Bye American
We’re in the age of the personal brand, where everyone uses various forms of social media and communication to develop a perception of themselves. Occasionally, those personal brands, especially when tainted, can seep into the broader brands of one’s friends, families, or companies. Sometimes, they can even inundate an entire country. After having made the fateful decision to give Donald Trump a second turn in the Oval Office, to most of the world, America’s brand is Trump. From the inside, we see a divided country in a fight for the future (and maybe the survival) of democracy. From the outside, we’re the country that elected Trump again — the Oval Office outbursts and embarrassments, the humiliating interactions with foreign leaders, the abandonment of allies, the siding with dictators, the tariffs, the threats to take over other countries, the constant lies, the authoritarian behaviors, the sending of untried people seeking asylum to foreign gulags…you may hate it all but. But it’s our brand now. Just today, the new prime minister of our closest ally had to sit in the Oval Office and suffer the buffoonery of our leader suggesting, again, that Canada would make a great 51st state. This is us. And it’s not going to be easy to undo. On the national level, our allies are already looking to make deals that don’t include us. But there’s also the personal level, from Canadian hockey fans booing our national anthem, to a dramatic drop in international travel to the U.S., to European shoppers deciding they’d rather buy products from non-American brands. The long red tie, the fake hair, the orange makeup—we’re all wearing it, and it’s not a good look. NYT (Gift Article): Buy American? No Thanks, Europe Says, as Tariff Backlash Grows. “What is new, the central bank said, is a ‘preference’ among European consumers ‘to move away from U.S. products and brands altogether,’ no matter what the cost. That was the case even for households that could bear the brunt of higher prices. ‘Even though they could afford more expensive U.S. products and services, they consciously choose alternatives,’ the bank said. ‘This suggests that consumers’ reactions may not just be a temporary response to tariff increases, but instead signal a possible long-term structural shift in consumer preferences away from U.S. products and brands.’ … [Even] McDonald’s said it was observing growing negative attitudes abroad toward U.S. brands, especially in Northern Europe and Canada.” (American brands can argue that the president doesn’t represent their views, that they’re lobbying to end the tariffs, that they share the frustration with the Trumpian policies. But this time around, the rest of the world isn’t buying it.)
