Recently, I came across a Reddit thread that asked, "Non-Americans, what products sold in your country are marketed as being exotic because they're made in the USA?"
I realized that I'd never thought about how an American product could be thought of as "exotic," considering how, when I think of American products, I think of...like...Cheez Whiz.
So without further ado, here are the American things that non-Americans said were exotic in their country...and for funsies, I'll add an American perspective:
1. "American-made jeans used to be HUGE. Everyone wanted Levi's. I get the impression the fever has died down a bit; no idea whether that's due to quality decline, local brands improving, a changing outlook on the US, or something else entirely. Or it could be that I'm not in high school anymore."
An American's perspective:
This one really shocked me. Levi's are so ubiquitous that I can't imagine them being some hot-ticket item! But I guess maybe the ubiquitousness here is what makes them so "American." Of course, this thread is from a while ago, but ironically, even then, most Levi's jeans were made in Asian countries and not in the US.
2. "In the Netherlands, an expensive candy store is selling 'American candy.'"
An American's perspective:
I can definitely understand this one, because one of my favorite things is to try candy and chocolate from other countries and see how different they are!
3. "There were Oreos in the exotic aisle at the supermarket."
An American's perspective:
If the rest of the world associated the US with Oreos and only Oreos, I think we would be the most beloved country on the planet.
4. "When I used to date a girl in Vienna, I would bring Reese's Peanut Butter Cups over from the States for people."
An American's perspective:
I've heard our peanut butter can taste sweet to people in other countries, so I can't imagine how addictively sweet Reese's peanut butter would be!
5. "My American mom said that when she moved to Norway, she cried when she saw the cereal 'aisle.' It consisted of Corn Flakes, Rice Krispies, and puffed wheat."
An American's perspective:
When you think about it, it's kinda weird that we basically have an entire aisle in the grocery store dedicated to the hundreds of different kinds of breakfast cereal we have. Also, as a sidenote, we had a French exchange student back when I was in high school, and one of his favorite gags was to trick his new American friends into thinking that not only did France have no breakfast cereal, but he'd also never even heard of cereal before. Pretty funny, tbh.
6. "Mountain Dew. Saw it for the first time some time ago and was like, 'WHAAAT, I CAN FINALLY BE A GAMER NOOOWW AHHH.' It's still a bit hard to find, but it's not absurdly more expensive than other soft drinks."
An American's perspective:
I feel like drinking Mountain Dew when you've never had it before in your life would overload your taste buds or make your head explode or something. That must be an experience.
7. "Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ Sauce. I see many of you put hate on SBR’s. I’m sure there are better and greater sauces, but not here in Sweden, at least not easily accessible sauces. Thing is, we don’t have many great sweet barbecue sauces here because we usually don’t put syrup and refined sugar in our products due to some national health psychosis. So to us, it’s an amazing sauce because it tastes so different from what we have here. The price here is like $6 to $7 per bottle (510 grams)."
An American's perspective:
I live and die by Sweet Baby Ray's; there's no shame in that BBQ game, my Swedish friend.
8. "I grew up in the States, but I was recently visiting family in Germany and saw Cool Ranch Doritos in a grocery store, except they were called 'Cool American' Doritos. I thought it was hilarious."
An American's perspective:
When I picture "Cool American" Doritos, for some reason I see a photo of Barack Obama on the bag wearing sunglasses. Maybe he's, like, peering over them and giving us finger guns. Frito-Lay, if you're hearing this, please make it happen.
9. "Both ranch dressing and Thousand Island dressing are commonly called 'American' overseas."
An American's perspective:
This tracks, honestly. I mean, ranch dressing should probably be called "Midwest dressing" even in the States.
10. "The cereal with the little chalky marshmallows."
An American's perspective:
In retrospect, it's pretty weird that we straight-up eat marshmallows for breakfast.
11. "I'm American, but my parents are Indian immigrants. Whenever I go there, I see ads for 'Chili's: Authentic American Restaurant.' Always cracks me up."
An American's perspective:
I've heard of this as well! In my case, TGI Friday's was the "fancy" American spot in town. What's funny is, Chili's kind of is the quintessential American restaurant, especially in the way that it also completely Americanizes Mexican food.
12. "Squirrels! The thought of a cute rat just bewilders me."
An American's perspective:
Yeah, sure, they're cute at first, but then they're destroying your bird feeder.
13. "It was 20 years ago, but Miller Genuine Draft was considered a high-end beer in Jakarta, Indonesia. They charged to the tune of $7 a bottle, when their local beer (Bintang) was like 50 cents a can in the same bar. It came with a holographic strip over the cap and everything. I stuck with the local brews!"
An American's perspective:
Now I'm wondering if I'm always drinking another country's version of Miller Genuine Draft when I drink an imported beer. I am, aren't I?
14. "Supermarket here has kosher salt in the American section. When my friend and I saw it, we were legit excited, like, 'Hey, it's the salt from all those blog recipes.'"
An American's perspective:
I've literally only ever bought kosher salt, and before this very moment, it hadn't occurred to me that there were other options.
15. "I'm an American living in Austria and traveling around Europe. They aren't marketed as being made in the USA, but red Solo cups are seen as very exotic by a lot of Europeans I've met. They've asked me if there are really red cups at all the college parties, and I've even had an Austrian friend order a pack off of Amazon so he could host a 'Real American Beer Pong Tournament.'"
