World turning its back on Brand America

[Barrett808]

World turning its back on Brand America
By Kevin Allison in New York
Published: August 1 2005 03:00 | Last updated: August 1 2005 03:00

The US is increasingly viewed as a "culture-free zone" inhabited by arrogant and unfriendly people, according to study of 25 countries' brand reputations.

The findings, published online today, will add to concerns that anti-Americanism is hurting companies whose products are considered to be distinctly "American".

The Anholt-GMI Nation Brands Index found that although US foreign policy remained a key driver of hostility, dissatisfaction with the world's sole superpower might run deeper.

"The US is still recognised as a leading place to do business, the home of desirable brands and popular culture," said Simon Anholt, author of the survey. "But its governance, its cultural heritage and its people are no longer widely respected or admired by the world."

(more)

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/77868922-0228-11da-9481-00000e2511c8.html

[tk2kewl]

1. that didn't take long

[Ravenseye]

14. Fickle Bastards

All we did was thumb our nose at them and invade a country illegally to gain control of their oil, and for that they hate us? Sheesh.

[dean_dem]

34. They hate us for our freedoms!

Geez, pay attention.

[saigon68]

40. A military populated by Thugs and Hoodlums

Shades of William Calley and My lai.

[Uncle Joe]

58. I believe they lost respect for us when we

turned counting ballots in to rocket science. World's only superpower my ass.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

2. And this SHOULD be a concern to all who say we live in a global economy

We do indeed and the globe can punish us for not recognizing that fact

[Deja Q]

65. "Global economy" is nothing more than a designation for offshoring.

The execs wouldn't want it to be truly corporate as they would lose a lot of money. They make nothing anyway.

[corkhead]

3. Thanks War Monkey

Crawford Caligula, *, pResident, etc...

[glitch]

36. Mad Monkey King

got that from another DUer, fits perfectly. Works in a number of other ways too: mad monkey regime, mad monkey coup, mad monkey administration, mad monkey looting, mad monkey war profiteers...

[xchrom]

4. "culture-free zone" inhabited by arrogant and unfriendly people

the people of the world are right.

it's becoming accurate assesment of life in america today.

the culture war is real.

[Kelvin Mace]

9. America:

a country inhabited by people who can barely speak their own language, never mind anyone else's.

[xchrom]

12. indeed.

willfully ignorant.

[anotherdrew]

66. willfully ignorant. and proud of it

the people of the world are right. Most people in this country are so indoctrinated they can barely think. and knowledge? fergetaboutit, being "smart" makes you unpopular in school and later in life too for that matter. most of them actually seem to think learning and thinking are physically painful.

This is the results of 70 years of the "mohawk valley formula" which Chomsky talks about being fed to the gullible through every media info stream existing in this once great country.

[Pretty_in_CodePink]

68. So true. Intellectuals are distained.

That is why so many Americans identify with *. So, so pathetic.

[llmart]

73. There is definitely an anti-intellectual bent in this country......

today, but we have to try to turn that around. I remember when we revered intellectuals and independent thinkers. Now the mulletheads and rednecks and knuckledraggers are admired??? Where did we go wrong? I refuse to hide my intellectualism.

[Squatch]

13. Well, the people of the world can go fuck themselves.

LOL

:evilgrin:

:hide:

[Tesha]

61. You doubtless intended sarcasm...

> "Well, the people of the world can go fuck themselves."

You doubtless intended sarcasm but that, in fact, seems to be the
majority point of view here in 'Murka. And it will cost us dearly
in blood and treasure over the next few decades.

Tesha

[genieroze]

18. Our culture is Oil Jesus and we are going to shove him down everyone's

throat, for their own good.

[Greyhound]

35. and culture is losing, hands down. n/t

[jokerman93]

71. Culture?

We don't need no freekin' culture!

[politicaholic]

5. Now THAT'S great diplomacy!

As long as no one leaves American soil, things should be just great...yup...just stay where you are and watch the world filtered through television.

Leave the diplomacy up to the incompetant warmongers where it belongs.

Both Condi and Rove are supposed to be "genius" level...I personally don't see it, I really don't.

