Australian imitation of American businesses, plug socket shapes, and holiday resort areas (movies, live)
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Was there any connection or common thread between the following:
a. the emergence of Australian companies that have mimicked the American originals in name and logo but don't have any real connection to their American counterparts (e.g. Target, Kmart, Greyhound, Woolworths, plus Hungry Jack's [which essentially imitates Burger King in all but name]),
b. the fact that Australia (plus New Zealand and many other locations in Oceania) has type I plug socket shapes that retain the original American shapes from all the way in the 1920s or so before the US socket shapes gave way to the types A and B that are nowadays present in North America and even somewhat beyond, and
c. a predilection for urban planners and investors in Gold Coast and other holiday areas in Southeast Queensland in the early/mid-20th century to imitate Miami and elsewhere in South Florida (even down to naming a certain area of Gold Coast "Miami")?
Was there any connection or common thread between the following:
a. the emergence of Australian companies that have mimicked the American originals in name and logo but don't have any real connection to their American counterparts (e.g. Target, Kmart, Greyhound, Woolworths, plus Hungry Jack's [which essentially imitates Burger King in all but name]),
b. the fact that Australia (plus New Zealand and many other locations in Oceania) has type I plug socket shapes that retain the original American shapes from all the way in the 1920s or so before the US socket shapes gave way to the types A and B that are nowadays present in North America and even somewhat beyond, and
c. a predilection for urban planners and investors in Gold Coast and other holiday areas in Southeast Queensland in the early/mid-20th century to imitate Miami and elsewhere in South Florida (even down to naming a certain area of Gold Coast "Miami")?
The common thread is that the world is increasingly global and Australia has been influenced by many places around the world.
Yes, we have Miami in Queensland but we actually have places named Brighton, in Sydney, Melbourne and north of Brisbane.
Was there any connection or common thread between the following:
a. the emergence of Australian companies that have mimicked the American originals in name and logo but don't have any real connection to their American counterparts (e.g. Target, Kmart, Greyhound, Woolworths, plus Hungry Jack's [which essentially imitates Burger King in all but name]),
They are all licensing agreements going way back that probably had a joint venture aspect to them a long time ago. Seriously, it's not too dissimilar to how corporates like H&M or ZARA operate in markets like the US today.
Quote:
Originally Posted by yofie
c. a predilection for urban planners and investors in Gold Coast and other holiday areas in Southeast Queensland in the early/mid-20th century to imitate Miami and elsewhere in South Florida (even down to naming a certain area of Gold Coast "Miami")?
The Gold Coast is not overly similar to Florida, but similar climates do lead to similar building styles.
British place-names and building styles are common in parts of the US; just a reflection of influences and building technologies that were prevalent at different periods in time.
They are all licensing agreements going way back that probably had a joint venture aspect to them a long time ago. Seriously, it's not too dissimilar to how corporates like H&M or ZARA operate in markets like the US today.
The Gold Coast is not overly similar to Florida, but similar climates do lead to similar building styles.
British place-names and building styles are common in parts of the US; just a reflection of influences and building technologies that were prevalent at different periods in time.
I honstely thought in some cases they no connection what so every at all other than a name.
F.W Woolworths for instance did not register any trademarks or patents in Austalia, so an entirley serpate Australian Company registred the name and exanpded from there, there was never even any kind of Joint Venture or licencsing agreements between the two companies - their legally did not have to be.
I honstely thought in some cases they no connection what so every at all other than a name.
F.W Woolworths for instance did not register any trademarks or patents in Austalia, so an entirley serpate Australian Company registred the name and exanpded from there, there was never even any kind of Joint Venture or licencsing agreements between the two companies - their legally did not have to be.
The name “Woolworths†has definitely been used in a lot of markets.
K-Mart was originally a joint venture, and of course the Hungry Jack’s Burger King thing is a well known case study in franchising / lisencing gone wrong. The Masters hardware saga was a failed joint venture between Woolworths Aus and Lowe’s from the US.
