Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Unmistakeably German. Not.
Having been rather mean to the French in yesterday's post, I was delighted to discover the clip for this oh-so-Teutonic Citroen. Le Frog gets away with this most cunning exploitation of the most blatant national stereotypes; there's a knowing smirk running through the whole thing.
I wondered for a moment what the spot would look like if it had been made to highlight the quasi-Hunnish technical precision of a British marque. Butonly briefly, since of course British marques are not exactly numerous any more.
The I wondered how the Citroen spot plays for German viewers. I am inclined to post the clip also on the social media site (okay, blog) I'm building as part of my assignment for the client who brought me to Bavaria (see the widget at the top of the left hand column).
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4 comments:
Well, as a German viewer I must say that I really like the spot.
It's funny and...well, so many clichés in it - nevertheless they're not insulting, but make (at least) me smile.
And isn't it, in fact, a compliment for German car engineers?
To summarize the spot with the words of a German author (who wrote them for the online-version of a German weekly newspaper):
"[The spot says:] You Germans might be...a little bit strange, but your cars are excellent, doozy."
As a german I gotta say, I had to laugh hard. This video so made my morning, hehe. More please.
The question this vid raises though...what does this tell us about the british and the french?
As a German, I find it brilliant, especially when thinking of the Brits' reactions.
BUT there are two serious mistakes:
1. The visitors of the Gasthaus are drinking milk instead of beer. What cheek!
2. Sauerkraut and bread are missing - only sausages makes no sense.
Someone hasn't done his homework as we say in Germany...
This is the first time I have had as many as three comments to one of my posts and since all come from Germans, all I can say is danke sehr!
I find it very hard to come to any all-embracing conclusions about Britain, France and Germany. These are the three territories which, combined, add up to my 'Heimat', to the place where I feel I belong, where I speak the language(s).
In that sense, however long I linger in the Sandlands, the Abu Dhabi Corniche can never truly be my Chapms Elysées, my Kings Road or my Maximilianstrasse!
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