A blog for MGT 472 classes at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, Fall 2011. Ideas, reflections and resources about living, working, leading, relating, and traveling in the global environment.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
HSBC Ads about Cultural Differences
HSBC has had a very good advertisement campaign focused on "Points of Difference." I thought you would enjoy seeing a few more of their television ads that creatively illustrate areas of cultural differences.
I think this video is great...I particularly had some interesting experiences with differences in personal space.
What we talked about in class about how people behave when they're in elevators rings all too true to me.
In Spain, all elevators are pretty much the same size - small. My wheelchair was big anyway, but people would just pile in the elevator with no concern as to whether someone was being "squished" or not. It was actually sort of funny to watch.
The same was true with sitting at tables at lunch or dinner. I would apologize if my arm or hand brushed up against someone else's, but they really didn't think anything of it.
By the end of my time there I'd gotten used to it as well. I actually miss being in a more high contact culture, seeing as how I'm normally a more touchy-feely, affectionate person.
It wasn't my first time watching this video. Yet, every time I watch it, I didn't only find it funny but thought-provoking. The Chinese would always give the best food and more-than-enough food for guests as a sign of hospitality and a way to 'gain face'. Not understanding a culture's dining customs may only cause minor consequences such as being overeat or so on. However, not understanding the ways of how certain cultures deal with business, can really make you lose a business opportunity and cost you over a million! Hence, this video is really a great reminder for us to be cultural adaptive and be ready to walk out from our own cultural comfort zones under the era of globalization.
I think that this video is not only funny and entertaining, but very informative in some ways. I have seen a few of these clips in classes but not all of these. I think these clips do a very good job at highlighting just how different parts of the world are, what we may see here in America as completely normal may be very offensive or rude in certain Asian countries. This video also shows me personally just how much I need to learn about other cultures, there were things in these clips I knew not to do and things I had no idea about so it is just a good entertaining reminder that we need to be aware of other cultures. Courtney Moradipour
I also found these videos to be very funny. But like most people have said already, they show subtle yet important differences in culture that others may not have been aware of. It is important for someone going to a country to attempt to learn cultural differences. While it may not hurt if someone were to accidentally slip up, it could definitely go a long way if they were aware and practiced the custom, themselves.
I really liked this video i think it is a good demonstration that experiencing other cultures can be enjoyable or very uncomfortable. It also serves as a good reminder that the more prepared and knowledgeable you are about another culture, the more comfortable and enjoyable your experience will be when dealing with that culture.
This video is great. It gives great perspective on what the norm in different cultures. And not only across the globe, but maybe right next door. Like the commercial about the two men parallel parking, their cultures are different although they're homes are as close as our next closest state. It brings to the surface many things I would never think of, or have any reason to think of. For example holding out to say stop here in the US, might be offensive to someone in another country. It is amazing the differences in cultures.
HSBC makes great commercials! I especially loved the chrysanthemums in Italy and golfing videos. It is so much more memorable and meaningful to watch clips like these than to read about cultural differences in a book or article. If I picture is a 1000 words, a movie must be 10,000. Very funny, instrumental, and above all, TRUE.
HSBC has a great advertising department, wow. I loved the commercials, great way to spread information about cultural differences. I did notice that there was a total lack of women from these commercials. Barring the one with the cute girl being pursued in Italy(?), there were only men working in a business setting. Not that I found it offensive, but I do wonder if it unintentionally speaks about the culture at HSBC or are they trying to show that business in certain countries is generally acceptable through men.
Those are great! I love traveling into the unknown and figuring these little difference out. The proximity or personal bubble has always been my biggest issue. I always have to check my wallet after someone stands to close. Dumb but true
Very enlightening and funny! I particular enjoyed the ones on Italy's flowers and French parking. Speaking of which, is the French parking a tad over-exaggerated? If not, wow! The Japanese ad near the beginning, which involved the Ringi group meditating, instantly made me think of how low stress environments can actually accumulate to better performance and productivity. Some major Westernized companies, I feel, are beginning to adopt this idea. Take Google for instance. Though it isn't based on meditation and low lighting, they over various fun things throughout their offices, such as: slides, bean bag chairs, work-out rooms, beds, five-star cafes, etc. When a workforce operates on a friendly, low-stress environment, it in turn provides the worker to operate more efficiently - as their mind is at ease.
