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    Opinion: American brands have lost their cool
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    Opinion: American brands have lost their cool

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    1. financialtimes on

      Opinion: During the cold war, when the world last squared off in existential geopolitical confrontation, the US had an exhilaratingly cool reputation. Behind the Iron Curtain, ordinary citizens were desperate for a can of Coke or a pair of Levi’s.

      Now, as the world descends into another geopolitical battle, American brands are discovering the price of being unpopular.

      As the US government’s opprobrium against Europe increases, European consumers are paying close attention. Between September 2024 and September 2025, overall exports of US whiskey and bourbon dropped by nearly 17%. A popular new Danish app has appeared that offers to help users identify brands’ links to the country — so they can be boycotted. Estonia’s tech-savvy government is testing a US-free IT system. France also wants state employees to use domestic alternatives to US software.

      Although Tesla’s European sales have plunged, for most US companies, anti-American feelings have not resulted in devastating losses. But the effects may be felt over time. As McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski pointed out, the damage is reputational — and reputational loss is hard to regain. 

      **Read the full story, here:** [https://www.ft.com/content/32762810-35b2-43ca-bd8c-502b95b73b83?segmentid=c50c86e4-586b-23ea-1ac1-7601c9c2476f](https://www.ft.com/content/32762810-35b2-43ca-bd8c-502b95b73b83?segmentid=c50c86e4-586b-23ea-1ac1-7601c9c2476f)

      Victoria – FT social team

    2. bluejaykanata on

      Very accurate. These days, American brands are either boring or tarnished because of their association with the United States/Israel. When i lived in Canada, I was shocked by how many of my colleagues would not even go anywhere close to Starbucks or McDonalds because of their CEOs’ Israel-first policies

    4. Addicted_2_tacos on

      The point of going shopping in the US is that you go to Ross Dress for Less and get a Michael Kors bag for $30 or Levis jeans for $30.

    5. That_Jicama2024 on

      American brands are all made in India and China anyway. There are no “american” clothes.

    6. u1604 on

      Feels like American culture lost its cool for some time. I remember 90s and early 00s, western movies still had their mystique. Then everything from US, romcoms, MTV, hiphop, hollywood was cool. American culture is perhaps more dominant than ever nowadays with netflix, internet, and english, but the aura is gone.

    10. Jawnny-Jawnson on

      Profits were most important before, but now that’s all they care about. Cool doesn’t bring in more money to them lol

    11. Nervous-Leading9415 on

      I buy European and American gear with good warranties and quality but most importantly -how the company treats their employees, materials they use, and the environment. Allot of outdoor gear companies donate to environmental causes and use recycled materials and ethically sourced material.

    14. wstwrdxpnsn on

      American brands lost their cool because they all got bought and consolidated under the same, like, 10 owners. Monopolization is a big problem in America and has been for a looong time now

    15. MarduRusher on

      American brands have outsourced a lot and also just aren’t as good as they used to be. At least universally. There’s still some really good brands for sure, but a brand being American isn’t the universal guarantee of quality it used to be.

    17. NoSignificance2377 on

      Here we go again…another euro tankie reddit echo chamber anti American post…in 3, 2, 1…