The Wiggles as a Popular Culture Essay

The current and primary audience, or specific publics for the M+A brand is new moms, new grandparents, and baby gift buyers in the city of Chicago. Along with those publics some others are current mothers and grandparents also in Chicago. The target audience is currently accurate and appropriate for the brand in the Chicago area. Monica and Andy must not only cater to their current audience, but also but they must cater to the same type of people in the new areas of Los Angeles and New York. The one way and quickest way this can happen is by having a pseudo-target audience in influential celebrity moms and famous elite blogger mothers that are constantly viewed and mimicked by the M+A targeted publics. They must be famous and elite in the areas of Los Angeles and New York. If the target audience can test out the Monica and Andy products, such as the “cuddle box”, on their little ones, the positive experiences about Monica and Andy will spread.

The definition of the "typical" American family has changed considerably over time. Ever since the age of television dawned on American culture, situation comedies have tried to portray the typical American family in an attempt to reach as many viewers as possible. In the 1950's, there was "Leave It to Beaver" which represented a generic view of the American family during its time. There was a father whose responsibility was to financially support the family and be a role model for his children. There was a mother whose job was that of a typical housewife, taking care of the home and caring for the children. And there were the children who had no responsibilities, except to respect their parents and listen to their advice when

The toy section at Target had many clear differences in the toys for boys and the toys for girls. The types of toys that were out on the shelves were different, but also the way the toys were presented were different. Girls toys mainly consisted of stuffed animals, dress up clothes, babies and dolls including Bratz, Barbies and fairies. The primary colors of all these toys consisted of different shades of purple, pink, and white. There were bits of blue and yellow but it seemed that all the colors stood out and had a type of feminine aspect to them. Besides color, the girl’s toys were often soft and fuzzy or

Today, I can walk into almost any toy store in America and expect to get bombarded by plastic figures with extreme bodies. But if I were to play this same scenario out in previous time periods, I would find it difficult to encounter the same types of products. This is because children’s toy trends have shifted in America throughout the 20th century. I recently came across an article from TIME magazine that reflects this idea. In it, author Allie Townsend, managing editor of Facebook, ranks 100 of the most influential American toys since the 1920’s.25 I moved through the list from the beginning, and rarely did I come across a toy resembling a doll or action figure until decades later. The toys that populated the store shelves during the first

The Wiggles’ journey is a remarkable story, from 80s rock band to the most popular children’s singing group of all time. When The Cockroaches stopped touring extensively in the late 1980s, guitarist Anthony Field resumed his early childhood teaching course at Macquarie University. Murray Cook and Greg Page were fellow students and in 1991 they decided to record a CD of children’s songs, with former Cockroach Jeff Fatt called in to help. The CD was simply titled The Wiggles and was to be the first of many to come. In 1992 they donned their signature coloured skivvies, and the rest is history as they began their journey from local successes to global stardom. In 2006 yellow Wiggle Greg Page left the group due to illness, but their creative output

     Many forms of popular culture today are inspired by themes, characters, and other references in various types of classical literature. John Denver’s song “Calypso” parallels with a number of the themes in Homer’s the Odyssey. The Odyssey’s themes involving Odysseus’ journey back home and the aid of gods and goddesses directly influence “Calypso.”

The Rugrats is a Nickelodeon cartoon series created by Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó and Paul Germain. Rugrats is also a slang term used for toddlers. The series takes place around a group of toddlers; Tommy and his best friend Chuckie, Phil and his twin sister Lil, and Tommy’s older cousin Angelica. The show takes place through the eyes of the toddlers that are constantly changing their everyday lives to imaginary adventures. The show plays with baby talk, having the group constantly mispronounce words and use improper grammar. On the adventures, the babies sneak out of their play pins, sometimes even sneaking out of their homes. While the babies are on their adventures, their parents and grandparents and mostly all of the

The Walt Disney Company is a diversified international entertainment company (Disney, 2010) with ownership of many media outlets including radio, cinema, television and literature as well as consumer products such as stationary and toys. The Disney brand has huge recognition globally especially in the category of children’s entertainment with over 80 years of productions in this sector. With an obvious predominance and market leadership in children’s entertainment and consumerism, The Disney Company has an unparalleled capability to reach

