5 Western Things That Went Off In Other Countries

The question that immediately springs to mind is "Why would anybody want this?" Or if you're currently wearing three pieces of Overwatch merchandise, "Where do I apply?" These customers don't want hyper-masculine men; they want hyper-polite men who will let them unwind from their stress. The interest comes from Japanese women looking for a way to reject Japanese men, or at least the ones they see as "disrespectful, narrow-minded, and unable to care for themselves." Boy are they in for a rude awakening about American nerd culture.

Sometimes the similarities stop at the decor. You're not going to find a Mash Donald's falafel sandwich at its more official counterpart. But other times they barely even bother changing the name. Subway looks like it's still called Subway, they just puked the letters all over the building so that even the most astute copyright lawyer would have a hard time telling what the hell the name of the place was.

Bad foreign relations are actually helpful for copyright-dodging restaurateurs looking to sate curiosity about the West. If the one true Ronald McDonald could show up in Iran slinging McRibs and lawsuits, the native knockoffs wouldn't survive long. But as long as both governments hate each other, places like Super Star and Raees Coffee can thrive.

Thanks to its ski resorts and beautiful landscapes, the real Jackson Hole is a popular tourist destination in America. Several celebrities own houses there too. Chinese developers were fascinated by the town's mixture of pioneering Western roots and elite celebrity status, and they figured Chinese people would pay good money to visit something so thoroughly American. They were right.

Chinese Jackson Hole, in addition to being the name of our new kung-fu-sploitation film, has become an upscale community with Western-style architecture and expensive housing, mixed with tacky "Old West" features and decor.

The goal was to make the replica town as "authentic as possible," which of course means throwing a bunch of cowboy and Indian shows alongside elaborate celebrations of Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Halloween. A large part of the resort's success has been linked to the idea that it represents a break from the Chinese lifestyle and an embrace of rugged Western ideals of individualism (or at least a fantasy tourist version of it). Also, Mickey Mouse and the Minions are there. So it's got that going for it.

Niue is a 100-square-mile island in the Pacific boasting a population of about 1,600, or approximately the number of people perpetually ahead of you in line for Space Mountain. Since Niue relies heavily on foreign aid, they wanted another source of revenue. And they found it in printing pop culture icons on their legal tender.

While that money can be used to purchase hot dogs on Niue itself, their real value comes from Western coin collectors, who are willing to hop online and pay hundreds of dollars for these limited edition silver and gold coins. Niue hopes that tourists will eventually come visit their tiny island, inspired by their positive experiences of purchasing Princess Leia bikini nickels with rush shipping at 3 a.m.

They're literally printing free money, and it's not a tiny operation. Niue is expecting to make around $4.5 million on these coins over the next decade, which is essentially 20 percent of their economy. So why not grab a two-dollar coin with Alden Ehrenreich's face on it? You'll be the coolest customer Taco Bell's ever had.

Many South Koreans have never even met a Jewish person, but it's estimated that 80 percent of the country is at least somewhat familiar with the Talmud, or at least various accessible repackagings of the dense, challenging text which reinterpret it as self-help and life advice. There are even schools dedicated to giving South Korean students a "Jewish education," plus subgenres of study like "prenatal Talmud," whereby expectant mothers play audio versions of the holy book for their future business leaders and Nobel Prize winners.

None of them intend to convert to Judaism, but they see the success (or perceived dominance) of Jewish people in the world and want a piece of the kosher pie for themselves. Actual Jewish people are torn between seeing this as a compelling way to spread their culture and worrying that there's a fine line between "positive" stereotypes and a drift into angry antisemitism. And if this all sounds ridiculous to you, keep in mind that on any given day, there are thousands of Americans posting butchered quotes misattributed to Confucius on their Instagram feeds because old Asian people must be wise.

Jordan Breeding also writes for a whole mess of other people, the Twitter, and a weird amount of gas station bathrooms.

The Talmud is actually a pretty solid read, if you get the chance.

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For more, check out 7 Things From America That Are Insanely Popular Overseas and 7 Everyday Experiences Other Countries Do Waaay Differently.

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