Chestii d-astea, numai la britanici (34) [Things like these, only at the Brits]

Că taxiurile britanice sunt mult mai viu colorate decât apar în filme – când, probabil, numai cine plăteşte bani grei poate apărea pe portierele automobilelor Manganese Bronze care apar pe marile şi micile ecrane – am mai scris deja (aici şi aici).

Dar o reclamă cu totul neobişnuită este cea din imaginea de faţă, făcută în Edinburgh. Oare mai există altundeva în lume astfel de invitaţii pentru a urma studii universitare (în speţă la Aberdeen, în nord-estul Scoţiei)?!

Ce efect o fi avut campania aceasta?! Câţi tineri or fi socotit că această bătrână (datând din 1494) University of Aberdeen trebuie să fie una ‘cool’, din moment ce îi întreabă “Ce mai aştepţi? …un autobuz?” şi îşi face reclamă în acest mod inedit?

[Pentru toate episoadele din această serie şi toate postările de pe acest blog mergi la/For all the episodes of this series, and all the posts on this blog go to: Contents/Cuprins]

Mai poate ‘vinde’ ceva creştinismul în UE? [Can Christianity still ‘sell’ anything in the EU?]

Asemenea altora, şi turcii încercă să îşi vândă ‘marfa’ (însoritele destinaţii turistice) şi să adapteze mesajul pentru mult doriţii clienţi. În acest scop, ‘moştenirea creştină’ de pe teritoriul actualei republici turce nu este nicidecum de lepădat.

În plan politic, mesajul pare binevenit pentru intenţiile de promovare (nu doar turistică) ale Ankarei. Mai ales când se adresează unor cetăţeni ostili aderării Turciei la UE.

Adică unor europeni care invocă adesea adesea diferenţele dintre civilizaţia europeană (seculară) şi cultura musulmană a acestei ţări, a cărei populaţie este aşteptată să o depăşească pe cea a Germaniei – fie că va fi primită vreodată în UE, fie că nu.

“Iată, noi suntem o ţară seculară, care păstrăm tot ceea ce am moştenit, inclusiv din civilizaţia creştină”, pare să spună mesajul postat pe o media foarte bună pentru reclame în UK, un automobil taxi produs de Manganeze Bronze.

Oficial, autorităţile din UK (alături de cele din Suedia, Italia, Portugalia, Spania, România) susţin aderarea Turciei şi poate nici cetăţenii britanici n-or fi dintre cei mai înverşunaţi adversari ai ideii (precum austriecii, danezii, germanii, francezii etc).

Apoi, probabil că gradul de toleranţă al secularelor autorităţi turce faţă de creştinism nu este mai mic decât cel al ultra-secularilor, umaniştilor şi excesiv de politic corecţilor care dictează valorile dezirabile în actuala societate britanică.

Din perspectivă strict turistică, obiectivul campaniei de promovare pare să fi fost atins în rândurile publicului din UK – o creştere de 10% a turiştilor britanici în Turcia în 2010 (poza făcută de mine este din 2009).

Din perspectivă politică, mai poate vreo campanie de imagine să-l arunce pe ‘NU’ din braţele a milioane de europeni care nu îşi mai amintesc a se defini drept creştini decât atunci când se văd în opoziţie cu ‘ne-creştina’, dar nu mai puţin seculara Turcie?

[Pentru toate postările de pe acest blog mergi la/For all the posts on this blog go to: Contents/Cuprins]

UK’s motor vanity fair (21) [Bâlciul deşertăciunilor cu motor din UK]

I bet that most people – some 99% of the ‘first-time-visitors’ as I once had been myself – have a different mental image of British taxis than the one they get pretty soon after arriving in Britain.

Because of films, postcards, English books and even toys and souvenirs, we learn that ALL British taxis MUST be painted in a shiny but austere shade of black.

Few things could be as wrong as this false image that prospective tourists have! But it’s fun to realize how wrong you were…

As a matter of fact, although most typically British taxis are black (like those in the 2nd, 3rd & 6th pics) when they come out of the factory gate, many of them are eventually covered up in advertising images.

Obviously, most are black. However, some are white – even white + turquoise as those in Brighton (9th pic) –, others are maroon, (1st pic, by my reader C.L., as well as the 6th) and some can exceptionally be… yellow (8th pic).

Many others are lively coloured, thanks to a booming (or was it just before the economic crisis?!) taxi advertising industry.

