"Anti-Bush German Media" Damaging US Brands

The brilliant researchers at the German media institute Mediatenor have come out with a new report that purportedly shows a direct correlation between critical reports on President Bush in the German news media and negative feelings about American brands by German consumers:

US-Marken in der Krise: Im Dezember 2004 sorgten zwei Studien renommierter Marktforschungsunternehmen für Aufmerksamkeit, die Mc Donald’s, Ford & Co sinkende Akzeptanz bei Verbrauchern in Europa und Asien bescheinigten. Besonders die „GMI World Poll“ hob in diesem Zusammenhang die Verbindung zwischen der kritischen Sicht der Verbraucher auf die US-Außenpolitik und einer zunehmend negativen Einstellung gegenüber amerikanischen Marken hervor. Aus dem Blickwinkel der Agenda-Setting-Forschung betrachtet, ist dieser Blick der Öffentlichkeit auf die Bush-Administration ohne weiteres nachvollziehbar

You can download the complete report (pdf file - free registration required) here.

Also contributing to the damage to American brands were reports concerning major scandals at US corporations such as Tyco, AIG and Adelphia.  Mediatenor complains that positive news about developments at Intel or Bank of America (?) went largely unreported, indicating an anti-American bias in the German press.

I have a couple of problems with this report.  First, just maybe polls reflect a disenchantment with US policy itself - in Iraq and at Guantanamo Bay.  If the media would report on the number of schools freshly painted in Baghdad would consumers start streaming into McDonald's?  Also, scandals like Tyco and Adelphia, where executives stole literally billions from their companies, are front page stories at papers across the US.  Are the German media outlets not supposed to report on these major news stories?  Finally, I am skeptical that consumer behavior is tied much to politics. German consumers - like their American counterparts - like good values.  Ford and GM are in a crisis because consumers don't much like the products. It has nothing whatsoever to do with politics.  Give the consumers a good quality product at a competitive price and they witl buy it, even with a Made in the USA label.