It is amazing how much of what we perceive as part of our culture and is really manufactured by personal and economic interests and we are not even aware of that.

Diamonds:

When the campaign began, in 1967, not quite 5 percent of engaged Japanese women received a diamond engagement ring. By 1972, the proportion had risen to 27 percent. By 1978, half of all Japanese women who were married wore a diamond; by 1981, some 60 percent of Japanese brides wore diamonds. In a mere fourteen years, the 1,500-year Japanese tradition had been radically revised.

Bacon & Eggs for breakfast:

http://levick.com/blog/public-affairs/history-bacon-breakfas...

Some other examples?