The first thing that I noticed is that there are both girls and boys playing with the toy in the commercial. Both genders have equal parts, and both are seen making and playing with the slime. The first scene is actually a black girl playing with the slime. Also, they had a boy playing with pink slime and a girl playing with green slime. This toy was definitely created and marketed with a modern mindset. The creators broke gender socialization and made an inclusive toy for all kids. As I was searching for a toy online, it was very blatant that there are girl toys and there are boy toys. If you click on ‘categories’ there are: top rated, boy’s toys, girl’s toys, age, brand, and character. If you click on ‘age’ then its shows from birth to 11 years are girl toys, yet none of the pictures shown are educationally or merit

While still often perceived as just a music group, The Wiggles is an international business that provides family entertainment through concerts, CDs, DVDs, television, toys, play centres, theme parks and online communities. The Wiggles began their international activity by touring with the support of business partners; and today they also export merchandise, conduct foreign direct investment in the USA, and are active in NZ, the UK, the Republic of Ireland, Canada and Taiwan. The Wiggles have made plans to enter South America, and are considering additional markets in Asia. For this

Imagine being able to jump up to nine feet in the air, run up to 25 miles per hour, and be the talk of the whole town. When I first saw these jumping stilts in the Beijing Olympic opening and closing ceremonies I just had to get some to try out. The very next day I began researching about the stilts. I found out that the inventor was a German engineer named Alexander Boeck, the average cost of a pair is around five or six-hundred dollars, and the majority of “Bockers” in the united states are in the Southwest region. I was so amazed by what would be possible to do in them so I found a dealer in Phoenix, Arizona and bought my Air-Trekkers.

Gender socialization often begins early once parents are shown the sex of their child; from then on, baby showers are planned according to gender “appropriate” colors, which are often pink for girls and blue for boys. Even differences in how children are spoke to can be picked up easily in Western cultures. Girls are called pretty and sweet, whereas boys are handsome and strong. Ultimately, the way children learn to identify with their gender culture is in part due to not only family and friends, media, schools, and religion, but also from the toys that may inexplicitly advertise gender expectations. Gender-typed toys may be bought for children as a way for parents to encourage and reinforce gender-appropriate behaviors. However, recent debates have engulfed toy manufacturers and major retailers, which has brought about changes in toy design and marketing in an effort to make reflect more realistic and gender neutral options.

Through my experience in the toy department of Wal-Mart I have learned that no toy is manufactured unintentionally but that each has a purpose and a targeted audience. This conclusion was made through my critical analysis of marketing, colour choices, layout, and cost in regards to the toys. As I strolled through the three aisles, sections of toys began to blend together as it was organized in an orderly manner; separated by colour choices and characteristics. As a result, it was made evidently clear which toys were being targeted to which specific sex. Moreover, from the flyer to the bright, over-the-top graphics, the marketing methods were very persuasive and convincing to children and parents alike. In addition, Wal-Mart used sale methods to draw customers to their products. These sales worked to promote the product to parents as well as reach families of different socio-economic backgrounds. However, despite their effort, the products within Wal-Mart do not achieve the reduction of the economic gap due to the separation of one product set, which increases overall cost of that whole product. In conclusion, Wal-Mart’s Toy Department worked to convince children and parents alike to need and want their product in addition to instilling societal gender stereotypes and sustaining economic inequalities.

In recent advertisements, Chipotle emulates the Ronald McDonald Campaign, by the appearance of the characters and scenery as something from a children’s book. This sentimental appeal seeks to connect the audience to their childhood, recalling a time in which all was right with the world. Specifically in Chipotle’s “Scarecrow” advertisement, Chipotle associates a children’s character with their product.

Popular culture is a term that holds various meanings depending on where it 's being defined and the context of its use. It is usually recognized as the language or people’s culture that prevails in a society at a point in time. As social researcher Brummett explains in his book “Rhetorical Dimensions of Popular Culture”, pop culture reflects the characteristics of social life, where the publicly are most actively involved. Popular culture is known as the ‘culture of the people’. This culture is determined by the interactions between people within their daily activities, for instance, dressing styles, use of language, greeting rituals and the ways that people behave in public, etc. are all examples of popular culture. Popular culture is also diverted by the mass media (Abbott and Sapsford, 1987).