[iconoclastic cat]

29. So were Leopold and Loeb.

[formerrepuke]

6. What happened to "Stronger at Home, Respected Abroad?"

...oh, wait, that was the Kerry-Edwards slogan. Never mind. It will take years to undo the damage * & Co. are doing.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

7. Wait till Bolton takes the spotlight

and shows the world just what a "culture-free zone inhabited by arrogant and unfriendly people" really looks like. They ain't seen nothing yet.

[reprobate]

53. Just had the funniest mind picture.

Bolton is standing at the podium at the General Assembly, speaking to the world representatives and they are throwing rotten vegetables at him.

A picture that truly needs to be on national or world tv.

[Frederik]

57. So true

Poor bastards don't know what's in store for them.

[DBoon]

8. Brands are all we export now!

Few things that are "real" are made in the USA anymore

[anotherdrew]

67. too true

many of our less intelligent 'business leaders' are going to be in for quite a shock... US business is an oxymoron, all they are doing is making "middle-men" out of themselves.

[dArKeR]

10. Minutes ago, I've just dusted off a 1967 Presto Pressure Cooker/Canner

Wow, it's beautiful and still works. Still can get all replacement parts... Too bad it's probably now made in China. Too bad we couldn't be proud of what America has done. It's all been destroyed by an idiot shit-for-brains mass murderer!

Now to 100% fact. I've been in Asia a long time. Met thousands and thousands of people/friends. When I went there 14 years ago, millions of people wore American flag pants, shirts, hats, bags, scooters... then millions more wore Michael Jordan stuff... other Hollywood heros too. Everyone wanted to live, go to school in America.... I swear to God when Bush became President the way he cheated, then Afghanistan, Iraq, North Korea, Venezuela, Kyoto, "Old Europe"... I swear I don't meet anyone wanting to come to America anymore. I know dozens who have turned down Green Cards. I said this would happen is our schools and it did. I said this would happen in tourism to America and it did. I said it would happen to our products and it is. I said Bush is Satan here to destroy America and it is.

I'm ripping out my oil furnace and putting in a Made in USA pellet stove. I'm not giving my money to the Bush Family Oil rapests!

[faithnotgreed]

48. i love that darker - pellet fuel

is among my (environmental) favorites

several years ago in my house i had a smallish pellet fuel burner in the fireplace but an actual separate unit im sure would be much better

good luck with that and thank you for doing it

[displacedtexan]

11. It's official. We suck.

It only took 4 and a half years to turn us into Freeperland... after 40 years of sub rosa wingnut conspiracy.

This is horrible news.

We're 11th out of 25.

Australia, which was a penal colony, ranks #1.

This is way embarrassing.

[HereSince1628]

15. Well, they just hate our freedom.

What do they want really? As a nation we are doing our best to catch up in the numbers of wars, genocides, cultural revolutions. It's just damned hard to catch up to so many countries with such a big head start.

[Dhalgren]

19. A "culture free" post?

[burythehatchet]

16. To counteract this trend the president should

appoint John Bolton to the UN.

:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

[otohara]

17. Not To Worry - Karen Hughes Will Save The Day

she's such a wiz you know.

[Robeson]

20. And our arrogance continues....

..."The US ranked 11th in the Brands Index, which asks people around the world to rate 25 countries according to their cultural, political and investment potential and other criteria. Australia received the highest overall score, with respondents expressing "an almost universal admiration of its people, landscapes and living and working environment", according to the report.

Although the US received high marks for its popular culture, it ranked last in cultural heritage, a measure of a country's "wisdom, intelligence, and integrity", according to Mr Anholt.

That the world takes a dim view of the US people will surprise most Americans themselves: the study's American respondents consistently placed the US at the top of all six categories polled. "

Who cares whatever everyone else says. We're #1! Go team America!

Wow. Americans are living in their own private Idaho.

[Karmakaze]

25. Matt and Trey said it best:

America, Fuck Yeah!

[Laughing Mirror]

27. Makes me wonder how much closer to the bottom US would have placed

had no Americans participated in this poll.

[Robeson]

44. Good point.

[City Lights]

32. That Americans placed the US at the top in every category says it all.

Keep chuggin' the Kool-Aid, 'Murika!

[YOY]

21. this will take sooooo many years to fix...

