Americana

There's an obsession with American brands here, as I've written before. At times, I'll see a new variation on the theme that makes me take notice. Last week it was a foreigner in the Seoul subway who looked like maybe he was from India or Bangladesh wearing a jacket emblazoned with "Brooklyn." Stuff like that sometimes makes me feel smug, like I'm actually cool enough to be from a place other people want to advertise. Then I remind myself I'm no longer in high school. Mostly it just amuses me.

I do wonder why the obsession. Is it an aping of things American because the U.S. is the world's super power and wealthiest country? Like wanting to identify with a winner. Is it that American pop culture is so omnipresent worldwide? So, even if you're indifferent or hostile to the U.S. government, you still want to wear the cool stuff worn by the hip hop millionaires. There's some kind of marketing genius at work side by side with the globalization we're always hearing about. I wonder who made a profit on the Brooklyn jacket worn by the South Asian in Seoul, and what prompted him to buy it.

I joke with people here that before I return to the US I should buy a t-shirt advertising some Korean brand name. First I'll have to find one amidst all the English though, which won't be easy.

A couple of months ago I wanted to buy a birthday gift for my three-year old niece. I was browsing the kids' section of a department store, but all the clothes were sporting a "Big Apple Girl" logo. Of course, I never saw such a brand in the real Big Apple. And, of course, the clothes were way more expensive here than something similar would be at home. It wouldn't surprise me if there's a Korean company calling itself Big Apple Clothes.

There are already Korean companies with English names, like Bean Pole clothes. They even have Gwyneth Paltrow doing commercials with sexy Asian guys. I suppose she fits the bean pole (i.e., skinny as a rail) image. You can see it on You Tube.