Does being BRITISH make you reputable?

[Papa Deuce]

Working in TV, I see lots of infomercials. Curious thing.... so many of them have British co-hosts. Like 40% of the ones we air. Do advertisers think that by having a British person endorsing a product, it must make the product appear better?

 

[disneyfreakjackie]

dd16 would DEFINATELY say YES!!! She LOVES those Brittish accents!! I do, too!! They get my attention!!

 

[Christine]

Nope. "They" just know that Americans (especially female Americans) are weak in the knees for a British or Australian accent. I don't get it myself, but that is probably because of have been working with Australians for years and I'm now immune to it.

 

[BlingBlingJoe]

Why in the world does Madonna want everyone to think she is British. That fake British accent is just despicable. But what should we expect for a ______ like Madonna.

 

[eclectics]

It's probably a marketing decision. A cultured British accent is not only understandable to all Americans, it is appealing to the ear and devoid of any American regional accents that might not appeal to the potential buyer. A infomercial is not a 30 second bit. The customer must listen to the pitch man for a prolonged length of time without getting annoyed with the voice.

 

[VSL]

Well, I'm assuming that you're talking about English accents specifically (not Welsh, Scottish or Irish). We get plenty of American infomercials over here. The only one where I've heard a British accent is in the Magic Bullet infomercial - and that Mick guy is so annoying!

I agree with eclectics - it's unlikely that many Americans will be able to place most British accents (only being able to differentiate between English, Scottish and Irish - I think a lot of non-Brits find Welsh accents to be 'English' accents), so no prejudice (except against British people in general?).

I remember the first time I went to WDW... Me and my parents were on a Disney bus going to DTD and there were two girls (they must have been late teens/early 20's at the time) on their way to TL, but a thunderstorm had just started. The bus driver was talking and the girls were saying something about getting thunderstorms in Pennsylvania, and my mother said, 'Oh, we don't get that many thunderstorms back home'. One of the girls just turned and looked and was like 'OMG, where are you from?!' - her friend was like 'uh oh...'. My mother said Britain (it's easier than saying Wales because most people not living in the UK seem to think that Wales is in England), and the girl started screaming and kicking the chair in front of her and saying that she loved our accent and wanted to come to the UK, get the accent, then go back home to the US.

 

[eclectics]

I agree with eclectics - it's unlikely that many Americans will be able to place most British accents (only being able to differentiate between English, Scottish and Irish - I think a lot of non-Brits find Welsh accents to be 'English' accents), so no prejudice (except against British people in general?).

Speaking for me, I can sure spot a Welshman when I hear one! But, I agree that most Americans wouldn't be able to tell a Londoner (east ender, maybe!) from someone from The Midlands. Don't know about UK prejudice but someone from the South in the USA who doesn't particularly take too kindly to New Yorkers, will most likely find a Brooklyn accent offensive and might pre judge that individual just from listening to them. I'm sure someone somewhere has done a marketing study on this! I don't think having a UK'er hawk a product instills a greater confidence in the product, I just think we like the way The King's English sounds!

 

[coolmom99]

This post really caught my attention because when DD was younger she asked me if people from England were smarter than people from the United States. When I asked her why she said it was because they sound smart. I'm from the Northeast and whenever I hear someone from this area on TV I have to admit I don't think they sound very "smart". Not quite as bad as a southern accent, though.

 

[dcentity2000]

Apparently Scottish accents are reassuring whilst American accents are powerful and British accents are authoritative.



Rich::

 

[MsLeFever]

This post really caught my attention because when DD was younger she asked me if people from England were smarter than people from the United States. .

My son (7) is learning music from Oliver. He hadn't seen the DVD yet but we were listening to the CD. He asked if everyone in the musical was "rich".

He didn't distinguish between the "upper class" sound and the Artful Dodger. All rich.

 

[Minniespal]

Apparently Scottish accents are reassuring whilst American accents are powerful and British accents are authoritative.



Rich::

....

 

[kasar]

Along those lines, how did a British accent become synonomous with "Foreign" accent? Say a movie is supposed to be set in Greece. Obviously the movie people can't have everyone speaking Greek, so they all use a British accent, even the American actors. We KNOW they're not speaking Greek, why would it matter if they spoke English with an American accent or a British one? It's still not Greek. Obviously, British = not American.

I really enjoy British accents and I see why the Madison Avenue folks think it lends an air of credibility.

 

[luvthatduke]

Yep, what everyone has said,
it's all about the accent!

 

[VSL]

Well, Scottish comes under the British title (I think you meant the difference between Scottish and English), but Rich, you should know that as you live here

kasar - I agree about why British accents are used in foreign films. Most films are made for an American audience.