As we touched on in only the briefest of fashions a few weeks back, different cultures have different sensitives. Verbal or visual messages that are fine for the United States can and will offend an entire other continent. Using blue for a corporate website here is fine; using blue in certain parts of Asia for the same need will lose you customers.

The Wall Street Journal has a story dealing with Apple’s ongoing Mac/PC ads and the changes Apple has had to make to be effective and be culturally sensitive.

But in Japanese culture, where direct-comparison ads have long been frowned upon, it’s rude to brag about one’s strengths. So for Japanese versions of the ads that rolled out last fall, two local comedians from a troupe called the Rahmens made subtle changes to emphasize that Macs and PCs are not that different. Instead of clothes that cast PC clearly as a nerd and Mac as a hipster, PC wears plain office attire and Mac weekend fashion, highlighting the work/home divide between the devices more than personality differences.

Please read the entire article and make note of the various cultural differences. We will discuss your observations in class.