Definitely, a question that is definitely open to interpretation throws up a certain amount of philosophical rhetoric, speculation, and even discourse.
In simple terms, it is like a question on par with ‘what came first, the chicken or the egg?’. That is because anything that is current could be considered ‘pop culture’ which in its exact meaning still throws up a great deal of interpretation as to actually what ‘qualifies’ as pop culture.
On this basis and applying this logic, it could be said that at least over the last few decades that bingo could be classified as ‘pop culture’ at least in the UK, where it has sky-rocketed in popularity since at least the 1960s.
A spokesperson from the popular online bingo site BingoSites.com was positive about the impact that the activity has had on the nation saying: “Where do you draw the line between what can be classed as pop culture and what cannot be? The simple fact is that the bingo numbers speak for themselves in terms of popularity and it is in the true sense of the phrase ‘pop culture’ being popular with a significant volume of UK culture!”
How bingo was introduced to UK society
It was in the 1960s when the game of bingo first hit it big in the UK when Eric Morely of Mecca which at the time was an entertainment hospitality company realised that the game was popular in the US and it could be just as successful in the UK.
Originally it found a considerable amount of appeal for women, more as a social occasion, with the opportunity presented to win a significant amount (at the time) of money but to also have fun at the same time.
This effectively became a part of the UK social DNA and it continued to increase in demand as it rapidly spread across the country, leading to more and more bingo halls being built.
So how could pop culture and bingo be linked?
Again, this is open to interpretation, though the hobby has continued to increase in popularity over the years, especially since the highly successful transition to online bingo and it could well be classed in the bracket of anything else that has ingrained itself into the UK psyche, whether that be music, art or even anything associated to the media (television), which under a wider umbrella could be classed as entertainment.
Arguably, bingo has a strong case of being labelled as such. Even traditional bingo today still has its fair share of fans in the UK, despite a number of bingo halls closing in recent years, because of a rise in the popularity of online bingo.
Understandably, there will be those who disagree and as a result, do not class any form of gambling as pop culture, though the facts cannot be ignored especially due to the sheer amount of numbers in the UK that play the game.
