1-2 Pop Culture Artifact

Popular culture is comprised of the elements, artifacts, and ideas surrounding our daily lives. It exists even when we don’t realize it. We are consumed by pop culture in the form of listening to music, watching a television, looking at advertisements, and many more ways. The term culture often gets associated with long-time traditions and family ways. Popular culture is much more than this. A more anthropological approach would look at pop culture as the artifacts, distinct practices, customs, values, and institutions of a specific social group. Popular culture often brings large groups of people together to share something they have in common such as hippies opposing the government, Star Wars conventions, and monthly book clubs. I see popular culture as a great tool that can help societies come together, share ideas, calmly oppose things, and set it apart from other societies. I believe popular culture plays a large role in allowing people to express and define themselves.


A thorough understanding of popular culture could definitely be relevant to a business environment. The pop culture of the time could be exerting a significant amount of influence on the business’s customers, employees, and operations. A business such as GAP is usually concerned with the clothing aspect of pop culture. Clothing trends can change very quickly and the business has to stay one step ahead or they will lose money. I work in a different atmosphere, but I still see popular culture affect the business. While working in a bank for almost a decade, I have seen how the business tries to “stay with the times”. Technology has been the biggest factor in the ways people have changed their banking habits. The major banking trends have become all about convenience. Instead of checks, most people just swipe debit cards. Instead of walking into their bank, many people check their accounts online. I imagine I will see many new trends come through the banking world in my next ten years.

I feel that Harley Davidson motorcycles have become a major artifact of pop culture. Harley Davidson has been around since 1903 and continues to sell motorcycles to people young and old. I think there is a certain nostalgia and membership Harley owners feel that they can’t quite find anywhere else. The company has expanded their “image” into clothing, accessories, clubs, and events over the years.


I grew up just outside of a little town called Sturgis. Hundreds of thousands of Harley motorcycle owners will make the trip to Sturgis just to hang out with the other Harley owners for a week. Starting the second weekend of August, this normally tiny town bursts with motorcycles during the annual Sturgis Rally. If you asked some of the bikers there why they would ride 600 miles through rain and heat, they would probably tell you it’s a way of life. Many Harley Davidson owners belong to local area Harley Owners Club and even coordinate charity events. Some other motorcycle groups tend to lean towards the criminal-type activities; such as the infamous Hells Angels.

My husband and I have been riding for many years now. He was a service manager of a Harley dealership for awhile, so that’s when I became more involved in Harleys. Our motorcycles allow us to go on relaxing rides through the scenic Rocky Mountains. We also like to customize our motorcycles to fit our individual tastes. It’s a lot of fun to see what other people have done to their bikes and how fast they can go. To me, Harley Davidson motorcycles will be a pop culture icon for decades to come.