10 comments:
I think this video is great...I particularly had some interesting experiences with differences in personal space.
What we talked about in class about how people behave when they're in elevators rings all too true to me.
In Spain, all elevators are pretty much the same size - small. My wheelchair was big anyway, but people would just pile in the elevator with no concern as to whether someone was being "squished" or not. It was actually sort of funny to watch.
The same was true with sitting at tables at lunch or dinner. I would apologize if my arm or hand brushed up against someone else's, but they really didn't think anything of it.
By the end of my time there I'd gotten used to it as well. I actually miss being in a more high contact culture, seeing as how I'm normally a more touchy-feely, affectionate person.
It wasn't my first time watching this video. Yet, every time I watch it, I didn't only find it funny but thought-provoking.
The Chinese would always give the best food and more-than-enough food for guests as a sign of hospitality and a way to 'gain face'.
Not understanding a culture's dining customs may only cause minor consequences such as being overeat or so on. However, not understanding the ways of how certain cultures deal with business, can really make you lose a business opportunity and cost you over a million! Hence, this video is really a great reminder for us to be cultural adaptive and be ready to walk out from our own cultural comfort zones under the era of globalization.
I think that this video is not only funny and entertaining, but very informative in some ways. I have seen a few of these clips in classes but not all of these. I think these clips do a very good job at highlighting just how different parts of the world are, what we may see here in America as completely normal may be very offensive or rude in certain Asian countries. This video also shows me personally just how much I need to learn about other cultures, there were things in these clips I knew not to do and things I had no idea about so it is just a good entertaining reminder that we need to be aware of other cultures.
Courtney Moradipour
I also found these videos to be very funny. But like most people have said already, they show subtle yet important differences in culture that others may not have been aware of. It is important for someone going to a country to attempt to learn cultural differences. While it may not hurt if someone were to accidentally slip up, it could definitely go a long way if they were aware and practiced the custom, themselves.
I really liked this video i think it is a good demonstration that experiencing other cultures can be enjoyable or very uncomfortable. It also serves as a good reminder that the more prepared and knowledgeable you are about another culture, the more comfortable and enjoyable your experience will be when dealing with that culture.
This video is great. It gives great perspective on what the norm in different cultures. And not only across the globe, but maybe right next door. Like the commercial about the two men parallel parking, their cultures are different although they're homes are as close as our next closest state. It brings to the surface many things I would never think of, or have any reason to think of. For example holding out to say stop here in the US, might be offensive to someone in another country. It is amazing the differences in cultures.
HSBC makes great commercials! I especially loved the chrysanthemums in Italy and golfing videos. It is so much more memorable and meaningful to watch clips like these than to read about cultural differences in a book or article. If I picture is a 1000 words, a movie must be 10,000. Very funny, instrumental, and above all, TRUE.
HSBC has a great advertising department, wow. I loved the commercials, great way to spread information about cultural differences. I did notice that there was a total lack of women from these commercials. Barring the one with the cute girl being pursued in Italy(?), there were only men working in a business setting. Not that I found it offensive, but I do wonder if it unintentionally speaks about the culture at HSBC or are they trying to show that business in certain countries is generally acceptable through men.
-Tricia Bruce
Those are great! I love traveling into the unknown and figuring these little difference out. The proximity or personal bubble has always been my biggest issue. I always have to check my wallet after someone stands to close. Dumb but true
Very enlightening and funny! I particular enjoyed the ones on Italy's flowers and French parking. Speaking of which, is the French parking a tad over-exaggerated? If not, wow! The Japanese ad near the beginning, which involved the Ringi group meditating, instantly made me think of how low stress environments can actually accumulate to better performance and productivity. Some major Westernized companies, I feel, are beginning to adopt this idea. Take Google for instance. Though it isn't based on meditation and low lighting, they over various fun things throughout their offices, such as: slides, bean bag chairs, work-out rooms, beds, five-star cafes, etc. When a workforce operates on a friendly, low-stress environment, it in turn provides the worker to operate more efficiently - as their mind is at ease.
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