Misinterpretations and problematic situations that occur as a result of the lack of knowledge about a foreign culture are omnipresent in both everyday life of a random person and an international performance of big corporations. As the video by WatchMojo.com (2017) demonstrates, a lot of advertising campaigns fail to invest in the investigation of the linguistic particularities of the countries in which they promote their products. Similarly, some businesses use the differences in culture and the misunderstandings that are based on them as an advantage in their advertising campaigns (Tuoxie208, 2012). However, in the modern multicultural and rapidly globalizing world, it is important to be informed about the cultural particularities and try to avoid cultural gaffes. The surprising suggestions about the cultural differences the narrator in the video by Wu (2010) states are the tips not to smell food in Uganda or to walk a guest halfway home in Sierra Leone. However, to avoid these issues, one should read and communicate about the particularities of the culture, be aware of the differences, and try to watch others to learn from them.
In my experience with people from other cultures, I have not encountered any specific differences. However, once I was visiting an acquaintance who comes from Japan, and when I walked into the house, the hosts asked me to take off my shoes. It was not common for their culture to wear shoes indoors. I felt uncomfortable, although they explained their request very politely. Luckily, this gesture did not offend anybody since we were able to discuss this difference and resolve the issue in a positive manner.
References
Tuoxie208. (2012). HSBC funny culture ads (Subway, Bart, Golf) [Video]. YouTube. Web.
WatchMojo.com (2017). Top 10 epic advertising translation fails [Video]. YouTube. Web.
Wu, C. (2010). Cultural gaffes at home and abroad [Video]. YouTube. Web.