I just hope the hardest hit will be the top-levels of the corporate republican supports.

but of course it will more likely be the people who work for them who are hardest hit and will continue to suffer for years.

[soda]

78. "this will take sooooo many years to fix..."

not really; many of us foreigners look forward to the day the Good Americans stand up and say ENOUGH, hell your for fathers stood up to tyranny before and won, and maybe the next American revolution will not be fought with bullets and bayonets,rather by boycotts and internet blogs, by the way i stopped buying levi´s jeans when they closed the last US factory making them

[earth mom]

22. Good-let Corporate America suffer losses from their push to globablize

at the expense of millions of Americans by robbing citizens of good paying jobs, job security and pensions.

The Corporate bastards deserve every bit of backlash they get. :grr:

[cliss]

23. This could be the death-knell to our economy.

Let's take a look at our economy:

We're not doing too well these days. We have a trade deficit that's growing every day. I think it's at $464 billion right now. Meaning, we're importing way more than we export. The culprit: China.

So our own manufacturing base is a hollowed-out shell. Most of our manufacturing has gone to other countries.

We're basically living on paper, or our image. Hollywood is still lucrative. People love to watch our movies. Brand names like Pepsi, Coke, Colonel Sanders have kept us afloat.

It's basically all we have now.

So let's say there's a sustained boycott. People around the world decide to boycott any American products. Boycotts work, believe me. When the corporation is nailed on its bottom line, things change. And there are plenty of other good products out there. People really don't need to drink Sprite.

This may just be too much for Uncle Sam.

[Nia Zuri]

24. Irish neice no longer wants to move here

My SO is from Ireland. His 21 year old neice has wanted to move here for some time. She is an artist, very smart and socially aware. She visited us in SF quite often and had been counting the days until she could move to San Francisco for good. I just heard yesterday that when she finishes scool she is moving to Australia (has another uncle there).

[CountAllVotes]

28. That is really too bad

San Francisco has and always will have a very fine Irish community. There used to be a lot of immigrants from Ireland in San Francisco. I don't know how it is nowadays, but in the past, it was a great place for Irish immigrants to live.

I hope she likes living in Australia; it is a lot different than San Francisco no doubt.

:kick:

[FlemingsGhost]

26. Military might is not needed to tame the American beast.

Watch, as the rest of world puts the squeeze on, and idly stands by as we spend ourselves into oblivion.

The collapse of the USSR should serve as a reminder ...

[Laughing Mirror]

30. Yes rising infant mortality rates, gulags, a rotting space program

... many of the signs are already here.

[mmonk]

31. We can be felled

without war and the world knows it.

[Straight Shooter]

33. We're already down

We just don't know it. (most of us)

I have no hope that America can survive bush and the stampeding GOP elephants run amok. Time is running out.

[oscar111]

38. 100,000 die in our streets/yr

foreigners see that, and figure there isnt anything here to admire.

the homeless die from heat, cold, rat bites, hunger. A million on the streets, courtesy of R Reagan. Includes small children. Sleep on the school steps, get up, go to school in the morning.

25 nations outlive us.

we also have 12 million hungry

our Job Shortage is 14 million

All within a context of 1O9 Trillion national wealth {see demopedia page, "Capital" for fed reserve fact link}.

Bush's latest Budget adds a million to the hungry {food stamp cuts} and tosses another million out into the street {housing voucher cuts}.

CEO Kozlowski recently had a birthday party with vodka flowing from a male opening in an ice statue.. cost, $2 million.
Such is our "culture".

not much here to admire.

[54anickel]

42. You've convinced me - time to move....eom

[MisterP]

37. is Karen Hughes going to make her face pinch into "crying mode"?

after all, "Brand America"--"democracy" and Thatcherism--is her new job

[Lydia Leftcoast]

39. As I look at the rest of the world, I see that most of the

economic vitality is in Asia, and most of the political vitality is in Latin America and Eastern Europe. This past spring, I attended the Twin Cities International Film Festival, seeing nine films from eight countries in two weeks, all of them worth seeing, although I didn't like them equally, but featuring original plots with interesting, well-defined characters, and, in the case of the comedies, gags that I couldn't predict. The musical creativity in Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East is astounding. When it comes to television drama, whether contemporary or historical, the Brits leave us in the dust. The Japanese (and undoubtedly other Asians as well) are thinking seriously about and planning for possible future crises.

