Tell me about your country!

[Queen Michael]

There are a few things that are unique to each country. They don't get mentioned in more official events, but you notice that they're different if you eer go to other countries. I've focused mainly on TV, but let me know if you can think of other stuff like this and I might add it to the list!

They are:

* The candy/cookie/etc. that's so famous it's doesn't even feel like product placement to mention it on TV. (EXAMPLE: Oreo cookies in the USA, Kexchoklad in Sweden, Pocky in Japan.)

* The entertainer who is super-famous, but pretty much unknown in all other countries. (EXAMPLE: Nordman in Sweden, Heino in Germany)

* The company everybody hates. (EXAMPLE: The public transport company Västtrafik in Sweden; Comcast in the USA)

* The trashiest newspaper that's huge saleswise. (EXAMPLE: Expressen in Sweden; The Daily Mail or The Sun in the UK depending on how broadly you define "newspaper")

* The universally beloved family comic. (EXAMPLE: Bamse in Sweden, Mafalda in Argentina, Calvin and Hobbes in the USA, Tom Poes in the Netherlands)

* That kids' show with a grown man in a fursuit that everybody watched as kids. (EXAMPLE: Barney the Dinosaur in the USA; Björne in Sweden)

Spoiler: Disclaimers and stuff

Please let me know if any of my examples are incorrect. However, it has to be genuine examples, and not just a sullen Swede insisting that "Nordman is helvetes big in Japan!" And before any Americans start yammering on about Peanuts, I'd like to point out that many Peanuts fans are mainly fans of the animated TV specials who also read the actual comic at some point[footnote]This is not meant to suggest that they're bad; both on the printed paper and on the TV screen, Peanuts is great.[/footnote]. When it comes to Calvin & Hobbes, the only thing people are fans of is the actual comic strip Calvin & Hobbes.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Argentina.

* The candy/cookie/etc. that's so famous it's doesn't even feel like product placement to mention it on TV. Can't think of any. It's probably a brand of mate.

* The entertainer who is super-famous, but pretty much unknown in all other countries. Marcelo Tinelli. He's fairly well known in other Latin American countries, but a complete unknown anywhere else.

* The company everybody hates. USA Inc.

* The trashiest newspaper that's huge saleswise. They're all trashy. On TV it would be a channel called "Crónica TV".

* The universally beloved family comic. Mafalda. It's essentially Peanuts (i.e. bunch of kids) but with a female lead.

* That kids' show with a grown man in a fursuit that everybody watched as kids. Closest thing is a (live-action) clown called Piñón Fijo (literally "Gear Wheel").

 

[tippy2k2]

I imagine there are going to be a lot of 'Merica in here so rather than my country, how about my state?

Minnesota

Candy: Pearson's candy (Nut Goodies, Salted Nut Rolls). I was actually looking to get the name of the candy shop we have in the Mall of America and accidentally stumbled on Pearson Candy. I had no clue they were a Minnesota company.

Entertainer: Easy, Prince. Prince is a Minnesotan and does a ton of live shows in the cities at random times. If you bring up Prince to a Minnesotan, I can almost guarantee you that they'll bring up how he's from Minnesota. We...we don't have a lot happen here...

EDIT: Shit. NOT Super Famous everywhere else. Whoops. Uh...to the Google!

Hey! Tay "Chocolate Rain" Zonday is from Minnesota! Neat!

Company: Uh...I'm not sure what MN companies are hated. Our big ticket companies include US Bank (wooooo!), Best Buy, 3M, and General Mills but I don't think people hate them. I tried Googling it and most of the companies are big brands like the ones I listed (and none that I know that are hated) or tiny places no one has ever heard of. So...uh.....pass?

Newspaper: I hate the Pioneer Press (St Paul paper) but that's not really everyone, that's just me. But fuck those guys so Pioneer Press

Beloved Family Comic: Speak of the devil cause you know who's from Minnesota too? Charles M. Schulz. Boo-Ya! [small]That's the guy behind the "Peanuts" comic strip for those of you wondering[/small]

Fur suit: I suppose Barney. I don't think that's Minnesotan but everyone loves Barney!

 

[ninja666]

I guess I'm gonna get myself a lot of hate, but here goes...

