Sociology question...?

Holy cow.. there are tons of them!

What about Ronald McDonald? A stop sign? A heart (such as I *heart* NY)? Red light/green light? Doc Martens were big when I was a kid, which is a status symbol...? Gold star? Walmart smiley face? Target target symbol? Men or women figures outside a bathroom stall? Just check for signs-- signs are great examples of symbols that have a socially constructed meaning.

Perhaps someone had to tell a child "okay, so when you see a stick figure with a triangle, that's a girl's bathroom"... but some of them may have become internalized through TV. Ronald McDonald is the symbol for McDonalds, and I think is more well-known globally than Elvis or George Bush (someone puts out statistics about that every few years). I hardly doubt someone had to tell a child, "Well, everytime you see that creepy clown, you should think of McDonalds."

The American Flag one is good.. teachers did have to instruct students as to what the pledge of allegiance is, and how to say it. However, advertisers know that you don't have to tell people to associate two things together-- even if you tried, you couldn't separate the Target store with the target symbol. It's just too ingrained.

So these symbols can be taught and reinforced through praise, they can just be taught through mimicing (such as standing during the national anthem-- if everyone else stands, you don't need someone to tell you to stand too), or finally it can be just internalized through TV or constant repetition.

fire truck - symbol for cronyism and a well paid, easy job.

Fedora - a detective

leather jacket - people with low esteem