. Retrieved February 1, 2009, from http://www.usatoday.com/life/lifestyle/2009-01-27-snuggie_N.htm?se=yahoorefer

Sports Illustrated Extra Mustard (2008). Readers weigh in on the Snuggie. Retrieved February 1, 2009, from http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/extramustard/10/22/snuggie-email/index.html

Images
Good Morning America (2009). Retrieved February 1, 2009, from http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/Weekend/Story?id=6716994&page=2

Weekly Written Analysis A-3-1

A pop culture topic that interests me is our culture’s fascination with the Nintendo® Wii, and some of the absurd stories in the news related to people using the system. This past Christmas we picked up the system for a ‘family gift’. I should have been suspicious when my husband and son set up the system in the basement by moving ALL of our furniture at least 12 feet away from the television. No gaming system should take up that much space. I had heard the stories about people throwing their controllers through their TV sets while playing, but didn’t really take it to heart until I watched my husband trying to play baseball. He has since been forbidden to play without putting on the wrist strap.

In general though, the game seemed harmless. We can bowl, play tennis, do yoga, and even workout with a personal trainer without leaving the basement. It’s exercising without going to the gym.

With that being said, I did a little research and found that there are consequences to the gaming system. Websites like ITProPortal.com caution about a phenomenon called the ‘Wii Knee” (okay, that one is just funny!) where osteopaths have suggested that an increase in sprains, fractures, and injuries is due to parents trying to outdo their children on the system. Author Desire Athow (2008) of ITProPortal refers you to various websites like Wiidamage, Wiinjury, or Wiihaveaproblem, to see documented damages the Wii has caused to the human body and various household objects.

Wiihaveaproblem is a blog that highlights carnage from the Wii system perpetrated by the drunk and sober alike. Their site not only showcases pictures of broken television sets, lamps, and windows, but also highlights damage to humans in the form of black eyes, cuts and bruises by swinging remote controls. There are also some unfortunate stories of pets getting in the way of overzealous players swinging their remote.

It seems that the other sites suggested by Athow (2008) are more of the same; otherwise sane people doing insane things in the midst of a heated tennis match or boxing round. While some of the stories are definitely comical, others are tragic. I’ve now asked the kids not to play without using the wrist straps, and to keep our pets out of the room when they’re gaming. They hate that I research this type of information on the web, but we’ve already had a minor casualty of bowling; a lamp in the basement, and I certainly don’t want to be the next subject of a YouTube video because we did something foolish while playing something as simple as a video game!

References
Athow, D. (2008, December 22). Doctors Warn About Wii Knee Injury Phenomenon Retrieved January 25, 2009 from http://www.itproportal.com/articles/2008/12/22/doctors-warn-about-wii-knee-injury-phenomenon/

Wiihaveaproblem (2009). Woman Kills Dog Retrieved January 25, 2009 from http://wiihaveaproblem.com/

Images
Wii Menu (2007) Fair Use Images. Retrieved January 25, 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wiimen.png

Journal Article Analysis A-1-3

The article I chose to analyze is Lawrence and Barbara Hugenberg’s “If It Ain’t Rubbin’, It Ain’t Racin’: NASCAR, American Values and Fandom” from The Journal of Popular Culture.
Lawrence Hugenberg received his PhD from The Ohio State University and is currently a Professor of Communication Studies at Kent State University. He has published numerous articles reporting his research on NASCAR and NASCAR fans. Barbara Hugenberg earned her PhD at Bowling Green State University and she’s currently an Assistant Professor and the Basic Communication Course Director in the School of Communication Studies at Kent State University. Her research interests include gendered fandom and gendered sports media.

The purpose of the article written by the Hugenberg’s is to explore reasons for the growth in popularity of NASCAR, discuss some of the various stereotypes associated with NASCAR, and recognize that NASCAR is American value based. NASCAR is at the heart of American pop culture.

It’s indisputable that NASCAR’s popularity grows exponentially year after year. While second in televised professional sports popularity only to professional football, NASCAR racing attracts seventeen of the top twenty live sporting event audiences each year. In fact, NASCAR’s Sprint Cup series is consistently able to fill those venues by averaging 180,000 spectators per race. So, just who are those NASCAR fans? The article by the Hugenberg’s explores the possible answers to that question.

