…is probably the most or one of the most offensive things anyone can say to a person of Asian ancestry. And the same can be true when the conversation goes the other way. The easiest way to piss off a Canadian is to ask what part of America they are from. New Zealanders hate being called Australians and vice versa. I walked into a camera store in New York and was greeted by a salesman of Indian descent (the subcontinent, not indigenous American) who with a huge smile asked, “And how is my English friend today?” I did a u-turn and took my business across the road.
For many years Australians were well regarded in the US. Actors, directors and musicians were making their presence felt in Hollywood. Business people were climbing their corporate ladders. Then bogan tourists started making fools of themselves and our national reputation went South. How quickly did Australia deny Russell Crowe was one of us after the mobile phone throwing incident; quicker than the Academy denied him an Oscar for A Beautiful Mind (one of my favourite films of all time),
Even though Australians and Americans speak the same language our cultures are about as different as Japan and Korea, India and Pakistan, China and Taiwan. The chasm becomes exceedingly obvious in the arena of marketing. Beyond mere language and units of measurement (the cost of the US converting to metric would add trillions to their National Debt), there is a fundamental difference in the psyche; Americans believe anyone can be a millionaire, while the Great Australian Dream is a home on a quarter acre block (or 0.101171 Ha). Typically with a mortgage which is a financial term which originally meant, until death.
And it’s this fundamental difference which makes American style marketing tactics fail to convert in markets down under. You see, dear reader, the first is an idea of hope and potential. The second is one of debt and despair.
Our love affair with owning property is killing us one by one.