An American's perspective:
16. "Australian: Taco Bell. This is the second time (that I'm aware of) that Taco Bell has attempted an opening in our country. The first time was in Victoria (iirc) and it failed. That was over a decade ago. This time, they opened up in Queensland, and it seems to be going OK this time. They aren't using the same menu as in the States, though. They're trying for a little more...upmarket? Not quite Demolition Man upmarket, though, somewhere in between."
An American's perspective:
Honestly, I'm just so happy that people around the world get to experience the joy that is Taco Bell. I hope the menu still includes Crunchwrap Supremes.
17. "I went to a burger joint in Japan where the decorations on a shelf were a Costco bag of tortilla chips and a Costco-size can of chili. Costco food. As decoration. Then again, Costco-size anything is so huge compared with Japanese groceries that it is truly exotic to some. The epitome of American excess, if you will. One of my friends came to visit the States and specifically requested a trip to Costco to go food sightseeing. So we did, photo-snapping and all. Her happy dance and squeals of delight in the snack aisle were adorable."
An American's perspective:
I mean, I'm American and I will STILL be shocked at the size of a can of cheese puffs from Costco.
18. "Peanut butter. The jar even has an American flag. Not only that, but there are a whole lot of 'American' products, such as waffles, pancakes, brownies, and even maple syrup, all of them with the flag and the Statue of Liberty in the packaging."
An American's perspective:
Peanut butter is a great product, and I feel nothing but pride. And we will also gladly take credit for maple syrup, though it definitely feels like that's Canada's thing (sorry, Vermont).
19. "Philippines: They love Spam here. There's even a restaurant in Manila that only serves Spam-based dishes."
An American's perspective:
Here's the thing: I never thought I'd eat Spam because it seemed disgusting, but then I saw what Japanese and Hawaiian cooks were doing with it, and now I'm an absolute convert. I could eat a Spam musubi every day if I didn't think it'd cause my heart to stop in less than two years.
20. "The Ford Mustang."
An American's perspective:
The idea that anyone would pay that much for a Ford haunts me.
21. "I am American, but when I went to an 'American' restaurant abroad, they had the names of all the states on the walls. They spelled Texas like 'Teksas' because there's no 'x' sound in their language. Also, the silverware waiting on the table was decorative and removed when we were seated, since the local custom is to bring the silverware out in a basket all together. If I had to guess the goal of the interior designer, it was Texas-meets-Vegas-meets-'50s-diner. We felt so exotic."
An American's perspective:
This is frickin' adorable, and I would 100% eat at this place. The fact that they set out the silverware for authenticity even though they're going to remove it! Love it.
22. "Jack Daniel's. Sidenote: If you are from Tennessee or the US in general, this is sometimes the fastest way for people to understand where you are from."
An American's perspective:
If I got the tab and discovered that I paid a premium price for Jack Daniel's, I would be so annoyed with myself.
23. "Cream soda and root beer. Most people think they're disgusting, and nobody buys them."
An American's perspective:
I'm not saying I don't understand where they're coming from with this...I'm just saying they're objectively wrong.
24. "Dunkin' Donuts. They opened in my country (Iceland) a few years ago. There was a huge line on opening day and for several days afterward. Icelandic 'donuts' are very different from American ones. The dough is not as soft and airy, more savory and less sweet, I think, and they are always covered in hard chocolate. Never any jam, cream, frosting, or whatever the hell else you guys put in donuts — just a deep-fried piece of pastry and proper chocolate."
An American's perspective:
I'm actually having trouble picturing what an Icelandic donut would look or taste like now. Only solution is for me to fly to Iceland, I guess.
25. "I had a French coworker who was one of the most sophisticated and fashion-savvy straight guys I have ever met. Yet he was extremely excited to go to the Abercrombie & Fitch store and found 'frat boy style' really cool and exotic."
An American's perspective:
As a former Abercrombie & Fitch employee, I find this absolutely hilarious. I also hope this poor Frenchman didn't pass out from the fumes when he went to the store and got hit by the cologne they spray everywhere.
26. "Just came back from Europe, and in Paris, there were all these Carhartt stores marketing the brand for hip young people, not all the farmers who wear them in our tiny Vermont town. Everything was also three times the price you see them for in the States."
An American's perspective:
I feel like this happened in the US as well? Like, all of a sudden, city kids were wearing Carhartt too. What marketing magic occurred to make this a thing?
27. "Twinkies are 'exotic' American food here in New Zealand. I was excited to try one, but the excitement quickly abated after eating."
An American's perspective:
Whatever — Twinkies are great.
28. "'Made in the USA' is not really a good brand in the UK. Some supermarkets have an 'American' section that sells things like Pop-Tarts and Lucky Charms, but it's very small and doesn't see a lot of interest. Also, because of better consumer protections, stickers have to be put on the packets to cover unsubstantiated claims by the manufacturer."
An American's perspective:
That is SO FUNNY. Those blue stickers of shame have me laughing so hard. Honestly, I wish we had those laws in the US as well. Nobody is going to convince me that a Pop-Tart is a good source of anything beneficial.
29. "Crappy, mass-produced California wine brands are sold in Japan as if they're the fanciest thing in the world. Blarrrf."
An American's perspective:
As a Californian who has had many terrible California wines, I would like to apologize to the people of Japan.
Are you a non-American who finds a specific American thing to be "exotic"? Let us know in the comments!
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.