Poland.

1) The candy/cookie/etc. that's so famous it's doesn't even feel like product placement to mention it on TV

Can't really think of such a thing. Every sweet thing that's relatively famous here is made by a foreign company.

2) The entertainer who is super-famous, but pretty much unknown in all other countries

Karol Strasburger - the host of "Familiada" (Polish edition of "Family Feud") and a self-proclaimed comedian; also a master of telling jokes so bad and corny you simply can't not laugh at them.

3) The company everybody hates

Zaklad Ubezpieczen Spolecznych - translated as "Public Insurance Company". Mostly hated for forcing outrageous premiums on people and often not giving you any money when you need it.

4) The trashiest newspaper that's huge saleswise.

There's literally no newspaper here that's not trashy, but I think "Fakt" takes the cake. It's a newspaper that posts articles and stories that are literally made up. They're so hilariously bad, I often wonder if "Fakt" is a legit newspaper or a satirical one. If anyone's interested, I can send them some headlines with appropriate translations provided. They're comedy gold.

5) The universally beloved family comic.

Tytus, Romek i A'tomek - a comic about two boy scouts travelling around the world with their pet monkey, whom they try to civilize and teach human culture. It's also one of the longest Polish comic series still running - it started in 1957 and is being released to this day.

6) That kids' show with a grown man in a fursuit that everybody watched as kids.

We didn't have any shows following this formula, but we had a lot of ones with puppets. I guess the most well known ones were "Jedyneczka", and "Budzik". The first one was a show transmitted by TVP1 - the first channel of Public Television, and the puppet was literally an antropomorphic number one. It was hilariously bad. The second one was basically the same thing as "Jedyneczka", but with two terribly ugly, anthropomorfic cat puppets. Here are some photos, for anyone interested: Jedyneczka [http://s.v3.tvp.pl/images/1/w/p/uid_1wpimakvog50vp1dgaim1d39evb25g_width_954_play_0_pos_3_gs_0.jpg] and Budzik [http://s.redefine.pl/dcs/o2/redefine/redb/83/830eb8b8294995f773c80cf43baa4f9f.jpg].

 

[MysticSlayer]

I'll go with Florida, since the U.S. already has enough examples and I'm sure more are coming.

* The candy/cookie/etc. that's so famous it's doesn't even feel like product placement to mention it on TV. (EXAMPLE: Oreo cookies in the USA, Kexchoklad in Sweden, Pocky in Japan.)

Hooters. It was founded in Florida, but now the headquarters is in Georgia.

There's also Simply Orange, which actually is still stationed in Florida. However, they are owned by Coca-Cola, which is in Georgia.

* The entertainer who is super-famous, but pretty much unknown in all other countries. (EXAMPLE: Nordman in Sweden, Heino in Germany)

I can't think of a single one unless Hulk Hogan isn't particularly well-known outside the U.S. The primary entertainers (i.e. bands) from Florida that come to mind for me are Kamelot and Iced Earth, but it wouldn't surprise me if they're more popular outside the U.S. than they are even in Florida.

* The company everybody hates. (EXAMPLE: The public transport company Västtrafik in Sweden; Comcast in the USA)

SeaWorld, especially after Blackfish.

Yeah, in general, Florida normally just has a lot of really good local stuff that tends to get down here when someone from out-of-state moves here for retirement. I guess we also have all the Cuban restaurants in Miami, but no one really cares when all they can think about is the zombie apocalypse that we've managed to keep contained down...oh shit [http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/11/07/cannibal-ate-womans-face-wales_n_6119242.html]!

 

[Queen Michael]

I can't think of a single one unless Hulk Hogan isn't particularly well-known outside the U.S.

He's very famous here in Sweden. Not that he's got tons of fans or anything. He's just really well-known.

 

[Guffe]

QueenMichales favorite neighbour, Finland, reporting in ;D

The candy/cookie/etc. that's so famous it's doesn't even feel like product placement to mention it on TV.
Domino kex, or not a cookie but a bun called Gifflar

The entertainer who is super-famous, but pretty much unknown in all other countries.
Maybe Jehtro, a salesman with his own TV show

The company everybody hates.
VR, our traincompany

The trashiest newspaper that's huge saleswise.
Iltasanomat or Iltalehti, for me they're the same

The universally beloved family comic.
Moomin

That kids' show with a grown man in a fursuit that everybody watched as kids.
Not sure, can't remember us having one of these to be honest :/

 

[Zhukov]

Australia reporting.

