CultureShocks Blog

Tom Cruise speaks in Spanish to Portuguese speaking Brazilian crowd

The news:

Tom Cruise was recently in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to promote his new film Valkyrie. He spoke to the audience with a few words in Spanish, saying ‘hola’ and ‘gracias’ in an attempt to endear himself to the local population. However, he only displayed his ignorance, unaware that in Brazil the population is Portuguese speaking.To add insult to injury, he later expressed his fondness for the tango, which is a Latin dance, not from Brazil, but with origins in neighbouring Argentina.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,487451,00.html

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Coke evolves ‘Coke side of life’ campaign to ‘Open Happiness’

The news:

Coke’s famous ‘Coke Side of Life’ campaign and strapline is being retired after only 3 years. The company has decided to move to ‘Open happiness,’ which is described as having a stronger call to action than the previous line. Coke marketers partly decided to make the move on the basis that it did not deliver immediate understanding, particularly when translated for foreign markets.

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Textappeal office is a brand magnet

It would seem that Textappeal’s advertising expertise is acting as a magnet for big brands. This may have been why French car manufacturer Renault chose the street just outside our London office for the location of their new ad. On Wednesday, February 11th crew were found on location outside our London office shooting a new TV ad, possibly for Renault’s sleek city car – the Clio . It is not yet known when this new ad will air, or if it will be for an international campaign, but watch this space for an update. It certainly brought a bit of ‘Va Va Voom’ to the Textappeal team.

5) April – Absolut ‘affront to America’ ad

The news:

A print ad from the maker of Absolut vodka earlier this year produced an ad featuring a map showing much of the US as a part of Mexico as it used to be. The ad only ran in a Mexican celebrity gossip magazine. However, it was posted on blogs and eventually picked up by the mass media crowd, drawing a negative response from Americans many of whom felt Absolut should be boycotted for the affront.

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4) May – Dior pulls Sharon Stone ads in China for comments made at Cannes

The news:

Apparently, “karma” is the reason for the massive, devastating earthquakes in China. According to Sharon Stone what goes around comes around and the natural disaster is a karmic result of China’s ill treatment of its Tibetan neighbours. Stone made the comments to a television reporter at the Cannes Film Festival. Needless to say her comments caused outrage in China and further abroad, and Dior subsequently pulled all its print ads in the region. No doubt China is too vast a potential market for the luxury goods industry to offend. http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ru1gfM5gCn0

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3) August – London Mayor Boris Johnson offends the Chinese at the Olympic handover… three times

The news:

In August, London Mayor Boris Johnson was accused of being “rude, arrogant and disrespectful” for accepting the Olympic flag with one hand, putting his hands in his pockets and not buttoning up his jacket. As explained by one Chinese blogger: “At such a formal occasion, he should have buttoned his jacket. If you dress informally or not properly, it can be seen as disrespect to the host (in China). “When he was stepping to the stage and down, he put his hand in the pocket of his jacket. This shows he was extremely casual, he did not seem to take this occasion seriously. “After he took over the Olympic flag, he simply passed it to the Chinese standard-bearer. He was the only person who took the flag with one hand. This is very disrespectful to the Olympic flag.” http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/olympics/2626544/Chinese-media-mocks-London-2012-Olympic-handover-performance.html

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2) October – HP pulls ‘Do you want to touch me’ Gary Glitter

The news:

The US based computer firm used a cover version of Glitter’s 1973 song ‘Do You Wanna Touch Me’ to promote its TouchSmart TV and he could have received up to £100,000 in royalties.

Gary Glitter (real name Paul Francis Gadd) was returned to the UK in August after spending 27 months in a Vietnam jail for abusing two young girls in 2006. Needless to say his popularity in Europe waned after the child sexual abuse scandal broke.

The advert is being screened across America as part of a new marketing campaign, but has now been pulled in the UK and is under review in other markets. The US heads were warned of the potential issue of releasing the ad in Europe for this very reason, but the decision was taken to go ahead.

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1) December – Iraqi Journalist Throws Shoe at Bush: The Hidden Meaning

The news:

An Iraqi journalist, who threw a shoe at US president George W. Bush during a press conference, has become something of a hero in much of the Arab world, with hundreds protesting his release from prison.

Muntader al Zaidi was taken into custody and is being tried for his actions; he faces up to 15 years of imprisonment. Al Zaidi has quickly risen to legendary status for this – one Saudi reportedly offered to pay $10 million for the shoe in question. And the Turkish shoemaker who made the shoes is receiving new requests from all over the world. For Westerners the throwing of a shoe at a major political figure certainly classes as extremely bizarre and certainly shockingly unprofessional behaviour, but in the Arab world it is a much deeper insult.

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