‘Consumers’ can easily switch from one TV/radio channel to another, but while they are on the street not only that they can’t avoind seeing these cars.

Looking at them can happen to be a nice experience, especially in a typically British rainy day, when there aren’t many lively colours to notice around.

Not only Irn-Bru, but almost everything else (products, services, events etc) is advertised on British black cabs, making these cars some kind of ‘tourist attraction’ in themselves.

Maybe not all British taxis are made by the national car maker Manganese Bronze – kept alive thanks to foreign capital, coming from China’s Geely – but they make surely up an ‘iconic brand’ of Britain and they are the most visible in big cities.

[For all the episodes of this series, and all the posts on this blog go to/Pentru toate episoadele din această serie şi toate postările de pe acest blog mergi la: Contents/Cuprins]

[EN] No comment / [RO] Fără comentarii (2) – Land of Irn-Bru / Ţara lui Irn-Bru

[EN] For those who wrongly thought that, because Scotland is “the land of whisky,” that drink is the most advertised there… [RO] Pentru cei care credeau în mod greşit că, deoarece Scoţia “este ţara whisky-ului”, acelei băuturi i se face cea mai multă reclamă acolo...

[EN] …here’s a little piece of evidence on a Brit taxi that the word ‘whisky’ doesn’t seem more present than the name of this not-so-tasty soft drink: Irn-Bru. [RO] …iată o mică dovadă pe un taxi britanic că vorba ‘whisky’ nu pare mai prezentă decât numele acestei nu-prea-gustoase băuturi răcoritoare: Irn-Bru.

[For all the episodes of this series, and all the posts on this blog go to/Pentru toate episoadele din această serie şi toate postările de pe acest blog mergi la: Contents/Cuprins]

The UK, in the eyes of an Afghan taxi driver [UK, în ochii unui şofer de taxi afgan]

In order to balance a bit my disproportionately favourable views of the UK, I guess I should report the opinion of a man from Afghanistan who simply wouldn’t like to live in this country for good.

For the time being, as an engineering student and part time taxi driver, he finds the UK a great place to be, he praises the overall openness and tolerance of the Brits towards foreigners, but he wouldn’t hang around too much here after he graduates.

“This is no country where to have a family,” he says, complaining (as the British media) about the huge number of divorces, and the general individualistic attitudes of the people here, that brings about promiscuity, and thus the distintegration of the traditional family model.

And I bet he wasn’t refering exclusively to the Brits, but to any people (from any corner of the world) drawn to the mirage of UK capitalism, who lose sight of what’s most valuable in life, in order to be part of this economic success story.

I assume that he could find a wife within the Afghan expat community, however, he wants to raise a family in his own country. No, he didn’t seem insane to me for not being afraid or fed-up with the war in his native country, “because there have been wars ever since I was born”.

“As for poverty?,” I asked. He doesn’t fear it either, and would only work for about a year in the UK, but not to save money as I assumed. He wants to gain professional experience that would help him in Afghanistan.

Apart form the people here being “too materialistic”, neither he likes the British food, which he finds much better in the barren Aghanistan, “because everything you eat there is from someone’s garden, not from supermarkets”. I happen to have nothing against the food; I admit that it’s tastier on the Continent, but I can eat whatever I find here.

As for the people in the UK, in spite of the fact that I observe the same things as this Afghan guy, I don’t find them neither more secular than Romanians I work and live among in Romania, nor do I think this is unchangeable.

My dear Orthodox brothers met here prove to me that the Kingdom of God is indeed within our hearts, and that all men can change, anyone can be saved, whilst our Lord Jesus Christ can be found anywhere.

Nevertheless, this student – in his early twenties I presume, speaking perfect English, and with a very neat appearance, contrary to whatever prejudice about the Afghans, we, the civilised ones (?!) might have – really shames me, along with other fellow countrymen who often find ourselves complaining about “tough times” in Romania.

Here’s a man coming from a severely impoverished Muslim country, who has what I would call a healthy outlook on life. Unlike him, I’m hearing about Romanians planning to leave Italy and Spain to come here in the UK, in order to gain more.

But let us all (I include myself), think a bit from this man’s perspective – is there really much to gain, and at what cost, since a man from Afghanistan believes there’s nothing worth leaving his country?

[Pentru toate postările de pe acest blog mergi la/For all the posts on this blog go to: Contents/Cuprins]