Tag: Nation Branding
Does Chicago Lack a ‘Recognizable Narrative’?
by Eva Holland | 10.09.09 | 3:26 PM ET
Over at The Smart Set, Jessa Crispin speculates about what her one-time hometown means to the outside world. She writes:
Because Chicago has no new compelling storyline, the old ones will have to do for the rest of the world. Even the renowned literary magazine Granta—after spending who knows how long creating its recent issue devoted entirely to Chicago—used Al Capone as its first example of what defines Chicago in the issue’s introduction.
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Yahoo! BuzzForbes Ranks World’s Billionaires Against National GDPs
by Eva Holland | 10.06.09 | 2:54 PM ET
And, for many nations, it’s not a flattering comparison. Bill Gates’ net worth, for instance, is higher than the gross domestic product of more than 140 different countries. Warren Buffett’s wealth ranks up there with North Korea’s, while George Lucas and Guyana are neck-and-neck further down the list. Hmm. I smell gimmicky rebranding potential—tropical vacation in Lucasland, anyone? (Via Kottke)
The ‘Entity Formerly Known as the British Empire’ Has Some Advice for an America in Decline
by Michael Yessis | 09.28.09 | 12:31 PM ET
More McSweeney’s hilarity from World Hum contributor Kate Hahn. Here’s one bit of advice for the U.S. from the former British Empire, delivered from a bar on the Costa del Sol:
Look, I’ve been there. Coffers empty. Troops everywhere. Economy sour. Your empire’s finished. But just because I’m retired doesn’t mean I can’t be useful. Here’s how you get through it.
First off: lean on your family. And by that I don’t mean the hearth-and-home sort, I mean royals. Make the office of the president of the United States more regal. Pomp and circumstance distracts you from the fact that you don’t matter anymore. Have guards stand outside the White House gates in some kind of regalia. Celebrate the president’s birthday—not just the dead ones, the one you have now. What’s his ... Bomama ... Obama, yes, yes, the Kenyan.
Ah, Kenya. Mine once. Moment for Kenya.
Nigeria’s Rebranding Campaign Hits a Hollywood Road Block
by Eva Holland | 09.28.09 | 11:43 AM ET
Poor Nigeria. The government there launched a major rebranding campaign back in March, attempting to improve its reputation for corruption and annoying email scams, but so far cooperation from outside the country has been hard to come by. Two of the latest obstacles? A Sony PlayStation commercial that made a crack about those aforementioned email scams, and the sci-fi movie “District 9,” which apparently portrays its Nigerian characters as “gangsters, cannibals, pimps and prostitutes.” Ouch.
‘Why Do Russians Drink Vodka?’ and Other Google Queries
by Eva Holland | 09.22.09 | 3:54 PM ET
The Telegraph has a funny slideshow of screenshots from Google searches in progress, showing the drop-down menus of suggestions generated by popular searches. So a search for “why do british” pulls up “why do british have bad teeth,” “why do british drink so much” and other national stereotypes. My favorites? “Why do Japanese people do the peace sign” and “why do germans love david hasselhoff.” Why, indeed?
Julia Child, French Cuisine and the Empirical Method
by Eva Holland | 09.21.09 | 9:59 AM ET
There’s an interesting nugget in this New York Times story about the French cooking community’s views on Julia Child. One cookbook author, after calling Julia Child’s recipes “academic and bourgeois,” grudgingly admits that Child’s methodical American approach—she spent years carefully testing her recipes—has its advantages. “The French think that they are natural-born cooks; they prepare a dish off the top of their heads, without testing it,” she told the Times. “In France, we rush over explanations.” (Via The Book Bench)
Reviving Brand America
by Rick Steves | 09.17.09 | 11:57 AM ET
REUTERS/Tobias Schwarz Exploring Europe, exploring travel as a political act
Visit Denmark! Knock Somebody Up!
by Eva Holland | 09.16.09 | 5:03 PM ET
Forget about Australia’s “Where the bloody hell are you?” campaign. There’s a new winner in the controversial tourism campaign sweepstakes, and it comes from, of all places, Denmark.
The Danish ad plays like a homemade webcam clip, featuring a young woman who claims to be looking for her baby’s father—a foreign tourist whose name she can’t remember. I’m not totally sure how it’s intended to entice visitors to the country—I don’t think accidental parenthood is on most folks’ dream itineraries—but, predictably, the spot was greeted with indignation and has been removed from VisitDenmark’s YouTube channel. The AP quotes a VisitDenmark representative as saying that it was meant to be “a nice and sweet story about a grown-up woman who lives in a free society and accepts the consequences of her actions.”
Of course, the ad didn’t get yanked before copies, parodies and responses started popping up. Here’s a re-posting of the original:
Canuck to American Travelers: Lose the Canadian Flag
by Eva Holland | 08.31.09 | 12:58 PM ET
Gadling’s Sean McLachlan has a message for fearful Americans headed overseas: “The world doesn’t hate you as much as you think it does.”
Meet the Micronations (Again)
by Eva Holland | 08.26.09 | 12:50 PM ET
It’s been three years since Lonely Planet released a guide to the world’s “micronations”—tiny, self-defined territories, often unrecognized by anyone but their own citizens. Now, Smithsonian takes another look at a few of the micronations and the reasons they’ve been created—which range from tourism gimmicks to political statements to plain old teenage boredom. It’s a fun read. (Via Boing Boing)
Ohio: The Burger State?
by Eva Holland | 08.19.09 | 5:03 PM ET
The Cincinnati Enquirer points out that six of the top ten burgers listed in George Motz’s “Hamburger America: A State-by-State Guide to 100 Great Burger Joints” hail from Ohio. Perhaps it’s time for an update to the state nickname? (Via The Book Bench)
Embassy to Traveling Brits: This is Not a Tourist Information Center
by Eva Holland | 08.13.09 | 12:07 PM ET
The reputation of British tourists sure is taking a beating lately. This week, British consular officials, fed up with frivolous requests for help from their traveling citizens, have released the details on some of the more absurd questions they field. Said Juliet Maric, the British Consul in Alicante, Spain: “If you have a serious problem abroad—maybe you’ve been involved in an accident, have lost your passport or are a victim of crime, we can help you. But we can’t tell you who is allowed to use your swimming pool, pay your taxi fares for you—or do anything about the exchange rate.”