To a non-racing fan, NASCAR is a source of multiple stereotypes. Its reputation as a regional sport from the south and southeast, lends itself to the stereotype that NASCAR fans are southern good-ol’ boys who drive trucks with their favorite driver’s number stuck to the rear window, bumper, or door. Fans are considered beer-drinking, cigarette-smoking, rednecks that would jump at the chance to defend the honor of their favorite driver.

The reality is that NASCAR’s fan base is much more than that. A sport that used to be enjoyed primarily by men now sees just as many female fans thanks to the marketing efforts of NASCAR to establish their drivers as sex symbols. Allstate insurance has made multiple commercials with the Allstate girls and Kasey Kahne, and Gillette’s Young Guns campaign features young, handsome, NASCAR drivers in print ads and commercials.

NASCAR has also expanded geographically beyond their original borders. A racing schedule that began years ago in the south and southeast has expanded to races in the west and north. In an effort to add new venues, the downside has been that some races are moved from venues popular with the fans. NASCAR works to create a balance that will draw in new fans, but not alienate their existing ones. NASCAR’s fan base now includes urbanites, college educated, middle-class professionals.

Another stereotype that NASCAR faces is the idea that it’s a white person’s sport. Through various diversity programs NASCAR is working to attract people of color as fans by having more people of color as drivers, engineers, and pit crew members. They sponsor a Drive for Diversity program by holding tryouts for people of color for the positions of drivers and crewmembers. It is NASCAR’s hope that this will dispel the myth of being a white person’s sport and diversify their fan base even more.

Regardless of the make-up of the NASCAR fan, it’s well established that NASCAR’s fans are some of the most loyal of any sport. They buy products their driver endorses from the beer they drink to the vehicles they drive. They crowd their favorite drivers’ semi-trailers at the race waiting to purchase driver apparel from hats to belt buckles. And when they attend the NASCAR races, they come early and stay late. When’s the last time you saw fields of RV’s parked at a football game?

NASCAR is America’s sport. NASCAR even has a requirement that their stock cars and trucks be manufactured in the United States. When Toyota first came onto the NASCAR scene, fans resisted. They wanted the American made Chevys, Fords, and Dodges, not a Japanese car maker in their sport. Although the Toyota vehicles were being manufactured in the United States, fans were still hesitant to throw their support behind a ‘foreign’ car in a purely American sport.

NASCAR is also seen as a battle between good and evil. Some drivers are perceived to be good and some perceived to be evil. That perception is in the eye of the NASCAR fan, but NASCAR, the race teams, and the drivers have the ability to manipulate that perception at will. Drivers who conduct themselves with composure on the track, and class off the track are considered to be good. Some examples are Bill Elliott, Mark Martin, Dale Jarrett, and Kyle Petty. Antics on and off the track however have earned some drivers the moniker of being evil. Those include Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, and Jeff Gordon.

Regardless of their persona, each driver and team recognizes the value of cooperation to the sport. Teams cooperate with each other by drafting during the race, pit crews cooperate with each other by sharing information and on occasion equipment. Drivers and crew chiefs cooperate with each other to determine what needs to be done to the car to ensure that it operates at its optimum level of performance. And finally, the driver and the spotter cooperate with each other to ensure that the driver is able to maneuver around accidents on the track safely.

In conclusion, the article by the Hugenberg’s was well written and easy to read. They pointed out their observations from attending the races and their research regarding the typical NASCAR fan. Their research also included numerous citations of research conducted by others close to the sport. My takeaway from the article is that NASCAR embodies diversity. They welcome fans of all ages and backgrounds. While the typical fan in the 80’s may have been that southern redneck, today’s fan may be the corporate tax attorney from a Chicago high-rise. There’s something for everyone in NASCAR, and if you don’t believe it, just Google it. There are over 49,000,000 hits for NASCAR.

References
Hugenberg, L. W., & Hugenberg, S. (2008). If It Ain't Rubbin', It Ain't Racin': NASCAR, American Values, and Fandom. The Journal of Popular Culture, 41(4), 635-657. Retrieved January 10, 2009, DOI: 10.1111/jpcu.2008.41.issue-4

Images
Jimmie Johnson (2008, November 14) Nascar.com http://www.nascar.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/2008/cup/0811/gallery.phoenix.cup.race2/

Weekly Written Analysis A-2-1

Ok, I admit it, I enjoy watching reality television. Not so much shows like Rock of Love, Mobile Home Disasters, and Jerry Springer, but shows more along the lines of Top Chef, Project Runway, and American Idol. I guess I just enjoy seeing how everyday people capitalize on their 15 minutes of fame. Given the success of reality shows over the past 5 years, I’m joined by millions of people in this guilty pleasure of glancing into the lives of others.