* The candy/cookie/etc. that's so famous it's doesn't even feel like product placement to mention it on TV.
That would be either Anzac biscuits, which are really just plain oat cookies, or pavlova, which is cream and sliced berries/fruit on a meringue base. I'm pretty sure other countries have pavlova though.

* The entertainer who is super-famous, but pretty much unknown in all other countries.
Umm... the guy who used to host Who Wants to be a Millionaire? Eddie McGuire. Christ, I had to look up his name. I'm really the wrong person to ask.

* The company everybody hates.
Telstra perhaps? They're a telecommunications company. Used to have a near monopoly, although that's changed a lot.

* The trashiest newspaper that's huge saleswise.
No idea.

* The universally beloved family comic.
Once again, no idea. Closest I can think of is Footrot Flats, but that's actually from New Zealand. It translates very well to rural Australia though.

* That kids' show with a grown man in a fursuit that everybody watched as kids.
The Wiggles? Although most of them don't wear suits. They did have a character called Dorothy the Dinosaur though, so they technically count.

 

[Ushiromiya Battler]

Norway.
* The candy/cookie/etc. that's so famous it's doesn't even feel like product placement to mention it on TV:
Kvikk Lunsj.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kvikk_Lunsj

* The entertainer who is super-famous, but pretty much unknown in all other countries:
There's like four of them. Atle Antonsen, Kristoffer Schau, Bård Tufte Johansen and Harald Eia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Team_Antonsen
They made this(nsfw):

Spoiler

* The company everybody hates:
NSB
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_State_Railways

* The trashiest newspaper that's huge saleswise:
VG, or it used to be huge, people seem to have learned.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verdens_Gang


* The universally beloved family comic:
Pondus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pondus

* That kids' show with a grown man in a fursuit that everybody watched as kids.
I don't think we had one, the closest I can remember is Sesam Stasjon, but that's puppets.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sesam_Stasjon

 

[PsychedelicDiamond]

the Glorious Federal Republic of Germany here!

>Our most famous candy
Haribo Gummy Bears, presumably.

>The entertainer who is super-famous, but pretty much unknown in all other countries.
Almost all of them except for Til Schweiger and various athletes? Maybe Günther Jauch and Thomas Gottschalk, both of whom are extremely well known and fairly well respected TV-show hosts here in Germany but fairly unknown abroad. You named Heino which works, I guess... but I think these days he's mostly famous among old people.

>The company everybody hates.
The Telekom, I guess. Tey've been planning to limit our Internet connection which has sparked a lot of protest. Rightfully so, I might add.

> The trashiest newspaper that's huge saleswise.
That's easy, the Bild. Those work the same pretty much everywhere. They survive on a combination of blatant sensationalism (One of their most famous headlines was "UFO-cult wants to clone Hitler!"), conservative pandering and celebrity gossip. They also have a pin-up photo on their third page like The Sun.

* The universally beloved family comic.
Funnily enough it's probably Donald Duck which, of course, isn't actually German. I guess there's also Fix und Foxi or something but let's not kid ourselves, it's not nearly as universally beloved as Donald Duck.

* That kids' show with a grown man in a fursuit that everybody watched as kids.
>We have our own version of the Sesame Street which is not a dub of the American version but its own thing. Has some of the same characters like Ernie and Bert but it's its own thing and has gone on for a pretty long time.

 

[JoJo]

Englishman here, reporting for duty.

* The candy/cookie/etc. that's so famous it doesn't even feel like product placement to mention it on TV.

No idea, I'm torn between scones and Cadburys.

* The entertainer who is super-famous, but pretty much unknown in all other countries.

Ugh, Jimmy Saville?

* The company everybody hates.

Tesco probably, they're a convenient supermarket but get no end of hate for undermining the traditional high street. Actually, Wonga is probably more hated, they're a payday loan lender who have insane APR's and are often seen as legalised loan sharks.

