Assignment 2-2 Icon Analysis

It wasn’t hard for me to pick 3 icons; all three of them are favorites things of mine. Disney World is a large theme and amusement park in Orlando Florida and my favorite place to vacation. Diet Pepsi is my favorite kind of soft drink. Last but not least, Taco Bell is my favorite place to eat when it comes to fast food. They serve Mexican style fast food; most of it has been gauged towards the taste of an average American instead of authentic.
Disney World is quite the Icon, some people work their whole lives just to have an opportunity to vacation there. For some people that live outside the United States, Disney World is what America is all about. Diet Pepsi is preferred by many people but it has been found that more young people prefer Pepsi to Coke. Pepsi has been around almost as long as Coca-Cola but Pepsi has had more luck marketing to the younger generations.
Disney World is one of the greatest places to vacation if money is no object. When you want the best in hospitality, cleanliness, and quality Disney is a good place to go. Diet Pepsi is my drink of choice or I just drink water. I find the taste of Diet Pepsi to be more mellow compared to Diet Coke. Taco Bell has fresh, good tasting, and cheap. What more can you ask for if you are looking for fast food?

Assignment 2-1 Weekly Written Analysis 2

Fox Television Network

Since the beginning of the Fox Television Network, it has been gaining more and more of the market share. The network was started in 1987 and is now the most popular network. CBS came in second ABC was third and NBC was fourth, the writers’ strike really took its toll on CBS because they had fewer reality TV shows than FOX. Reality shows do not require writers and therefore were not put on hold when the strike took place.

When the Fox Network was created no one thought it would last, it was just another attempt at being different. This time it worked, the market needed an opposition to the current kind of television. Fox has broken records, created new types of shows, and appealed to a much younger audience.

Fox has always been programmed for a younger age group of 18 to 49 and it has worked so far. They are now finding that their audience is getting older and they need to find new ways to win over the new generation. If they want to retain their lead, then they must find ways to keep their current audience while appealing to new viewers.

Fox will most likely remain on top with their current mind set; they want as many people watching Fox as possible. Just like with anything else, if you set a goal and focus on it you will succeed the majority of the time. When you hear something enough times you start believing it, that statement is normally related to bad things but will work for the good as well.

References:

Fox Most Popular Television Network for First Time
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,357602,00.html© 2008 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved.

1-4 Weekly Written Analysis 1 Current Pop Culture Topic

When I hear a person sing for the first time, I can almost tell you if they will be a star. David Archuleta just happens to be one of those people, he just opens his mouth and the most amazing sound comes out. I know this guy is going places, singing is effortless for him and I don’t expect him to fizzle out like some of the other first place winners of American Idol have in the past. He will be around for many years to come, he can sing just about anything, when you can sing just as easy as you can talk, you will go places.

American Idol is one of the better known pop culture artifacts. It appeals to people of all ages and can be appreciated by those who like pop music. This year though American Idol has included some Country music as well as some Broadway show tunes. This not only appealed to more people but exposed those who normally watch American Idol for the pop music to a couple other forms of music they have not heard before.

American Idol reaches many people because of the large number of votes the show receives every week, some weeks they have well over thirty million. I know that doesn’t mean that thirty million people voted, it is a known fact that one person can vote more than once. I also know many people that watch the show and do not vote, this includes myself.

The fact that David Archuleta is in the running to win the show doesn’t surprise me. Not only can he sing but the teen girls love him, their mom’s love him, and their grandma’s love him and the fact that he can sing the guys even like him! To top it all off David is humble and has remained that way throughout the entire show. It is just his personality and he will probably always be that way. I have found that you get so much further with people if you are honest, humble, kind, and take an interest in what is important to them. It is just icing on the cake if you can remember something about everyone you meet, it makes the next conversation you have with them much more meaningful!


References:

Fox News website Entertainment page
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,356845,00.html
© 2008 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved

1-2 Popular Culture

Popular culture is a concept that explains material and non-material things that can appeal to all people, no matter their background, education level, or income. Popular culture explains things that affect people from an emotional and sensation level instead of from a intelligence or wealth perspective.

Popular culture is an excellent way to conncet with your co-workers and create new working relationships that may help you in the future. If it wasn’t for popular culture, it would be very difficult to communicate with others that you don’t have much in common with. Pop culture is anything you can discuss that most people are able to talk about no matter their background.

When it came to finding an example that I would consider a pop culture artifact, I thought about a few different ones. I first thought of American Idol but then realized that is too easy and other students may select that as their example. Then I considered Facebook.com but Facebook is limited to people who have college email addresses. They just recently started allowing high school students but only those who have email addresses associated with their school. This stops many people from participating. Anyone who graduated high school before the year 1996 most likely does not have an email address from their high school or college.
I also considered the Google website. Google is not limited by anything really when it comes to pop culture, but doesn’t affect emotions or appeal to people anytime other than when they need to do a search on the internet. The pop culture artifact I selected is the Myspace website. The only things that limit a person from using Myspace.com is if they can’t read or if they do not have access to the internet. But if they have the ability to read and access to the internet, Myspace.com does not limit you by your financial status, your job status, or your education level. It appeals to most because you can put your life on the internet and read about other people’s lives as well.