Vanity Fair once wrote "Oprah Winfrey arguably has more influence on the culture than any university president, politician, or religious leaders, except perhaps the Pope." Oprah and The Oprah Winfrey Show are also mentioned a lot in film, televisions shows, and music:
Oprah in Film
Oprah in TV
Oprah in Music

Winfrey's influence reaches far beyond pop-culture. Her influence reaches into unrelated industries where many believe she has the power to cause enormous market swings and radical price changes with a single comment. Her comments related to mad cow on The Oprah Winfrey Show once sent her to the courtroom. We also definitely see her influence, commonly called the O Effect.


But her effect extends beyond media too. She is a force that has permeated the way we think about culture and interpersonal communication.

• The Wall Street Journal coined the word Oprahfication to describe "public confession as a form of therapy."
• Jet magazine uses Oprah as a verb: "I didn't want to tell her, but. … she Oprah'd it out of me."
• Politicians now hold "Oprah-style" town meetings to gauge the mood of their constituents.