Neal Postman's book Amusing Ourselves to Death, had an incredibly prescient title.

[AngryAmish]

41. This is kinda skewed

We export a lot of trashy culture - Jerry Springer Show is very popular overseas for example. Well, why wouldn't people think that we are trash if they saw that show - as well as Baywatch, any sitcom etc.

However, every culture has its vulgar elements but they are usually not exported here. We see a lot of fine English films, but remember they also had Benny Hill. Italian gameshows are very...revealing. etc.

[Lorien]

43. Oh, but we HAVE "culture"!

[Initech]

47. Wait, American culture exists that's not dictated to us by advertising?

Where is this culture? I want to know!

[Alpharetta]

45. I don't know why companies like CocaCola back the Republicans

It seems like they'd understand their brand is harmed by anti-American sentiment brought by gunbarrel diplomacy and military adventurism.

So why do they give more to Republicans?
http://www.buyblue.org/detail.php?corpId=169

[oscar111]

49. Cokacola likes the gop taxcuts i guess

woodruff family owns it IIRC

antiunion activty in Guatamala years ago, too, was noteworthy.

[Barrett808]

46. Here's the StopUSA boycott site:

http://www.stopusa.org/boycottnews.htm

[Rainscents]

51. Thanks for the link!

Wait till Bolton gets going with UN... All hell is going to break loose. This will cause more boy-scooting by world.

[Barrett808]

56. It will be interesting to see where the US scores next year n/t

[GoddessOfGuinness]

54. Who needs to boycott?

With so many Americans shopping at WalMart, we're killing ourselves.

I can't join in a boycott against my own countrymen. I do boycott or avoid businesses that are part of a corporate monopoly. And I support small American businesses regardless of their politics; but I try to buy from Democratic supporters first.

[Zorra]

50. Bu*h and republicans are, literally, destroying the United States

in almost every conceivable way.

And arrogant, ignorant, rude "strip-mall republicans" are universally hated by just about everyone that has ever encountered them.

I have lived outside the US for over 4 years, and when I encounter these ugly American "strip mall republicans" they never cease to amaze me with their astounding thoughtlessness, lack of class and consideration, arrogant belief in their own superiority and their unrestrained rudeness.

These people are really shitty human beings and they give decent American people a bad name.

And Bu*h is the essential ugly American. He is universally and vehemently despised by almost every single person on this planet.

[Lorien]

55. Good name for them. A friend of mine was with just such a

repub co-worker on a business trip not long ago. They were traveling through some lovely rural countryside and woodlands, and my friend's coworker kept wrinkling his nose, shaking his head, and grumbling. My friend finally asked him what he was so unhappy about, and the repuke snarled "Look at all this WASTE! Fucking trees and shit-don't these people know about MALLS!! Where's the industry? These people living out here are WASTING all this land! Build a Red Lobster or something, for Chrissakes"!! My friend was a bit stunned and said "who's going to go to all these malls you propose? Hardly anyone lives out here"! "They would if they built a fucking mall"! he replied. Typical repuke mindset; talk about "God's creation" when the creation is a fetus or a brain dead person, then piss on the wilderness. Greedy hypocrites.

Once they sink America, they'll blame it all retroactively on Clinton, just as they gave credit for the Clinton economy to St. Ronny.

[SeanQuinn]

52. I wonder.

Hm, people must love a country with it's finger on the trigger on any country or any person who threatens its worldwide reign.

[SidDithers]

59. More from Anholt-GMI

http://www.gmi-mr.com/gmipoll/press_room_wppk_pr.phtml

"The second quarterly NBI report analyzes the brand values of more countries (25 compared to 11) than the first report published in May 2005. Australia, a new entry in the NBI, has replaced Sweden as the world’s strongest nation brand. Canada is ranked number two, Switzerland three and the UK is fourth, with Sweden fifth. Overall, the U.S. is now eleventh, rather than fourth; Russia and Turkey remain at the bottom of the overall ranking at 24th and 25th, respectively."