The widespread popularity of reality TV supports reality television as a form of pop culture. As stated on the website http://reality-tv-online.com/ (2007) reality TV shows are so popular because viewers are enticed by fame and fortune and we’re nosy and voyeuristic. I hate to admit that these things are true, but if we weren’t all of these things, reality TV wouldn’t be the success that it is today.

Reality television has been around for years in the form of shows like Maury, People’s Court, and Judge Judy. At the time, I don’t recall those shows even being referred to as reality TV. Not until reality TV crept into prime time did we start to hear negative comments about shows that didn’t need writers or actors. Prime time had typically been reserved for scripted shows, so the introduction of multiple reality shows during prime time viewing was met with concern about how reality TV would put writers and actors out of a job.

This concern didn’t stop the reality flood though. Not only were reality shows popping up on all networks, people were watching and supporting them. American Idol is one of the most popular reality TV shows and consistently pulls in impressive ratings. The premier of Season 8 this week was one of their lowest rated shows since they launched in 2004, yet it pulled in 30.1 million total viewers (Collins, 2009). That’s a lot of people sitting in front of their television to see previously unknown contestants try to sing their way into stardom.

In reality, (no pun intended) it turns out there’s room for everyone. Television viewers still support three different CSI shows and multiple Law and Order programs alongside reality TV. Not all scripted shows succeed, and neither do all reality shows (think Joe Schmo and Dog Eat Dog), but the continued success of shows like Survivor, Big Brother, and American Idol support the fact that reality TV is a pop culture phenomenon that’s going to be around for a while.


References

Collins, S. (2009, January 15). Ratings for ‘American Idol’ Season 8 premiere fall 10% below Season 7’s. Los Angeles Times Online. Retrieved January 17, 2009, from
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/tv/la-et-idolratings15-2009jan15,0,4907340.story


Why is reality TV so big? (2007). Retrieved January 17, 2009, from http://www.reality-tv-online.com/articles/why-is-reality-tv-so-bit.html

Icon Analysis A-2-2

The first thing that came to mind when I thought about contemporary icons was that it would be hard to select something. The second thing that came to mind, as I looked around the house, was that it would be hard to narrow down my selection to only three. Having thought about the things we have, the things we watch, and the things that hold our interest, the three contemporary icons I chose were The Biggest Loser television show, Oprah Winfrey, and the Honda.

We as a nation are obsessed with fitness. Who hasn’t had a New Year’s resolution to lose weight, get fit, or be healthier? Shows like Celebrity Fit Club, The Biggest Loser, and Ruby are all popular in our house. We enjoy seeing people take control of their lives. Heck, during the Christmas holidays I even found myself watching Half Ton Teen on the Discovery channel. I was fascinated. For these reasons I selected the photo logo from The Biggest Loser website at http://www.thebiggestloser.com/ (2009) as one of my contemporary icons. My kids love the show and enjoy seeing the difference the participants can make in their lives. There’s satisfaction in seeing people succeed.

Oprah was an obvious selection for me. I think she holds some kind of power over people (not me of course!) There are people who just have to know what Oprah is doing, wearing, watching, and now of course, even eating. Saturday Night Live did a hilarious spoof of Oprah’s ‘favorite things’ show where people were fainting in the audience. It was so funny, but I’m sure it happens. It was almost breaking news when Oprah came out with the fact that she now weighed over 200 pounds! The photo above came from Oprah's website at http://www.oprah.com/tows (2009).

The final icon I chose was the Honda. The photo above is from Honda's website at http://automobiles.honda.com/civic-sedan/exterior-photos.aspx (2009). In today’s economy everyone is looking to scale back and Honda has a reputation for being reliable, fuel efficient, and economic. It makes us feel like our money is going farther when we can drive a car until the wheels fall off. I think Honda is iconic because Honda-drivers feel like they aren’t being wasteful. There’s value in the money spent on a Honda purchase. As a society, I think that makes us feel good about ourselves.

