Brand America

Last year, I wrote a blog entry, "Re-branding America," about the U.S. as a brand and how it is perceived overseas. The piece focused on an op-ed from the Boston Globe featuring Simon Anholt, a British pro on branding, nation branding, place branding, and public diplomacy. Among others, he authored the book Brand America: The Mother of All Brands.

Just think, Hollywood, celebrities and all that are the primary communicators (other than diplomacy, war and whatever U.S. based multinational corporations do overseas) of U.S. brand values.
Japanese passersby walk past the ad poster of the recent Japanese edition of Harper's Bazaar featuring a nude and pregnant Britney Spears , at Omotesando subway station in Tokyo Monday, Aug. 28, 2006. Tokyo's subway authority allows a station advertisement of its publisher Tokyo-based HB Japan Inc, featuring a nude and pregnant Spears, dropping an earlier plan to censor the photo. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)

I hope I'm not merely becoming a fuddy-duddy. Also see "Identity ≠ branding or Authenticity is the basis of identity."