Europeans reappraise their relationship with America, Americans
Interesting story on trends in European advertising -- one that gives us a sense of what's happening on the other side of the Atlantic from the country that now has burgers and "freedom" fries (is that freedom to get fat?). According to the Wall Street Journal (subscription required):
The commercials mirror Europeans' complex, changing attitudes toward the U.S., say some marketing consultants. "People have gone through the love affair with Americana and they're coming out of the other side," says Marie Ridgley, an executive at Added Value, a strategic marketing consulting firm owned by Britain's WPP Group PLC. "It's not necessarily totally anti-Americanism going on, but it's a reappraisal of that relationship. We've gone through the stage where we buy into the T.G.I. Friday's, we buy into McDonald's, we buy into Nike hook, line and sinker."
The war in Iraq nourished anti-American sentiment in Europe, with some restaurants removing Coca-Cola and Budweiser brands from their menus. Some French people started calling American cheese "idiot cheese," and vandals in Bordeaux, France, even torched a replica of the Statue of Liberty.