Images:

Honda Civic (2009). Retrieved January 14, 2009, from http://automobiles.honda.com/civic-sedan/exterior-photos.aspx

Oprah (2009). Retrieved January 14, 2009, from
http://www.oprah.com/tows

The Biggest Loser (2009). Retrieved January 14, 2009, from http://www.thebiggestloser.com/

Pop Culture A-1-4

Okay, so who hasn’t seen the ‘Team Jen’ and ‘Team Angie’ tee-shirts? If you’ve turned on the television or opened a magazine in the last year and a half, I’m sure you’ve been subjected to the Jen, Brad, and Angie circus. Not only have you been subjected to it, but I’ll bet 9 out of 10 people could give at least a high level overview of the story that has the three of them connected forever. Why is it that we as the general public are absolutely fascinated by what goes on in the lives of celebrities? We have a need to know what goes on in their lives and we act like we’re perfectly entitled to know every detail about them. With the help of the media, we’ve elevated celebrities to the status of pop culture icons.
This morning I was browsing the internet and located a website called Pop Culture Madness at http://www.popculturemadness.com/ (2009). There were truly no less than 20 celebrities on the home page. I was hooked! Not only were there real people, but also celebrities in the form of cartoons (Family Guy) and celebrities in the form of action heroes (Iron Man). This website epitomizes popular culture by feeding our fix for what’s happening now. Impressive! Not only did I find the requisite Brad and Angie article, I also found out Madonna’s IQ (125) and that the family from the TLC show, 17 Kids & Counting, will be changing their name as a result of the birth of their 18th. In fact, the website states that their motto is "All The Pop Culture News That Fits, We Print!"
Websites like this are evidence that our need for pop culture is fed by the media and the media strongly influences pop culture. Where else would we go to find out what’s hot and what’s not? Many websites, magazines, and entertainment shows give us their version of the ‘hot or not’ philosophy, and I find myself remembering that information when we do our annual Goodwill donation. Clothes that still fit get sent off to the Goodwill because they’re out of style. How do I know that? In Style magazine arrives in our mailbox each month.
I appreciate the media pulling together my pop culture fix for me. I have to admit though that I’m biased as a self-proclaimed news junkie. I love CNN, but I’m just as likely to pick up an issue of In Touch along with my USA Today when I’m heading out for a flight. If it’s a really long flight, I’ll grab an issue of Star as well!

References
Pop Culture Madness (2009) Retrieved January 10, 2009 from http://www.popculturemadness.com/index.html

Pop Culture A-1-2

Pop culture can be defined as the ‘it’ thing that’s popular at any particular point in time. It’s the here and now, and not thought of in terms of something that will hang around for years to come. I think of pop culture as what everyone is interested in at the moment. What’s popular today, may not be popular tomorrow, and probably won’t be popular next week. I use my teenagers to keep up with trends in pop culture. The things they’re wearing, the music they listen to, the shows they watch on television, and the technology they use, all give me insight into what’s popular now. They’re very much about the latest trends and wanting everything they see. To me, pop culture is seeing last year’s iPod thrown in a closet and no longer used because it isn’t the latest model. As pop culture relates to my children, there are times when it can be considered wasteful and expensive.
When I think of a pop culture artifact, I think of things that everyone had to have, but are now obsolete. An example of this in our family is the iPod. The picture above is from the Apple website (http://www.apple.com/). I would estimate that we have no less than 9 iPods in our house, with only 3 currently in use. We started out with the iPod shuffle, and then as the models became more technologically advanced, we had to have them. Notice I say ‘we’, because I can’t blame all of this on the kids. I’m just as guilty of picking up the new iPod nano this past Christmas. It’s just so much easier to take to they gym!
Pop culture also plays a role in my career. I work in the transaction payment industry and competition between credit and debit card issuers is fierce. In order to stay ‘front of wallet’ for your customers, your product offering better be providing the features they’re interested in at the moment. Cash-back bonus offerings and competitive rates may have been popular years ago, but today’s customer has needs that constantly evolve. They want more in order to stay loyal to your brand. Advances such as the keychain card and the ability to charge purchases with your cell phone are being driven by customer demand. In a highly competitive industry, it’s easy to fall off the radar if you aren’t up to speed with pop culture. It’s what your customers want and if they don’t get it from you, they move on to someone else.
In conclusion, I think pop culture constantly challenges us to stay on top of things going on around us. I may not personally prefer to indulge in what’s hot at the moment, but I need to know what it is that my children are interested in. I think this enables my husband and me to balance the things our children are exposed to. It’s often said that the only thing constant is change, and I think that also applies to pop culture. The fact that things change so much is the very thing that keeps pop culture interesting.

Images:

Apple iPod Nano. (n.d.). Retrieved January 10, 2009, from http://www.apple.com/ipodnano/features.html