* The trashiest newspaper that's huge saleswise.

Daily Mail, nuff said, though the Sun gives it a good run for its money. Lowest common denominator trash with a right-wing populist slant (Dem lazy benefit stealing immigrants!)

* The universally loved family comic.

The Beano I guess, I don't really keep up with this sort of thing. Is Garfield British?

* That kids' show with a grown man in a fursuit that everybody watched as kids.

Teletubbies is the closest I can think of, four adults in weird bear-like jumpsuit creatures.

 

[Queen Michael]

Englishman here, reporting for duty.

* The candy/cookie/etc. that's so famous it doesn't even feel like product placement to mention it on TV.

No idea, I'm torn between scones and Cadburys.

Scones aren't really a brand, so that'd make it Cadburys.

Is Garfield British?

Nah, he's American.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Australia.

* The candy/cookie/etc. that's so famous it's doesn't even feel like product placement to mention it on TV.

Anzac biscuits. In Australia, we say "biscuit" instead of "cookie". If you say "Anzac cookie" in Australia, things won't end well.

* The company everybody hates.

Hancock Prospecting. Though, the name isn't known, most people hate "that company that Gina Rhinehart has", mostly because of Gina Rhinehart.

* The trashiest newspaper that's huge saleswise.

Daily Telegraph. Though, most of the newspapers are owned by Murdoch anyway, and tend to push his agenda.

* The entertainer who is super-famous, but pretty much unknown in all other countries.

Ugh, Jimmy Saville?

He's famous outside Britain, for reasons.

 

[Bob_McMillan]

There are a few things that are unique to each country. They don't get mentioned in more official events, but you notice that they're different if you eer go to other countries. I've focused mainly on TV, but let me know if you can think of other stuff like this and I might add it to the list!

They are:

* The candy/cookie/etc. that's so famous it's doesn't even feel like product placement to mention it on TV. (EXAMPLE: Oreo cookies in the USA, Kexchoklad in Sweden, Pocky in Japan.)

* The entertainer who is super-famous, but pretty much unknown in all other countries. (EXAMPLE: Nordman in Sweden, Heino in Germany)

* The company everybody hates. (EXAMPLE: The public transport company Västtrafik in Sweden; Comcast in the USA)

* The trashiest newspaper that's huge saleswise. (EXAMPLE: Expressen in Sweden; The Daily Mail or The Sun in the UK depending on how broadly you define "newspaper")

* The universally beloved family comic. (EXAMPLE: Bamse in Sweden, Mafalda in Argentina, Calvin and Hobbes in the USA, Tom Poes in the Netherlands)

* That kids' show with a grown man in a fursuit that everybody watched as kids. (EXAMPLE: Barney the Dinosaur in the USA; Björne in Sweden)

Spoiler: Disclaimers and stuff

Please let me know if any of my examples are incorrect. However, it has to be genuine examples, and not just a sullen Swede insisting that "Nordman is helvetes big in Japan!" And before any Americans start yammering on about Peanuts, I'd like to point out that many Peanuts fans are mainly fans of the animated TV specials who also read the actual comic at some point[footnote]This is not meant to suggest that they're bad; both on the printed paper and on the TV screen, Peanuts is great.[/footnote]. When it comes to Calvin & Hobbes, the only thing people are fans of is the actual comic strip Calvin & Hobbes.

I hail from the magically shit isles of the Philippines.

1. Candy: None really. We have A LOT of candies, imported or native.

2. Entertainer: Kris Aquino. When she's not brainwashing our kids to be stupid idiots or jiggling her arm fat, she's embarrassing her country by inserting herself into interviews with more famous celebrities from abroad.

3. Company: All internet/electricity/phone/water/etc providers. They can raise prices all they want and no one will stop them. Not to mention their service just generallly sucks. Some of these providers are even owned by the same family. Its monopolies galore here in the Philippines.

4. Newspaper: All of them except maybe a few can choke on dick. They do some pretty shady shit all the time.

5. Comic: Calvin and Hobbes maybe? Or Garfield? Heck, even Spiderman, whatever comes out in color in the Sunday comics section. Weird, I know. We don't exactly have family friendly comics here. Mostly political satire.

