New guide aims to erase 'ugly American' image

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Don't be so loud. Listen. Dress up. Those are among the tips offered to US business executives traveling abroad in a new guide aimed at countering the image of the "ugly American".

Launched this month by a non-profit group concerned about mounting anti-Americanism worldwide, the "World Citizens Guide" has 16 suggestions designed to change the behavior of corporate America overseas.

The tips in the booklet, to be distributed to executives at major companies such as McDonald's, the Loews hotel chain and the software firm Novell, include:

- "Be proud of the American way, but remember it's not the only way";

- "Listen at least as much as you talk";

- "Save the lecture for your kids";

- "Speak lower and slower";

- "Think as big as you like, but talk and act smaller"; and

- "Dress up -- you can always strip down."

Keith Reinhard, founder of Business for Diplomatic Action (BDA), the non-profit group that created the pamphlet, said he hopes it will play a small part in reshaping the negative perception of Americans worldwide.

"While we are still admired for what people describe as our youthful enthusiasm, optimism and can-do spirit, we are seen as loud, arrogant and completely ignorant of cultures outside the US," Reinhard, who is chairman emeritus of the advertising firm DDB Worldwide, told AFP.

He said the suggestions in the four-page guide were compiled following a survey of people in some 96 countries.

"The responses were quite consistent across regions," he said. "The single word that came up more than any other single word was the word 'respect.'"

He said one frustrated respondent from New Zealand argued that if Americans were not willing to stop talking and listen, "would it be possible, perhaps, to dial down the volume?"

A German man wondered "how America could pretend to lead the world when it doesn't know anything about the world", and another said that "in globalizing the world, America forgot to globalize itself".

Reinhard said business leaders in Western Europe, and more particularly Germany, appeared to be the most frustrated with the behavior of their American counterparts.

Among their complaints was that American executives do not dress properly, are messy and are not always attuned to other countries' business practices.

He said one corporate executive in Duesseldorf was dismayed that employees of the retail giant Wal-Mart were encouraged every morning to recite a company cheer in a bid to build team spirit.

He said BDA has met with members of the US administration, including Karen Hughes, the under secretary of state for public diplomacy, and they are considering his suggestion that the booklet be given to every US passport holder.

A similar effort launched by the State Department shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States had little success.

Reinhard said that last year BDA also reached out to US students traveling abroad by distributing a 60-page citizens' guide offering tips similar to those in the guide launched this month.

He said he hopes to eventually compile a guide for leisure travelers.

In the meantime, he offers this advice for the 60 million Americans who travel overseas annually: "Slow down, listen and learn."