Advertising in Roma

Not only are there a number of American products sold in Rome, but there is also a huge amount of advertisement for these goods. I was blown away when I was walking around the Coliseum and saw French students with their Burger King crowns on. While these girls appeared to be middle school age and just looking for some extra attention, they in turn made themselves walking advertisements. In all my journeys around Rome, I have not seen any Italian goods being advertised in this fashion.

If you really keep your eyes open while walking around, you will almost feel like you are at home in the States. Advertisements on buses seem to have an overly American theme to them. The picture below advertises the US film Indiana Jones. One of my nexts steps is to go see an American movie at a local theater. If you would like to do so also, there is a small cinema right over the bridge on the main road in Trastevere. Here they are also advertising for other US movies like Sex and the City. Why are our movies dominating their cinemas, while their films that are sent to the US are dubbed as foreign films and receive one category in awards shows?

The fact that Italians advertise our movies so much scares me a little. These movies contain US actors and are widely known to have come from the States. Since they are American made, it is no wonder Italian men fall over US women for their attention. What movie have you seen recently that does not have a silly, easy American girl getting into some kind of trouble? What movies are we making that are worthwhile or focus on the talent of the actors involved? We are creating movies with hopefully poor depictions of ourselves and then sending them all over the world. With these kinds of messages continually coming from the US, I can only imagine the stereotypes we are creating for ourselves around the world.

I also want to know why this ice cream has to be advertised by Eva Longoria? This ad is for Algida, an ice cream brand under the company Unilever. This is the same comapny that runs Good Humor in the US. Why is it that this company choose a US star to represent its goods in Italy? Unilever is not even a company that started in the US. When companies create a message saying US stars sell more goods, how can anti-American feelings not arise? And how can US citizens come to Rome and not expect people to speak our language? While Eva is pretty, there are a number of pretty Italian women that could have just as easily been used to endorse this solely Italian product.