British Tourists: Still ‘Pissing About’ in Latvia
by Eva Holland | 08.05.09 | 12:27 PM ET
And Riga’s mayor, Nils Usakovs, has had enough. Usakovs spilled to the Guardian about his frustration with the British stag parties that arrive via low-cost carrier, get good and drunk and, more often than not it seems, take a moment to urinate on the city’s Freedom Monument before flying home. “We have a stigma about British tourists,” said the mayor’s spokeswoman. “They are probably not the ones we want to see.”
Yet somehow, Americans are the ones stuck with the “ugly” label?
Rory Stewart on our ‘Dystopian Vision’ of Afghanistan
by Eva Holland | 07.20.09 | 11:25 AM ET
In a long piece on the future of Afghanistan, Rory Stewart makes a point about the country’s usual image in the media:
“We are accustomed to seeing Afghans through bars, or smeared windows, or the sight of a rifle: turbaned men carrying rockets, praying in unison, or lying in pools of blood; boys squabbling in an empty swimming-pool; women in burn wards, or begging in burqas,” he writes. “Kabul is a South Asian city of millions. Bollywood music blares out in its crowded spice markets and flower gardens, but it seems that images conveying colour and humour are reserved for Rajasthan.”
It’s not the first time the author of “The Places in Between” has spoken out on the subject. (Via Andrew Sullivan)
Australia’s Prime Minister: ‘Hotter Than Obama’
by Eva Holland | 06.29.09 | 7:05 PM ET
Publicity still via IGN That was the verdict from Bruno, comedian Sasha Baron Cohen’s gay Austrian alter ego, during a visit to Sydney for his movie‘s Australian premiere. Said the ostensible fashion TV reporter after meeting Prime Minister Kevin Rudd: “That guy is like, uber-cute. I thought Obama was like the hottest guy in the world until I met Kevin.”
Ooh. Them’s fighting words, Bruno. President Obama, care to respond?
In Defense of British Food
by Eva Holland | 06.24.09 | 12:47 PM ET
Over at The Titanic Awards, Britain has easily carried the win in a poll on the world’s worst national cuisines, with 25 percent of the vote. I’m not surprised—“British food is bad” is a truism that even many Brits buy into—but I do want to take a moment for some spirited dissent.
Can Korean Food Break the ‘Top Five’?
by Julia Ross | 05.18.09 | 10:51 AM ET
When it comes to kimchi, the government of South Korea means business. The Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries recently announced a $40 million fund to enact its “Global Hansik” campaign to make Korean food one of the five most popular ethnic cuisines in the world.
The Ministry’s rather methodical strategy includes introducing Korean cooking classes at Cordon Bleu-affiliated culinary schools worldwide; promoting celebrity Korean chefs; and increasing the number of Korean restaurants overseas to 40,000 by 2017.
Canada: ‘Mashed Potatoes Without the Gravy’?*
by Eva Holland | 04.09.09 | 2:27 PM ET
In the latest round of the Is Canada Boring? debate, actor-musician Billy Bob Thornton has weighed in, describing the country as “mashed potatoes without the gravy” in a testy interview on CBC radio.
Thornton, who’s touring with his band and was apparently miffed that the introduction made reference to his acting career, was belligerent throughout and at one point demanded: “Would you ask Tom Petty that?” I’d say host Jian Ghomeshi deserves an award for biting back the obvious response: You, sir, are not Tom Petty.
Update April 12, 10:05 p.m. ET: Billy Bob has canceled his remaining Canadian gigs and headed home, after reportedly being booed and heckled at a Toronto show by fans chanting “Here comes the gravy.” You can’t make this stuff up.
Would You Take a Trip to TV Town?
by Sophia Dembling | 04.08.09 | 4:19 PM ET
Photo by Sophia Dembling Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. It’s the only town in the world named for a TV show. In 1950, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the show (which started on radio), the producers challenged a town to change its name to Truth or Consequences and the anniversary show would be taped there.
This southern New Mexico town, then called Hot Springs, voted overwhelmingly in favor of the change and from then on, its patron saint celebrity was host Ralph Edwards, who returned to the town many times until his death in 2005.
T or C has voted a couple of times since on whether it should return to its old name, but the TV name has stuck. After all, towns called Hot Springs are a dime a dozen.
Greek Travel Industry Says ‘Thank You for the Music’
by Eva Holland | 04.06.09 | 10:54 AM ET
Is “Mamma Mia!” helping to buffer the Greek tourism industry from a broader travel downturn? Yes, according to the Telegraph’s Charles Starmer-Smith. He writes of the Greece-set summer blockbuster: “While travel companies and airlines have reported a marked shift away from Eurozone countries in recent months due to the continued weakness of the pound against the euro, Greece has bucked the trend. Sales of easyJet flights to Athens have risen by 13 per cent since the film was released in July, and the low-cost airline has attributed the surge to the film’s rosy depiction of Greek island life.”
We gave “Mamma Mia!” the World Hum Travel Movie Club treatment back in January.
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