Alex Carson
As the particularly challenging year 2020 draws to a close, we all are pretty much looking forward to the new 2021 and the good, we hope, it will bring. Isn’t it that time of the year already when we are all geared to take stock and vow to do better? Ah, only if we had some help with our new year’s resolutions, especially when getting through the current one seems overwhelming. It turns out that the pop culture favorites have its ways to make us get over our resolution hump. Well, even if we don’t add a couple of more futile resolutions, you can check out our list and who knows, you may just make some instant resolutions on things to watch, listen or shop for a happier and healthier 2021.
Nostalgic Events
Around this time of the year, it is not unusual to feel slightly nostalgic while looking back on our memories as we prepare ourselves to make new ones. With that in mind, we decided to look at some of the greatest pop culture favorites anniversaries going to happen in 2021 and we would like to apologize beforehand because these are most probably going to make you feel old – like really old.
There is a significant difference between usual and creative advertising. While the former is spammy and mostly product-centric, the second tends to focus on entertaining its viewers, and offering a reward of some sort or the other, be it a broad smile on the viewer’s face or the satisfaction of understanding a pun or two.
Most Iconic Pop-Cultures
Many a time, creative heads in the advertising domain have turned to pop culture in their efforts to come up with creative ideas that will make their viewers pause for a moment and ponder on their stories. With several tv shows, commercials, cartoons, video games, super-heroes, real-life pop stars, popular culture has forever been an inexhaustible source of aspiration for most. We grew up with pop culture and have been emotionally connected with our favorite stars, characters, products, and even commercials. So, when it comes to discussing Kim Kardashian, Seinfeld, Peter Pan, or Superman, we are all, literally, pop-cultured.
So, we have done quite a deal of research, polls and have finally come up with a collection of pop culture favorites. But there is something extremely special about the ones that made it to our list. Well, we will get to that. Meanwhile, if you are enjoying this video, do not forget to like and subscribe to our channel.
What is most iconic about the features pop-culture favorites are that all of them are turning the big 5-0 in 2021. Now that we have revealed the secret, Ladies and gentlemen, here they are your pop culture favorites! We hope you are going to enjoy knowing them all and above all, finding them inspirational.
Hamburger Helper
Hamburger Helper is a popular food item by General Mills and sells as part of Betty Crocker. It comprises boxed pasta (dried) with powdered seasonings stuffed in a packet. The product line features other starches, such as potatoes or rice. The contents of these boxes combine with water, browned ground beef, and milk to help prepare a one-dish meal. There are variations of the product for other meats like Chicken Helper and Tuna Helper. Wondering how Helper starts even? The answer makes us revisit history once.
So, beef prices are soaring in the US and the economy is weak and that’s when the king of boxed dinners introduce on the West Coast. The year was 1970. Betty Crocker’s Hamburger Helper guided families striving to stretch a pound of meat into a family dinner. With just a pan, a pound of hamburger, and a package, Hamburger Helper transformed dinner for thousands. It was convenient, economical, filled with variation, and enjoyed by the whole family. In 2005, Food Network rated it third on the list of Top Five Fad Foods of 1970, and in 2013, the company shortened the brand’s name to only “Helper”.
The Hamburger Helper’s mascot is “Lefty” or “the Helping Hand” – a four-fingered, white glove with a face with a red nose on the palm. Its appearance on television commercial breaks in the 1970s stuck in our minds.
The Quarter Pounder from McDonald’s
For about three-quarters of a century, McDonald’s has been satisfying us with its mouth-watering burgers and beverages that taste the same anywhere – whether you are in Alaska or you are on a trip to Alabama. However, the menu has undergone a massive transformation over the years. That being said, can you recall when the Quarter Pounder was just introduced?
Well, let’s go back in time once again. Quarter Pounder launches in California in the year 1971 following the footsteps of Big Mac, which introduces just a few years before that. It became part of the menu in 1973. The 4-ounce beef patty that was generously topped with mustard, ketchup, slivered onions, and only two dill pickles placed carefully on a sesame-seed the bun was then sold for just 60 cents. If you paid 10 cents extra, you had the option of upgrading to a Quarter Pounder loaded with Cheese.
But if we suddenly got you pining for a juicy burger now, how about trying one from the McDonald’s new menu?!
Herbal Essences Shampoo
It is a fact of life that things change. For instance, certain foods do not taste the same as they did when we were young, even if the brand name is retained. Sometimes some products are discontinued totally, leaving a huge hole in our hearts. In some cases, public demand successfully brings them back. That got us thinking about the scents from our youth, especially the ones we miss.