Hungry Jacks is owned by the Burger King franchise. They just couldn't call it that in Australia apparently for trademark reasons. K-mart was actually a joint venture before eventually breaking off however as the OP pointed out there are some such as Woolsworths with no links to the US version.
Regardless of this is it any different to what the US does. US culture largely mimics other cultures. A perfect example of this is Americanising European or Japanese TV and movies. US architecture especially in the likes of California is heavily inspired and mimics southern Europe. US cities and towns are largely named after places in Europe. I don't see why this is a bad thing at all
Now one might ask why does Australia look more American than European and gets more of it's influence from there and the answer is quite easy. Australia and New Zealand were born after the US and their cities were built with similar layouts and structure. Also Australia didn't essentially become an independent nation on it's own until the start of the 20th century and by this stage the European powers especially the UK was in great decline while the US was increasing in cultural influence and power. This meant that the US increasingly had an influence on Australia's culture throughout the 20th and 21st century when most of Australia's growth took place so it's no wonder Australia in many ways has tried to mimic it's success. Not to mention the climate is largely in many areas similar so people live similar lifestyles in cities with high rises that look awfully similar to the US. The history of both nations is kind of similar in many ways aswell. So of course Australia is going to as it grows become influenced by the US in a number of ways to mimic what was successful in the US however it's still overall moving in a distinct cultural direction which many Americans may come to admire themselves
They are all licensing agreements going way back that probably had a joint venture aspect to them a long time ago. Seriously, it's not too dissimilar to how corporates like H&M or ZARA operate in markets like the US today.
The Gold Coast is not overly similar to Florida, but similar climates do lead to similar building styles.
British place-names and building styles are common in parts of the US; just a reflection of influences and building technologies that were prevalent at different periods in time.
While British and Irish place names are common throughout the US given that most of the US were either French and Spanish colonies at one point then there is just as much Spanish, German names aswell as French. German being the largest ethnicity has the second highest number i believe after English. This is a list of US places named after non US areas. It is extremely diverse. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...on-U.S._places
US placenames are a bit more diverse i feel than Australia which mostly stems from the UK and Ireland with some Aboriginal names thrown in. In time with current demographic trends continuing and as new towns and cities are formed Australia will become just as diverse.
While British and Irish place names are common throughout the US given that most of the US were either French and Spanish colonies at one point then there is just as much Spanish, German names aswell as French. German being the largest ethnicity has the second highest number i believe after English. This is a list of US places named after non US areas. It is extremely diverse. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...on-U.S._places
US placenames are a bit more diverse i feel than Australia which mostly stems from the UK and Ireland with some Aboriginal names thrown in. In time with current demographic trends continuing and as new towns and cities are formed Australia will become just as diverse.
If you include suburbs, there's a fair spread of names even in Sydney and Melbourne, such as: Leichhardt, Engadin(+e), Pyrmont (NSW) Steiglitz (Vic and Old), Heidleberg, Altona (vic), Como, Lugano, Lakemba (named after an island in Fiji)(NSW), Subiaco (over in Perth), Hahndorf, Buchfelde, (SA) Hermannsburg (NT), Candelo, Genoa (NSW), and Grindelwald (Tas).
If you include suburbs, there's a fair spread of names even in Sydney and Melbourne, such as: Leichhardt, Engadin(+e), Pyrmont (NSW) Steiglitz (Vic and Old), Heidleberg, Altona (vic), Como, Lugano, Lakemba (named after an island in Fiji)(NSW), Subiaco (over in Perth), Hahndorf, Buchfelde, (SA) Hermannsburg (NT), Candelo, Genoa (NSW), and Grindelwald (Tas).
Was there any connection or common thread between the following:
a. the emergence of Australian companies that have mimicked the American originals in name and logo but don't have any real connection to their American counterparts (e.g. Target, Kmart, Greyhound, Woolworths, plus Hungry Jack's [which essentially imitates Burger King in all but name]),
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This summarises the history of the Burger King / Hungry Jack's franchise in Aus.
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