1. QOTD tie-in
Popular Culture can be manufactured, packaged, marketed, and sold
Jell-O became the “favorite snack” of Mormons primarily because of marketing. Just the mold + Mormons did not make Jell-O successful. Marketing to families was key.
Culture hearth – point of origin

2. Commodification and Authenticity
Commodification – when something that was not regarded as an object, good, idea to be bought and sold in the market, now is – Ex. bottled water, yoga, sweat lodges, tourist buses, Irish pubs
When commodification occurs, the question of authenticity follows
Is it authentic to say Mormons love jell-o?
Mormons – a local culture full of jell-o fanatics – image or experience is typecast as an “authentic” image or experience of that culture, and outsiders want to ask Mormons “So . . .what’s with the jell-o?”

3. Local Culture and Popular Culture
Ways to distinguish local/folk from popular culture:
Local or folk culture changes from place to place but tends to not change drastically from time to time.
Will the Amish go mainstream?
Popular culture tends not to change drastically from place to place but does from time to time.
Who are your generation’s pop culture icons? Will these icons still be popular 5, 10, 15, 20 years from now?
Line is still blurry, but some distinctions can be made.

4. Topic
Folk Culture
Popular Culture
Area it occupies
Small or large?
Where it is found
LDCs or MDCs?
How it diffuses
Which form of diffusion?
Family
Patriarchal, large
Women empowered, smaller
Food
Local
Profitable, fast, universally attractive
Housing
Local materials
Efficiency, same style, mixture of materials, universal aesthetic appeal
Religion
Important role
Unimportant role, too divisive, could jeopardize profits
Creation of materials
handmade
Dolla’ dolla’ bills y’all; the market rules the world; global supply chains
Impact on Environment
Minimal
Humongous

6. Westernization of popular culture
Globalization of popular culture – anime, manga, k-pop,
Reterritorialization