America ... I'm lovin' it.
Perhaps you've noticed that foreigners aren't so fond of America anymore and are consequently less inclined to buy American products. In fact, they've become downright hostile to them. In France, protesters demolish MacDonald's restaurants for their assault on traditional cuisine. In the Middle East, one can buy "Mecca Cola" instead of Coca-Cola or Pepsi. What could signal defeat more clearly in the Global War on Terror than a worldwide reluctance to eat at MacDonald's and buy Coke?
Well, Business for Diplomatic Action sees the danger and is working towards a solution to the problem.
BDA is an association of business executives and academics dedicated to improving America's brand name worldwide. The group is led by advertising guru Keith Reinhard (creator of "Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there", McDonald's "You deserve a break today" and Budweiser's "Whassup!"). According to Mr. Reinhard, the problem is one of perception and can be solved, like all problems with perception management, with some well-targeted PR:
Now, [Reinhard] is taking on the ultimate challenge: selling to the world the hidden virtues of America.
"I love American brands, but they are losing friends around the world and it is vital to the interests of America to change this," Mr Reinhard told a packed meeting of business students at Yale University on February 23rd. His basic argument is that something is amiss in the perception of America abroad, that this perception is economically damaging, that it must be changed and that it can be changed.
Last month, Mr Reinhard, along with many other senior executives in America's advertising industry and a few academics, formally incorporated Business for Diplomatic Action, a group aimed at finding a business-oriented solution to America's image problems. The seeds were sown after the terrorism of September 11th 2001, when Mr Reinhard heard George Bush speculate in a speech about the causes of loathing for America that existed around the world. It was a question, Mr Reinhard believed, that deserved the same kind of consumer research that he provided to his clients. Indeed, he thought, many of his American-based multinational clients could easily find themselves suffering from America's tarnished image.
And what did their polling indicate as the reasons behind our tarnished image abroad?
His fears were soon reinforced by a study by DDB's researchers in 17 countries, which told a by-now familiar story. America, and American business, was viewed as arrogant and indifferent toward others' cultures; exploitative, in that it extracted more than it provided; corrupting, in how it valued materialism above all else; and willing to sacrifice almost anything in an effort to generate profits.
Arrogant and indifferent towards other cultures? Exploitative? Materialistic? Corrupting? Hmmm... these are difficult perceptions to manage and overcome. But surely this is nothing that good ol' fashioned American know-how can't fix. That's where PR comes in. God bless America for showing the world that perceptions of arrogance, indifference, exploitation, and materialism can be cured by a catchy advertising slogan.
And let us not be naive in thinking that the GWOT and the slumping of American products worldwide are separate, unrelated problems. As this month's Atlantic Monthly reports, BDA's Power Point presentation shows a clear connection between the two. Here's how the flow chart goes: First, foreigners feel "left behind" by American capitalist prosperity. This leads to "hopelessness." "Hopelessness" leads to "resentment." "Resentment" leads to "discontent." "Discontent" leads to boycotts of American products. Boycotts lead foreigners to switch to local brands. And switching to local brands leads them to "join extremists."
Yes, one day people don't eat at MacDonald's and drink Mecca Cola, and the next day, they join Al Qaeda. It's as simple as that.
6:05:49 PM 
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