Saturday, September 18, 2010

Same Same, But Different! Part 6: Random Items

An illuminated sidewalk sign for the ABBA musical

The current generation has seen so many developments in communication. When I was younger the phrase "small world" meant something different than it does in today's crazed e-world of the internet, cell phones that record video and computers that allow people to chat in real time to places they would never have dreamed of going 20 years ago.

The intermingling of peoples and cultures has naturally followed along with the progress of communication, and because of that you're likely to see surprising similarities in some of the strangest places. Although brands have gone from local to area-wide to country-wide to world-wide it still surprises me to see a name or logo that I'd take for granted stateside in a country almost halfway around the world.

If you click on "Same Same" under Labels in the column to the right you'll see a pieces on 7-Eleven stores, Coke and other sodas, KFC and gum, among other things.

Here are a more few photos to add to a mix - things that have surprised or amused me over the last few trips; things like...

a safety sign from a construction site that looks fairly normal until you notice it forbids the wearing of slippers on the site,


The Michelin man, also doing the Thai wai, but not selling junk food as we saw a few days ago, and (below) a bag of Lay's BBQ sparerib flavored potato chips - so "American" that the bag features the Statue of Liberty.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

.. BBQ sparerib flavored potato chips.. YUM ! The predominance of Western brands, logos and advertising would be both comforting and disconcerting. For better or worse, because of modern technology and the www, everyone and everything can become connected and made accessible.

khunbaobao said...

Yes, my point exactly. I suppose we're a long ways away from things being the same everywhere so it's still amusing to see the exceptions outside of their expected "home" areas.