Reviving Brand America

09.17.09 | 11:57 AM ET

Climate activists pose as Angela Merkel and Barack Obama in Berlin (REUTERS/Tobias Schwarz)

I‘ve talked a lot recently about how America perceives Europe. Now let’s flip things around, to see how Europe perceives America. Sadly, this changed dramatically in the first decade of the 21st century.

OK, I’ll admit it: Like two-thirds of Americans—and virtually the entire rest of the planet—I was no fan of George W. Bush. While my differences with him on various philosophical and policy points were matters of personal political opinion, there’s no question that the Bush Administration’s actions severely blemished the “Brand of America”—how the U.S. is perceived overseas. People in Europe like Americans as much now as they ever did. But there’s no doubt that, throughout the Bush years, their view of the United States as a political entity took a hit.

Americans—mindful of the now-dated “Ugly American” stereotype—tend to be conscientious ambassadors of their country when traveling to Europe. And, particularly because of the Iraq War—even in the post-Bush era—many are fearful that they might receive a negative welcome, especially in France (where anti-war sentiment seemed the most vociferous). Through my tour business, I take a thousand Americans to France annually. Each year, I survey them in an email, asking, “How were you respected by the local people?” Even in the most “anti-American” times, nobody complained. The French have always given American individuals a warm welcome. They just don’t always like our foreign policy. In Europe, the mark of a friend is not someone who constantly fawns over your obvious strengths, but someone who tells you when you are off-base and disappointing them.

When other countries refuse to support U.S. foreign policy, many Americans say, “Don’t they remember how we saved them from the Nazis?” The answer is yes, absolutely they do. I was recently filming in France’s Burgundy, at a charming little mom-and-pop château. When I’m filming, get out of my way—the sun’s going down, and we’ve got work to do. But the aristocratic couple whose family had called that castle home for centuries insisted, “We must stop and have a ceremony because we have an American film crew here working in our castle.” They cracked open a fine bottle of wine and brought out—with great ceremony, as if it were a precious relic—the beautiful 48-star American flag they had hoisted over their château on that great day in 1944 when they were freed by the American troops. They implored us, “Please go home and tell your friends that we will never forget what America did for us with its heroics, its economic and military might, and its commitment to liberty.” In addition to being grateful to the U.S. for helping to free them from Hitler, Europeans also appreciate our defeat of the Soviet Union with a bold and determined battle of economic attrition during the Cold War.

I have European friends six or eight years older than me, born in the late 1940s, named Frankie and Johnny because their parents were so inspired by the greatness of the Americans they met who came to liberate them from the Nazis. But Europeans no longer name their children after American GIs. The sad reality is that, in the first decade of the 21st century, if your job was marketing a product in Europe, one of your responsibilities was to comb any hint of America out of your promotional material. “California” used to sell in Europe. But in recent years, it’s been the kiss of death.

The “Brand of America” changes with the attitude of whichever administration is setting the tone. With each new president, other nations wonder if there will be unilateralism or multilateralism, respect and collaboration or threats and hypocrisy. Travelers have the opportunity to take home a firsthand understanding of what the rest of the world thinks when it sees America. And if they don’t like what they learn, they can come home and help repair that image problem.

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