Video Analysis: Mr. Baseball

Video #6 – “Mr. Baseball This video took a look at the cultural differences that we often take for granted. In this particular scene there was an American sitting on the floor, eating noodles, using chopsticks, in a traditional Asian household. The American is unfamiliar with these customs, and is confused by the chopsticks and slurping sounds. He also has trouble understanding who gets served their beverage first, as well as that it is bad luck to point your chopsticks vertically into the air. All of these signs were unintentional, but reinforce the importance of knowing the cultural differences of those that you are in business with. Obviously you’re not trying to offend anyone, so it’s time well spent to take a few minutes and double check …show more content…
The narrator first points out that Americans can usually be spotted by how they are dressed. White sneakers and flip flops were mentioned as being mostly worn by Americans. He also mentioned, overly baggy pants, undershirts, and sometimes boxers exposed above the (sagging) pants. The speaker points out that kissing is not considered normal social interaction in America, but that eye contact should be maintained during a handshake. Personal space should be respected, about one arm’s length was recommended. The speaker went into various handshakes from the traditional handshake that we are all familiar with, to the “fist bump”, to an informal handshake, and finally a handshake mixed with almost a “chest bump”. This video is important because it points out that not everybody expressed gestures in the same way, and just as we find this amusing, I’m sure that if we were studying Chinese or Japanese culture, we would find some of their customs different from ours, but this should be respected. Like they say, “when in Rome”… Whatever is the acceptable norm in whatever part of the world you are in, you should respect and reciprocate. Again, it will be important to do your homework before traveling, or interacting with other people from around the world to know what they are comfortable with in their area of the …show more content…
This unfortunately was the name of a British Paramilitary unit during the Irish Civil War fought during the 1920s. The video compared this to naming a product for distribution in America, the “Taliban”. This wasn’t even the first company to make this mistake, Ben and Jerry’s had named a flavor of ice cream “Black and Tan” years before without success. Nike blames the mix-up on the name being based off an American drink of the same name, made of ½ stout and ½ lager, but even so Nike should have done their homework to make sure that this term wasn’t offensive not just in America but where it was to be sold. This was careless and offensive and unfortunately could have been prevented. The Irish did not want to sell or buy the shoe and I’m sure that Nike has lost many future customers over their mistake. Again, this video points out the importance of doing your homework and being familiar with what things mean not just where you are from, or where your business is based but wherever the product is to be sold, or