Anti-German sentiments in World Cup commercials
Among the tidal wave of World Cup themed commercials, a disturbing trend emerges. Several Dutch companies have come out with TV ads that prominently feature German bad guys.
Heineken’s ad is perhaps the mildest, featuring a representative of the German football association proudly presenting earplugs to counter the noise of the Pletterpet, an orange cap. It paints Germans as rather dull folk, not quite the traditional stereotype over here.
Supermarket C1000 on the other hand goes the full nine yards, as it has a Cruella de Ville look-alike announce that she has to take one for the German team. Utilities company Nuon lets a ‘typical’ arrogant German fan get his comeuppance when his T-shirt turn orange, the Dutch national colour, while standing among his fellow fans.
Both Germany and the Netherlands participate in the upcoming World Cup in South Africa. Anti-German sentiments were alive in the Netherlands from World War II onwards to well into the 1990s, but kids these days just don’t seem to see the point. Which makes it even odder that these ads are so blatantly anti-German.
Something I heard a lot this year, now that Dutch coach Louis van Gaal and Dutch players Mark van Bommel and Arjan Robben have had such a successful year at Bayern Munich: “I never thought I would say this, but I am actually supporting the German side.”
Ok, here’s the one and only Dutch/world cup related tv ad I’ve seen so far on German TV: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSvXireAzFw
And I have to admit: it makes me yawn…
Zegt dat ene monster nou “Je caravan staat fout geparkeerd?”
De meeste Duiters snappen niet zo goed waar wij ons druk over maken met dat anti-Duitse gedoe.
[…] Dutch World Cup ads continue to rib the Germans. Paint manufacturer Histor came up with a ‘paint whisperer’ who can tell how happy a room is: […]
Mis.
Het leeft wel bij sommige jeugd, een Duitser zei dat ook zij graag de finale Duitsland-Nederland zien en ook zij er grappen en reclames over maken.
Correctie: Bij de meeste jeugd.
Vooral bij ons in het oosten leeft het veel omdat we dicht bij Duitsland wonen en geregeld Duitsers tegenkomen. Als Duitsers winnen gaan ze bij ons over de grens en andersom netzo.