American Reacts to 11 Common Things That Don't Exist Outside the USA

original - - • 11 Common Things That ...
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[@TheOverProSniper]

"The flag thing could be overblown" *Literally wears a shirt with a flag*

[@Daesma999]

the US flag is basically a worldwide merch at this point.

[@leandrog2785]

But he's probably wearing it just because it's related to the theme of the video

[@Skullost]

@@leandrog2785 Soooo, you are telling us that he went and bought a shirt with the US flag on it specifically to watch the video?

[@paulhilton6426]

This list is BS. Many countries have many of those things. The only unique things to the US in this list are the college sports popularity, and the free refills. Here in oz we have all the other things. The only reason people don't use garbage disposal units anymore is because they're a massive waste of resources.

[@Skullost]

@@paulhilton6426 Where I live (in Europe) There are places where you can get refills, not all places but there are quite a few if you know where to look! :I

[@alexandrorocca7142]

Playing the national anthem before sporting events where all the participants are compatriots is also an American thing. And at least in Europe, the idea of pledging allegiance to a flag every day at school would be seen as a form of indoctrination pushed by a totalitarian government instead of a celebration of democracy.

[@KondorMoto]

pledging allegiance to a flag every day at school IS a form of indoctrination disguised by the government as a celebration of democracy. I know, I recited it for 4 years and I wasn't even american

[@o0Donuts0o]

By totalitarian government you mean the European Union?

[@heikestoll1205]

I’m German and came to the US as an adult. I didn’t really know about any of this till my kids started school. These kids are being indoctrinated before they can even tie their shoes…

[@phunk8607]

yeah it's weird to pledge allegiance, it's farcist state vibe

[@nasigoring1525]

Yea, in Australia it's only before MAJOR events. AFL grand final, ANZAC day game etc.

[@sonjamuller9397]

Love when you say 'I don't see any flags in the neighbourhood' while your flag shirt is showing 😄. I know you meant the yards but still. Flags are really a big thing in the US and to foreigners it really feels like there is always a flag in sight, like always.

[@vicu_negru]

I never ever owned anything with my countries flag, i love my country, i am a patriot, but I'm not cultist about it...

[@RedRingOfDead]

It feels like a cult Sonja. A goddamn cult

[@soniquecat4745]

I have seen quite a lot of flags in post-2014 UKraine.... but well, even back then at country was at war (and it was more prevalent in 2014-15 then they started to care about other things than rabid nationalism). Though I feel that the latest Russia invasion brought it all back.

[@andremorning7427]

This was too funny 😂 The US flag is on clothes, hats, cars, cups... everywhere

[@kiljaeden7663]

@@RedRingOfDead they make their kids swear allegiance to it every morning. Definite culty vibes.

[@easykill2k16]

In the UK they tried to make Black Friday a thing, but the discounts were comparable to the weekly "Sales", which largely means they finally reduced the price they had been inflating for 3 months in order to offer it for "sale", also you cant tell a Brit to go shopping on a day, so they made it a week

[@vanselmeer5347]

Yea, was about to say something similar. In Denmark they inflate the prices too, so they can sell it as a "great discound!" at regular price. Of course there are some stores that actually do proper discounts, but you should generally not trust anyone or anything on Black friday.

[@jdksdj11]

In Europe Black Friday is just small discounts and most people buy online during it.

[@QWACHU]

Same here in Poland. Also they often selling ie. cheapest TV models next to top line ones (that are thrown 1 or 2 on store), with similar "big" discout, and eventally thay are sold for bigger price, than in the regular days.

[@Khaleesi1985]

In The Netherlands the week before ‘Black Friday’ the prices go up. And the week they call ‘Black Friday’ you’ll get a very small amount of discount… if you get it at all in the end.. 😫😫

[@kaidrache2395]

Same in Germany guys. If you know the prices of items you want you'll be sorely disappointed in Black Friday. Weeks before that day prices will inflate and will fall back to normal level on Black Friday. Just not worth it.

[@SNMG7664]

The flag thing is very real. In 10 years in the UK I saw maybe 20 flag designs, total. I spent a weekend in the US where I stopped counting at 400. There's literally one on your shirt in this video. That's uniquely USA

[@Lydisquidie]

Oh my God. Good catch with the shirt! There's so many examples of clothing incorporating American flags. Very American thing to wear them and probably not even think twice. You don't see people in Australia wearing flags for day wear.

