Is Dilbert a Cultural Icon?

Many people all over the world wait for and read the daily Dilbert comic strip online or offline. There seem to be many netizens that have even subscribed to Dilbert via RSS feeds so they can get it hot immediately after publishing. What are the everyday causes for and effects of Dilbert being so widely popular? Is it because we identify with Dilbert? Is Dilbert a cultural icon or only a representation of corporate satire?

Dilbert is a comic strip created by Scott Adams. It has been a runaway hit ever since it was first published. The '˜Dilbert phenomenon' has given rise to many small businesses selling Dilbert-themed merchandise like coffee mugs, badges, hats, calendars, computer games, and planners.

The avid fans of Dilbert do not just see it as a cartoon. They see it as a depiction of their own everyday corporate lives. Dilbert seems to illustrate the finer (and not-so-finer) points of work life. It seems to be a work of corporate satire, and has given rise to many discussions and many good laughs. Even some books have been written on the subject. For example, author Norman Solomon has a book entitled "The Trouble with Dilbert" in which he argues Dilbert actually is on the side of big corporations.

The dialogues in Dilbert sometimes seem to be vicious and downright not-funny. But many people seem to identify with the office worker depicted in the strip. Dilbert does mock office work and corporate culture. But somehow it rings a bell in our own consciousness levels.

Dilbert mirrors today's business world with its irony about the cubicle-dwellers. Some people feel Dilbert is more oriented towards Corporate America. But the truth is that any office worker will like the quips on middle-management and will identify with Dilbert as a personality, rather than viewing it as a character in a cartoon.

The characters in Dilbert '" Wally, Dogbert, and Ratbert seem to have attained everyday familiarity. This is what the definition of a '˜cultural icon' is all about. If you look at the definition of a '˜cultural icon' in Wikipedia, what we see is that the term means any image or symbol that is readily recognized, and represents a wide cultural group. Dilbert as a character is indeed recognized widely, and everyday office workers form a cultural group that patronizes Dilbert.

Dilbert is what one would call a '˜mainstream icon'. Dilbert represents itself as an icon of mass culture, albeit in a capitalistic setting. The Dilbert strip has won awards as the best international comic strip. So may be it does indeed apply to worldwide corporate and governmental bureaucracies.

Dilbert seems to be available for viewing both on the Internet as well as on newer mobile phones. Dilbert has now become a part of mass culture and many people read Dilbert the first thing in the morning. In conclusion, Dilbert fits the definition of a cultural icon, one we can identify with ourselves as we follow Dilbert's experiences with his '˜pointy-haired' boss.