Big+Brands

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===Successful American brands have branched out and made their business international. This is a growing issue for foreign countries, as the setbacks often outweigh the benefits. Some of the better sides to the American brands becoming international is that they offer jobs to other countries. With companies like [|McDonald's] opening so many stores in so many different countries, thousands of jobs have been created. Another benefit is that new technology can be spread worldwide. Now it is possible for companies such as GE and Intel to offer their technologically advanced=== ===Huge fastfood chains, such as McDonald's, have opened thousands of their stores worldwide. Starbucks, for example, has over 8,000 stores in more than 30 foreign countries. Because these companies are already so successful and have so much net worth, they are able to open stores anywhere they choose. Foreign business often suffers, however, as it must compete with already very successful brands.===

===Other problems created by big, American companies becoming international is that the employees are not paid enough. As the main goal of these companies is to maximize profit, the workers are usually paid minimum wage, which is not nearly enough money needed to support a family. The CEO's of the companies rarely think about the people that make the businesses run and be successful. Young children are often exploited overseas by employing them in sweatshops for a very small salary. Money is the common force driving the brands, and with only profit in mind, foreign countries will not be supporters of the expansion of these brands. [|Walmart], for example, is a company that is strongly disliked, as it competes with nearly every store, carrying products from kid's toys to food. As shown by the picture below, other countries are not encouraging Walmart's expansion. This is mainly because business is taken away from the foreign countries and America takes all of the profit. This supports the idea that the U.S. is viewed as a symbol of "money, freedom, and the pursuit of happiness" (Simon Anholt).===

The United States has further proven that it is a world power, as more than 30 of the top 50 brands in the world are American.
= = =__The Top 50 Brands of 2004__= =Rank, Brand Value (in millions), Country of Ownership= 1 COCA-COLA 67,394 U.S. 2 MICROSOFT 61,372 U.S. 3 IBM 53,791 U.S. 4 GE 44,111 U.S. 5 INTEL 33,499 U.S. 6 DISNEY 27,113 U.S. 7 McDONALD’S 25,001 U.S. 8 NOKIA 24,041 Finland 9 TOYOTA 22,673 Japan 10 MARLBORO 22,128 U.S. 11 MERCEDES 21,331 Germany 12 HEWLETT–PACKARD 20,978 U.S. 13 CITIBANK 19,971 U.S. 14 AMERICAN EXPRESS 17,683 U.S. 15 GILLETTE 16,723 U.S. 16 CISCO 15,948 U.S. 17 BMW 15,886 Germany 18 HONDA 14,874 Japan 19 FORD 14,475 U.S. 20 SONY 12,759 Japan 21 SAMSUNG 12,553 S. Korea 22 PEPSI 12,066 U.S. 23 NESCAFE 11,892 Switzerland 24 BUDWEISER 11,846 U.S. 25 DELL 11,500 U.S. 26 MERRILL LYNCH 11,499 U.S. 27 MORGAN STANLEY 11,498 1 U.S. 28 ORACLE 10,935 U.S. 29 PFIZER 10,635 U.S. 30 J.P. MORGAN 9,782 U.S. 31 NIKE 9,260 U.S. 32 MERCK 8,811 U.S. 33 HSBC 8,671 Britain 34 SAP 8,323 Germany 35 CANON 8,055 Japan 36 KELLOGG’S 8,029 U.S. 37 GOLDMAN SACHS 7,954 U.S. 38 GAP 7,873 U.S. 39 SIEMENS 7,470 Germany 40 IKEA 7,182 Sweden 41 HARLEY–DAVIDSON 7,057 U.S. 42 HEINZ 7,026 U.S. 43 APPLE 6,871 U.S. 44 LOUIS VUITTON 6,602 France 45 UBS 6,526 Switzerland 46 NINTENDO 6,479 Japan 47 MTV 6,456 U.S. 48 VOLKSWAGEN 6,410 Germany 49 L’OREAL 5,902 France 50 ACCENTURE 5,772 U.S.

Works Consulte**d**
"18-NoWalmart.jpg". 7 May 2007. http://images.indymedia.org/imc/arkansas/image/5/large/18-NoWalmart.jpg

"America Home Free?". 7 May 2007. http://www.brandchannel.com/features_profile.asp?pr_id=239

"Best Global Brands". [|www.businessweek.com]. 4 Aug. 2003. 2 May 2007. http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/03_31/photo_essay/0331pe_start_a.htm

Dibacco, Thomas V. __Made In The U.S.A__. New York: Harper & Row Publishers Inc., 1987.

Rusch, Robin D. "Readers Pick Apple in 2004". 31 January 2005. 2 May 2007. http://www.brandchannel.com/start1.asp?fa_id=248

"The Top 100 Brands". 1 May 2007. http://www.businessweek.com/pdfs/2004/0431_brands.pdf

Tiemeyer, Phil. "Queer Capitalism: Sex and Politics in the Ad Campaign of Abercrombie & Fitch". 21 June 2006. 4 May 2007. http://bad.eserver.org/issues/2006/75/tiemeyer.htm

"Walmart.jpg". 7 May 2007. http://kellygrafx.com/walmart.