For many of us, the first thing that comes to our mind is the Herbal Essence shampoo and the original green bottle that featured a woman with her long hair in a pond surrounded nestled in the lap of mother nature.
Clairol launched this product in 1972 and labeled it as one of the most beautiful experiences. Although the shampoo still exists today, it does not smell anythinglike the original one. That, perhaps, gets us all the more nostalgic, making us wish that we could time travel and capture its ordinal scent in a bottle.
If our description was not appealing enough, we will tell you what the ad claimed. Apparently, the shampoo contained organic scents of birch leaves, juniper, cinchona, mountain gentian, and also melissa. Yep, any other shampoo could not have been more natural than the Herbal Essence.
So, what happened to the wonderful, earthy scent of the 1970s beloved shampoo? You will need to ask American multinational consumer goods giant, Procter & Gamble, which purchased Clairol from Bristol-Myers Squibb in 2001. The latter was the owner of Clairol from the 1950s. Along the journey, Herbal Essence turned out to be “Herbal Essences.”
Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory
Among the vast amount of work in the field of children’s literature, Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964) stood is worth mentioning because it was adapted into two versions. Six years later, when Paramount adapted the classic for the big screen, the title focused on Willy Wonka, the unconventional confectioner. And rightfully so because we cannot help admit that he is a more interesting character. Oops, Charlie!
Gene Wilder made the man delightfully witty, wicked, and warm at the same time. In 1971, Mel Stuart was the first director to adapt Roald Dahl’s text and in 2005, Tim Burton directed yet another adaptation. Here’s the story in short for those of you who still do not know about it yet: A young boy wins a tour through the most splendid chocolate factory in the whole world, led by the most atypical candy maker.
Monster Cereals from General Mills
When fall leaves turn gold from green and children’s heads become preoccupied with thoughts of ghosts, trick-or-treating, and pumpkins, we know that the good old Halloween favorites, Frankenberry, Boo Berry, and Count Chocula are lurking nearby.
Launched to the delight of children worldwide, Count Chocula and Frankenberry were introduced as the first strawberry and chocolate-flavored cereals in the entire market. It was not just their marshmallow sweeties and sweet taste that won a kid’s heart. It was the series of clever commercials that made children be in love with The Monsters.
A brief history of the General Mills Monster cereals
In March 1971, General Mills, a multinational manufacturer of consumer foods, first unveiled Franken Berry and Count Chocula onto breakfast bowls with sugar-loaded cereals that became a favorite in no time. In February 1972, Franken Berry cereal got along with this notorious gang of cereals. The three remained constant throughout the years. Fruit Brute became a part of the fold in 1974 but got discontinued by 1982. In 1987, it was replaced by the Fruity Yummy Mummy, which lasted till 1992.
But what was the best part about General Mills Monster cereals? They would always have some sweet prizes locked inside the boxes then. We really miss those.
Swamp Thing
During the 70s, the comics publishing giants delved into horror, perhaps, quite nostalgic for comics of the 50s. Along with all the good men in their capes and spandex, a new breed of anti-hero culture came to occupy the drugstore racks. Some of the notable titles were Werewolf by Night and Tomb of Dracula.
Swamp Thing is a popular American superhero horror television series that was the brainchild of Mark Verheiden and Gary Dauberman for DC Universe, based on DC Comics characters that held the same name. In Swamp Thing, a humanoid or a plant elemental creature was created by Len Wein, a writer, and Bernie Wrightson, an artist. Over time, it has had many a humanoid or monster incarnation in different but unique storylines. But what many of you would not know is that the character made its first appearance in the House of Secrets #92, in the set of stand-alone horror tales set in the early 20th century. Fascinating, isn’t it?
The Oregon Trail computer game
Most Gen-X and Millennial kids at some point or the other during their school days have played The Oregon Trail – an educational computer game. It is based on the path adopted by pioneers westward in the early days of American history, marked by time-intensive, unpredictable and dangerous encounters along their journey.
Today, you are more likely to come across: You’ve died of dysentery in the form of a meme on social media platforms. It is simply the game reference to a message used commonly in Oregon Trail. Due to the frequent appearance, the phrase has become a catchphrase often used by old-school game fans.
Believe it or not, The Oregon Trail computer game dates all the way back to the 70s, 1971 to be precise. Back in those days it sure did not have the green-and-black, high-tech 8-bit graphics. That was a much later addition. It was started a text-based computer program. Some Minnesota educators had programmed the game for the students and distributed it later via public schools.
Isn’t it hard to recall that these things are half of a century-old? Honestly, some of these box office hits, shampoos, and beef boosters do not even make us realize that many of us were born in 1971. Thankfully, many of these at least bring back good memories and make us feel young. What do you say? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section.
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