6. Kid's TV Show: Well, Barney. At least when I was a kid, not many children still watch those kinds of shows anymore.

As you can see, Filipinos are not very creative.

And yes, I am a patriot. How could you tell?

 

[Rabbitboy]

The Netherlands

1. Well I'd say Calvé peanut butter is pretty well known.

2. Multiple options available like Marco Borsato or Andre van Duin. But if I had to pick one it would be the best thing to come from this country since kroepoek: Zanger Rinus
3. The NS our national railway company. Apparently they are one of the best in Europe which is a little hard to believe when half of all trains are canceled because of 2 millimeters of snow.

4. The Telegraaf. Not just the trashy news but also the busy layout makes it very unpleasant to read.

5. The OP already mentioned Tom Poes.

6. I don't remember we had a TV show in which people dressed up in animal suits (we have sesame street but that is an American import). We did have the Fabeltjeskrant which worked with puppets. I don't know whether the youth of today recognizes it, since even the episodes I watched were reruns

 

[Colour Scientist]

The candy/cookie/etc. that's so famous it's doesn't even feel like product placement to mention it on TV:

Not really candy or biscuits but Tayto crisps are probably one of the most domestically famous brands of junk food. When I was a kid, I just referred to all brands of crisps as Taytos.

The entertainer who is super-famous, but pretty much unknown in all other countries:

Hm, that's kind of a tough one. I'm actually drawing a blank but I'm sure there are loads. Lemme come back to this one.

The company everybody hates:

Irish Water. Next!

The trashiest newspaper that's huge saleswise:

Basically all of the Irish versions of British tabloids. The Irish Sun, The Irish Daily Mirror, etc...

That kids' show with a grown man in a fursuit that everybody watched as kids:

The Morbegs, maybe?

You have to love Irish television.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

>The entertainer who is super-famous, but pretty much unknown in all other countries.
Almost all of them except for Til Schweiger and various athletes? Maybe Günther Jauch and Thomas Gottschalk, both of whom are extremely well known and fairly well respected TV-show hosts here in Germany but fairly unknown abroad. You named Heino which works, I guess... but I think these days he's mostly famous among old people.

Uwe Boll!
Bruno Ganz is pretty well known as "the guy that played Hitler".
Diane Kruger.
Franka Potente (because Jason Bourne).
Ulrich Muhe and Sebastian Koch (because Das Leben der Anderen; also Muhe worked a lot with Haneke, whose films I like a lot).
And oh my god that freak, Udo Kier.

 

[JoJo]

Is Garfield British?

Nah, he's American.

Fair enough, I had a feeling he might be.

* The entertainer who is super-famous, but pretty much unknown in all other countries.

Ugh, Jimmy Saville?

He's famous outside Britain, for reasons.

Huh, I didn't realise he'd penetrated as far as Oz, the more you know. It's pretty difficult actually to think of someone who's big in Britain but unknown elsewhere, anyone really big here inevitably seems to get exported to the rest of the Anglosphere at-least.

 

[Dizchu]

Wales

The candy/cookie/etc. that's so famous it's doesn't even feel like product placement to mention it on TV.

The economy of the UK is determined by the price of Freddos and what was previously known as "10p crisps".

The entertainer who is super-famous, but pretty much unknown in all other countries.

Among Welsh speakers, Sali Mali, Jac y Jwc etc. are associated very strongly with Welsh children's TV. They are based on characters from children's books.

Upon looking it up on Wikipedia, apparently it's been translated into many different languages which blows my mind.

The company everybody hates.

I don't think anyone likes Arriva Trains Wales.

The trashiest newspaper that's huge saleswise.

Yeah probably the Sun or Daily Star. Ych a fi.

The universally beloved family comic.

The Beano and Dandy were (are?) popular in Wales (though it is not a Welsh comic). Wales is part of the UK and not entirely a whole separate nation, you'll find fewer differences between Wales and England than, say, the USA and Canada.

That kids' show with a grown man in a fursuit that everybody watched as kids.

I'm not sure but if I scanned through the S4C archives I'd probably find some really creepy stuff.