The picture of the contemporary world is far from the previous evaluation of the main values which are so important for people. The growth of scientific and technological progress made a great impact on the cultural milieu in the United States. People are involved in a perpetual process of enculturation since new devices became important in society. Different technological inventions grew in their influence on society day by day, year by year until the critical point was achieved at the beginning of the twenty-first century.
The thing is that the purity of culture and its main objectives are influenced by mass media and, what is more, a contemporary man in the United States or somewhere in developed countries does not imagine life without the informational background or support of articles, films, shows, games. The invention of the Internet brought many values to society and made life easier in gaining information, but along with profits, this source gave society drawbacks as well. The paper is strictly dedicated to the analysis of how pop culture is related to mass media and how this mutual connection is evaluated by society.
Though, the medium is a sort of information delivery since the emergence of this term and its materialization in social relations. With the flow of time and progress mass character of media was constantly increasing within the society and now its growth and influence on public opinion are greater than ever. In other words, it shifted all expectations. Brands became more significant for people than real and more vital things. New generations of people apprehend to such innovations as the Internet and computer games and those effects which these sources of information may cause sooner or later. Parents are not aware of how to resist such crucial expansion of new technologies and technical implementation for entertaining.
When talking about the influence of mass media on pop culture it is necessary to represent examples when people intentionally or unintentionally subduing to the “syndrome of the crowd” let them be involved in the money-making machine on the base of mass media presentation of this or that product or service or organization. Of course, such initiatives need great sums of money, but still, it is needful to figure out the most distinctive examples of mass media way toward enculturation with this or that product.
The example of McDonald’s seems to be the one of the most appropriate for analysis. This company with the largest restaurant chain worldwide has its image and good reputation in the field of fast food. The peculiarity of this company is that in every subsidiary of McDonald’s you can find the same items of products suggested in this or that part of the world. Time went by and now it is a symbol of American easiness in the issue of quick and substantial nutrition. Mass media did everything for the purpose of enculturation of this product as a national brand for the American people and as a hint for imitation of proper manners in service and way of eating within people all around the world.
Being one of the cheapest ways to have a bite McDonald’s has become familiar with its family trend. A happy meal is announced to be a great pleasure and imaginary journey for kids due to different figures of cartoon heroes along with meals. A figure of clown and a baby-room which can be seen inside any of the company’s branches are advertised across-the-board by means of television, city-lights and other means for advertising. No one rejects the correspondence of cliché connected with McDonald’s with an American lifestyle and a sort of cultural approach. The phenomenon of McDonald’s impacts comprises its wide direction toward various layers of society (Alfino, Caputo, and Wynyard, 1998).
Another example contemplates the fact when media, advertising, and the formation of normative cultural values are united in a reciprocal connection. Here the issue concerns The Coca-Cola Company, one of the most popular and largest producers of soft drinks in the world. Today many people do not simply drink this beverage because of being thirsty. It became a pointer of one’s following the vogue tendency of label and brand. Advertisements concerning Coca-Cola have many points of joy and good time accompanied with the drink. Moreover, people got accustomed to the fact that Christmas is not possible without Santa Claus from the advertisement and without a row of trucks carrying bottles with a beverage. This feature of psychological impact is outlined with a proper evaluation of Coca-Cola’s significance within the masses. Christmas is a great celebration for families in the United States and other Western countries. Such a wise trick of the Coca-Cola Company was chosen successfully and now this cultural norm is taken for granted in American society.
Communication gets more and more new ways of implementation and provision in society. It is emphasized with the need of individuals to gain more information. Internet is the best helper in this case and provides a lot of programs and services for communication, namely: MySpace, ICQ, Skype, MSN, etc. These and other means for communication are powered by many global companies, such as Microsoft or Google. The second one is the most popular searching resource in the world. It outlines probably all things which are needful in the informative society: calendar, blogs, maps, searching service, mail, etc. This list can be prolonged in terms and definitions. Furthermore, the impact of Google is felt in the language and slang, particularly. George M. Chinnery in his publication admits the expanded character of the company’s impacts on humanity when noting that “no longer do we simply ‘search’ for something online, now we google it” (Chinnery, 2008, p. 3).
To sum up, the growth of the influence from the side of mass media is felt today like never before. People strive to have more and more information realized and face the problem of its infinity due to multiple numbers sources and the diverse nature of mass media in the present time. People even do not notice their dependence on the mass media and the things which it produces. There are many examples, but few reactions. A decline of pop culture is seen and predicted in the short run, and nobody knows what there will be tomorrow.
References
- Chinnery, G. M. (2008). You’ve Got Some GALL: Google-Assisted Language Learning. Washington: Language, Learning & Technology, 12(1), 3.
- Mark Alfino, M., Caputo, J. S., Wynyard, R. (1998). McDonaldization revisited: critical essays on consumer culture. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group.