Popular Culture Essays

The Wiggles are a children’s music and entertainment group consisting of four members who formed in Sydney in 1991. The original members were Anthony Field, Murray Cook, Greg Page and Jeff Fatt. Before the formation of the group, Field and Fatt were members of the Australian pop band The Cockroaches with Page being a roadie, and met Cook at Macquarie University where they were studying to become pre-school teachers. Together, they formed The Wiggles. Using connections gained from The Cockroaches, The Wiggles’ first manager Jeremy Fabinyi negotiated with the ABC to air The Wiggles’ TV show.

This program essentially promoted their first album and tour, launching The Wiggles’ careers. The Wiggles, due to the development of technology such as television and the internet, have globalised into an internationally recognised franchise. By definition, a popular culture has four characteristics; they are associated with commercial products, develop from a local to international scale, allow consumers to have widespread access to it, and are constantly changing and evolving.

The Wiggles can be classified as a popular culture due to its conforming to these characteristics. The group conforms to these characteristics by having much ssociated paraphernalia, such as albums and posters, has developed into an international franchise which tours the world, allows consumers widespread access to The Wiggles products, and is changing and evolving in order to benefit the children of the present day society. Advances In technology have allowed social and cultural studies to become more In-depth.

When Did The Wiggles Form

Such studies have highlighted the importance of children’s social and cultural experiences linked with their literacy development.

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Children who participated In the watching of programs such as The Wiggles were noted within these studies to have higher literacy rates at the start of heir primary schooling than children who didn’t. This has enabled The Wiggles to have status In the early childhood education Industry due to the children’s stimulation of their creative senses, while also making the learning process enjoyable for the child.

This therefore has a positive effect on the young Individual In the present as well as the future, as well as The Wiggles being viewed In a positive manner by consumers and members of society because of this Influence on children. The Wiggles are so successful because of their positive Influence on children’s lives nd the satisfaction that adults receive from being aware of the educational value behind the program. This can be obviously demonstrated through the long-running creative programs aired on televlslon with such popularity that The Wiggles have become known around the world.

This has made them an International franchise and allowed the company to expand Into other associated products and programs such as live performance shows and recorded albums. The products of this popular culture are aimed at a specific target market. Primary consumers of The Wiggles are young children but the major purchasers of associated products and paraphernalia re the children’s parents and adults. There Is no dlvlde In the consumption of this popular culture’s associated products In relation to gender, although the group previously consisted of four males, as well as many of the associated characters being male.

This recently changed In 2012 when a female Wiggle was Introduced, before, therefore giving The Wiggles the opportunity to expand their market even more. Despite the positive change of introducing a female Wiggle in order to make the children’s program more appealing to both genders, uproar has occurred resulting in a backlash over the internet. Social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter have seen The Wiggles pages slandered by the secondary consumers of this popular culture, being parents, due to the introduction of this new yellow Wiggle.

This has created a now somewhat negative attitude towards The Wiggles due to the rejection of this change. Due to the growing online shopping market, the purchasing of The Wiggles paraphernalia has become simpler due to the ease of access for consumers to these products. Such paraphernalia includes costumes, albums and television series’, computer games, toys, books, bags and stationery. This market has allowed the expansion of The Wiggles market due to the vast number of people who have access to such technology as the internet.

Over the 22 years of which The Wiggles’ have been an entertainment source on the television for young children, the philosophy of the group, being that of healthy eating, dancing and singing, has not changed. A reason why The Wiggles are so well-known within the present society is due to this trusted source of creative early childhood education being conveyed to the audience through different media outlets. This creates a positive perception of this popular culture within many consumers’ eyes.