To hear some tell it, July has been a devastating month for America.
If we are to believe the headlines, the nation is tumbling toward a recession, facing the costliest bank bailout in history and fighting a war ““ all while being held hostage by a protracted presidential race full of vitriol and bantering pundits.
All this, of course, without mentioning the greatest tragedy to befall America in years: the purchase of Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. by the seethingly foreign, do-nothing brewery InBev (For the record, InBev produces both Stella Artois and Beck’s.).
Madness ensued when news of the impending deal broke.
At least one Web site was made, under the apt name “www.SaveBudweiser.com.” T-shirts were printed, because, after all, what is a cause without a T-shirt? For just $13.25, Americans can show their allegiance to liberty by donning a white tee emblazoned with “Keep our beer here!”
A singer on the Web site righteously belts, “America is not for sale, and neither is her beer.”
At least her beer has not been for sale since 2002, when South African Breweries purchased Miller. But who drinks Miller anyway? Who remembers that Milwaukee’s Miller was established four years earlier than St. Louis’ Anheuser-Busch? I suppose “Miller Light” always sounded like a German cigarette brand anyway.
Predictably, however, company leaders in St. Louis favored padding their pockets with the $52 billion InBev is paying for the deal.
Tragic melodrama aside, the fact remains that America is not only for sale but has long shopped for other cultures as well.
Consider the rap sheet of American “icons” owned by foreign companies and trusts: 7-Eleven convenience stores, bought by a Japanese company in 2005; Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream, bought by the Dutch in 2000; CITGO gasoline, bought in 1986 by Venezuela, the home of Hugo Chavez; and even the Chrysler Building, 75 percent of which is owned by the government of Abu Dhabi of the United Arab Emirates.
The Chrysler 300C (that throwback vehicle that looks like an American beast) features an all-star HEMI engine and numerous other gas-guzzling features. And yet, it is manufactured in Canada with an engine from Mexico and a Mercedes design from Germany. As the manufacturing business Web site TheFabricator.com points out, the car is not American but “a real citizen of the world.”
The same article cites numerous other examples, including Fords, Mazdas, Dodges and Saturns. In fact, General Motors ““ an American icon if there ever was one ““ sells more cars overseas than it does within our great nation’s borders.
Thus, Budgate 2008 seems to be much more like business as usual than it is the decimation of American pride.
Furthermore, there is something seriously wrong with these sentiments. America, after all, is the nation that has best mastered the exportation of its brands. This is why Wikipedia’s list of “Countries without McDonald’s Locations” is shorter than the list of countries that do bear the golden arches among their adopted charms (110 independent nations by Wikipedia’s count).
But McDonald’s is only one of countless culturally imperialistic franchises that originated in America but now blot most of the earth, developed and developing nations alike.
As of January this year, KFC began serving traditional breakfast foods such as youtiao and porridge selections in China alongside Colonel Sanders’ traditional fried chicken. Kuwaiti high school students in the summer camp test prep class I teach laugh when I ask if they have heard of Jay-Z. A relative who returned from Iran shared stories of factories dedicated to the manufacture of fake Ralph Lauren polos.
For the most part, we as Americans find the exportation of our brands ““ even at the expense of indigenous ones the world over ““ to be signs of American superiority. But we cannot stand any foreign nation investing in American products.
The same xenophobic feelings were responsible for the 2007 upheaval over the involvement of Dubai Ports World in U.S. port ownership. Claims that giving Emirati companies a stake in our ports would incite threats to our national security were patently racist and unreasonable ““ US News reported that Dubai Ports World is “the world’s largest marine terminal operator with 51 terminals in 24 countries.” In fact, even Variety Magazine, in an article centered on the building of a Mirage Studios in Dubai, noted that the country’s population is ironically extensively European, and “its crime rate is almost zero.”
Though the hypocrisy makes for good entertainment, it should ultimately be troubling. The outrage over the InBev purchase stems from a greater confusion: We are loyal to companies, no longer to nations.
Do you think the boys from “Entourage” should find a new beer to drink? E-mail Makarechi at kmakarechi@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.