I hadn't heard about this until a librarian on a list used it to illustrate how things that aren't meant to cause a ruckus can offend people and generally become a media spotlight.
Subway ends fat Lady Liberty promotion in Germany: The placemat in question has an obese Statue of Liberty, promotes the film 'Supersize Me'--which is highly critical of one of Subway's rivals, McDonald's, and includes a magazine's tongue-in-cheek use of on of Mickey-D's trademarked slogans.
I don't really have trouble with the image, but a lot of other Americans did, including House Republican Tom DeLay, who said, "I guess for some companies corporate patriotism is as flexible as Jared's waistline". (Okay, so he's pissed and not amused, so he makes fun of the company's spokesman, who had nothing to do with the ad?) Come on, Americans as a nation are fat, not just in our waistlines but in our use of world resources. I've read several places describe Amis as a derogative term for Americans, although as far as I know (and I did study German, but I'm a bit rusty), it's slang; yes, it can be used derogatorively, but it's not necessary so...it's more a short-form of the 'official' Amerikaner. I do agree that many Americans just don't have much of a sense of humour when it comes to our self-image. I hope that I'm not one of those. One blog commentary I liked really thought that DeLay had much more important things to focus on--like a fundraising scandal.
For some comments, you might try the forum I was first pointed to.
However, another image, from a nutritional diary, (scroll down to message #163, 'What the Hell is Up with Subway???')--also in Germany--seems, well, okay I can see where people might think it's a poke at Americans and the events of 9/11. It shows a giant hamburger toppling skyscrapers as fat people run away from the burning buildings (one in a nice stereotypical Stetson like something out of 'Dallas'). As an editorial cartoon, it might be deemed an interesting comment on the threat to American lives that fast food and obesity plays, being more insidious than terrorism but perhaps just as devestating. As a marketing tool, I could see it really backfire. A great take on the sheer absurdity of reading more into advertising images than perhaps there really is, though, is Sadly, No!, which also includes comments by a German supporting the issue of Amis.
Ah, the Internet. Has there ever been anything that can cause such wonderful collaboration between cultures and yet tear them apart as well?
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