Thanks to Intercultural Talk contributer Dillon, age 8, who is learning to recognize great multicultural advertising.
“I chose it because it showed that in English culture it’s polite to finish everything, but in Chinese culture they think you want more if you finish everything,” said Dillon.
Look at the fun (depending on your perspective) that ensues when two cultures collide.
Dillon gives this HSBC ad 5 out of 5 stars.
That said, going beyond the punchline, Rab1975bit’s Channel on You Tube points out that
People love to reinforce stereotypes of others by making %$&*# up. They think it has more of an exotic appeal. Check out all the other British-made HSBC ads about the UK, it’s all nice and middle-class, whereas all the other ones about foreign countries are all run down, chaotic and “exotic”.
So the importance of knowing local customs was made, but, despite HSBC being based in Hong Kong for years (or perhaps because?) there was still an unconscious hierarchy in presenting the two cultures.
What do you think?
