Category: Pop Culture History

Long before the digital age where anyone could promote themselves, Angelyne is in many ways the first “influencer” who became famous for being famous. She achieved this by putting up dozens of billboards with her image and name all around L.A. Her fame was most intense in the Los Angeles area but spread out to the rest of the U.S. via news stories and word of mouth.

However, she didn’t turn this new brand of recognition into a music or acting career, and she didn’t have access at the time to the myriad ways influencers and creators can crowdfund themselves now. So, how did Angelyne capitalize on her influence and maintain her lifestyle?

This is a stunning video of Michael Jackson’s infamous Pepsi commercial hair fire incident from 1984. The video, released by US Weekly, has two takes – one in which the pyrotechnic explosion goes off correctly and the sixth take in which the explosion occurs too early and sets the King of Pop’s hair on fire. Jackson continues his performance unaware but eventually realizes what has happened, at which point he starts to spin around and production crew members rush in to put out the fire.