Getting to know America
Grandad April 17th, 2007
As you are aware, I was involved in a podcast over the weekend.
Prior to the actual programme, there was a certain amount of ‘warming up’, with a bit of chat and banter.
Many moons ago I wrote a post about how advertisers here assume that nothing is any good unless it is American or has American connections. You know what I mean - all those American accents and Guinness being drunk in the streets of New York, and Andi McDowell screeching ‘because you’re worth it’ or some such crap.
Anyway, I started to complain to Brianf about this and how it drives me mad.
I was going to ask him how he would feel if all ads on American television implied that nothing was any good unless it had an Irish connection. You know what I mean -
“Begorragh and bejayzus, but yiz should all drink this Budweiser like we do in Connemara”!
But he got there before me.
“You know what drives me mad?” says Brianf.
“What?”
“Every Goddamn ad here in the States tells us that nothing is any good unless it’s European”!!!!!
Oh how that was music to my ears! Such sweet revenge. Such irony.
But how ridiculous it all is. The Americans are saying it is no good unless it’s European, and the Europeans are saying it’s no good unless it’s American.
Of course, we could just swap produce. But then America would get all the Guinness [a very bad idea] and we’d all have to drink Budweiser ["gnat's piss" as my mother-in-law would have called it]. So that’s not on.
Or we could just swap ads, which would be very confusing.
So why don’t the Europeans just say it’s no good unless it’s European, and the American’s can say it’s no good unless it’s American?
It makes sense to me.
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