Sid

[muriel_volestrangler]

62. Here's the really telling quote

"When the international panel was asked how much they trust a country’s government to make responsible decisions on peace and security, the U.S. came 19th just above South Korea, China, and Russia, but below all other Western nations."

[SammyWinstonJack]

60. Chalk up another "success" for the CEO pResident.

Good job, Chimpy!

[Megahurtz]

63. Thanks to Bush&Corp

and his dedicated greedy followers, the world hates this country now.

Really gives you a peaceful and secure feeling doesn't it?:(

[kiraboo]

64. I'm on a European holiday as I type. My experience these past

few weeks backs up the study cited. We are indeed disliked, mistrusted and laughed at. Our politics are a joke and a wonder. One Swedish woman told me that what astonished her people most was not the fact that Bush won the second election, but the manner in which he took the first. This seemed, she said, to be almost unreal in what she took to be a 'democratic' country. Another woman my husband and I spoke to about Greenpeace said to us, 'It's nice to know that there are at least two good Americans!' I told her that in fact about half of us weren't all bad. These are only two small scenarios; I find myself rebutting in a friendly manner all kinds of mis/mass perceptions about our morality, our education and even our hygiene. I'd be offended if I hadn't expected this. On the other hand, many people have said that they believe that Bush is being unfairly burdened with all the responsibility for what the administration has done. These are not stupid people - they recognize Bush's limitations and the power of those idealists who surround him. Fear not, I spread the word that the man himself is vile, personally, and a gross embarrassment to most of us. For the record, I am travelling in Germany, Austria and Sweden.

[confludemocrat]

72. You meant ideologues around Bush, not "idealists" (I hope)

And all that among fellow arians? people further south are simply dismissive of us and Bush if they pause to think anything at all about such things over their langorous, excellently tasty lunches in warm ocean breezes by the mediterranean. We are nothing but stupid and deadly nuisances and threats that they prefer to keep out of their minds if we would only let them.

[truth4achange]

69. rule book

Hey, wait, I thought the power of the free market was supposed to take care of this kind of thing!?! Don't people in other countries know the rules?

http://www.hairytruth.blogspot.com

[WhiteTara]

70. "mission accomplished"

thanks chimpy.

[peace_prevails]

74. Major shift here in New Zealand

I've been here in NZ for 4 years now.

In 2002, I would hear: "The western US and all those parks are such lovely places. America is lovely."

Today: "America? It's a cesspool of bloody assholes, mate."

I'm not even going to get into what they say when they find out I am from Texas.... but it ain't compassionate conservatism...


muchos gracias para nada, senor *.

[primavera]

76. Lucky bloody you!

My fiancee and I have been fantasizing for years now about the prospect of emigrating to New Zealand, but I gather it's not easy these days. Glad to hear at least one of us made it out of the Fourth Reich alive. :hi:

[Supersedeas]

75. But its governance is not longer widely respected

[HockeyMom]

77. But WE were going to bring France to her knees

boycotting THEM? ROFL


Freedom Fries, anyone? Who is eating CROW now?

[Barrett808]

79. Walter Jones ate crow and now regrets "Freedom Fries"

Jones sails a contrarian course
Conservative congressman scolds Bush, bucks GOP leaders
Published: May 15, 2005
Modified: May 15, 2005 3:00 AM
By VALERIE BAUERLEIN, Washington Correspondent

WASHINGTON -- The words "freedom fries" are still on the menu in the U.S. House cafeteria, and are likely to appear in the first line of Walter Jones' obituary, perhaps with their lesser-known cousin, freedom toast.

The words came to Jones, as so many things do, by a combination of God's hand and a constituent's request.

They made him famous, for a moment, after 10 years in the U.S. House. Jones led the fight to rename fries and toast at the Capitol in protest of the French leading opposition to the war in Iraq.

Ask him about it now, and he lays his cheek in his left hand, a habit he repeats dozens of times a day when lost in thought or sadness.

"I wish it had never happened," Jones said. ...

(more)

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/2408544p-8786693c.html

[Barrett808]

80. Wonder if today's disaster in Iraq helps or hurts the "brand" n/t

[GoBlue]

81. Not to worry...

most Americans have Jesus Insurance and their sins are paid for in full. Or so they claim.