Does the world hate America's favourite brands now?

US soft power has an impact on corporate bottom lines, and it works both ways.

- Beth Kowitt

For 66 years, Lenin’s tomb ranked as the most visited spot in Moscow. Then in 1990, McDonald’s opened.

That year, some 10 million people stood in line for hours to get their first taste of a “Big Mak” and American culture, dwarfing the 3.2 million who waited to see the embalmed remains of the founder of the Soviet Union.

“At least you can get something to eat here,” one Muscovite queueing outside the Golden Arches told Fortune Magazine at the time. “Who wants to stand in line to see some dead guy?”

There may be no better example of how American brands have not only benefited from, but also facilitated the spread of US soft power around the globe. As economist Andrew Rose put it: “Winning hearts and minds also wins sales.”

It tracks then that as the Trump administration has abandoned hearts-and-minds tactics for strong-arming and economic coercion, the rest of the world has become much less interested in what America is selling - whether that is its brands or the values they have come to embody.

In a recent earnings call, McDonald’s (which ultimately left Russia in 2022 after the country invaded Ukraine) warned that an “uptick in anti-American sentiment” could result in consumers cutting back on their purchases of US brands. Levi Strauss & Co has flagged “rising anti-Americanism” in the UK, saying that could push consumers away from its goods. Supermarkets in Canada and Denmark are putting signage on US items to meet the rising demand from shoppers who want to avoid them. Multiple apps provide a similar service.