U.S. in Geneva
bicoastal February 28th, 2007
Does the U.S. have a more west or east coast presence abroad? I just traveled to Geneva to answer this question, and it seems that in Switzerland, at least, it has neither. The most obvious signs of American presence were: McDonald’s, Burger King, Coca-Cola, Starbucks, and Best Western. All American companies that either aim squarely at the bland middle of a-coastal American culture or split identities between coasts (e.g., Starbucks born in the west but identified with the east).
It’s not intuitively obvious why the U.S. presence abroad shakes out this way. If the market for American brands is driven by non-Americans we might expect the richest and most colorful aspects of American culture to make it to Geneva: rock and roll, surf culture, hip hop, etc.
I think three things are going on. First, it’s risky to insert strong flavors of American culture into a foreign city in the same way that it’s risky to make Indian food too spicy when it’s served in NYC. Second, many of these companies in Geneva serve Americans living abroad who come from all over the U.S. Even Americans who strongly identify with east or west coast take comfort in brands that are clearly American rather than coastal. Third, most American brands big enough to have a foreign presence cannot be identified with one coast or another — they’re often big precisely because they aim for the acoastalness.