[@cab63868386]

I'm from Aus and can confirm that the US has an obsession with their flag and nobody gets why we all just roll our eyes when we see it

[@rivertam7827]

You should see Belfast, some parts are wall to wall union jacks, I actually commented that they have more flags than Americans 🤣

[@Bayard1503]

Yup, also playing the national anthem before every game... why?? Most of the world plays it only in international games. Or maybe at the final of a cup/league... The only country I've seen that does besides US?? Russia.

[@cab63868386]

@@Bayard1503 yep agreed

[@dbrooks76]

Very start of the video ... traffic lights were invented in UK, the first one was outside Parliament in 1868 and designed by a railway signalling engineer. America has a habit of claiming they invented stuff they actually didn't.

[@kwlkid85]

Like the car

[@kelvinth117]

like the submarine thats a dutch invetion

[@Frenchy78ify]

before the electricity ?

[@kwlkid85]

@@Frenchy78ify It used gas lamps but electric lighting did exist then it just wasn't common

[@kwlkid85]

@@Frenchy78ify also there was an accident where the traffic light exploded and killed a policeman

[@hory-portier]

In Poland, black Friday is an annoying thing... For it to happen, shops have to slowly increase prices for over a month, to suddenly return to normal price on that one day. btw. we use solo cups everywhere outside of homes or stationary restaurants, so all the festivals or parties in the wild, where you can't take glass stuff. Actually, I don't think it's possible for a country to not have those cups and still have festivals etc. Image food festival for 20000 people hosted at some station or something like that. You can't provide every food/drink stall with running water at the spot to wash the dishes. Disposable cups are the only solution. But if you went to a restaurant and got a plastic cup, people would think that the restaurant tries to save money on the quality of their service, not to mention needless environment pollution.

[@icoborg]

that black friday thing is the most stupid thing i have ever heard lol

[@ronblack7870]

are those cups in other parts of the world RED . that's what is so popular here . red solo cups. there are lots of plain cups as well.

[@hory-portier]

@@ronblack7870 mostly white and semi-transparent.

[@Allegory_of_Wolves]

Germany, the country of the impossible and of alternative solutions then... We have huge festivals like Wave Gothic Treffen, Mera Luna, Wacken, Rock am Ring, et cetera, with thousands of visitors, and there's it's entirely possible not to have plastic cups which you just throw away after using them. At our festivals, the food and drink stalls will give you very sturdy hard-plastic cups, for which you pay a deposit (often up to 5 Euros per cup), and once you drank up, you return the cup, get your money back, and they'll wash it right there and then for the next use. These drink and food stalls are connected to running water usually by water hoses. Festival grounds or market places in cities are already equipped with water connection just for this purpose. It can be done.

[@hory-portier]

​@@Allegory_of_Wolves Deposit, I haven't thought about it, that's a good idea. It works with cashless payments nowadays, right? Stalls could even use their promotional cups with logo and social media links. Getting running water everywhere makes organization much harder, tho. Smaller festivals might struggle with that and possibly even give up on making an event due to budget problems. Well, I don't know the costs of it, but I suspect it's not cheap for smaller events.

[@avenirdutch8291]

Black Friday as a "commercial name" does exist outside the USA for instance in my country but it's more of a "advertising lure" giving out discounts mostly for online shopping or in a variety of physical stores but it gets nowhere as insane as over there with people waiting in line in the hundreds outside stores and fighting over items.... it's more a name to offer stuff on sale than the insane carfuffle it's over in the US

[@agnesmeszaros-matwiejuk8783]

Also, because for Black Friday the best offers you can usually get is 25-30% off. That I can get often throughout the year as well.

[@moleogod]

The flag thing isn't just about flying the flag. It's the overall way Americans treat the flag. Only 3 countries do a pledge of allegiance to a flag in schools. North Korea Singapore USA It just seems strange to many of us overseas.

[@puppyp9299]

you've not been to Philippines, where they do Flag Ceremony every morning and recite the Oath. Back in the day, we also did Flag Retreat once a week in the afternoon, basically lowering the flag slow for the duration of the anthem, then folding it, not sure if they still do that these days.

[@patrickskelton3610]

I remember the morning flag ceremony in the Bahamas.

[@nwinburn]

You need to travel more.

[@toenailandthebedsores6682]

I guarantee if we had to do this in the UK it would go, "God save our gracious queen, covered in margarine...."

[@Frenchy78ify]

@@toenailandthebedsores6682 hahaha

[@esteban8840]

13:20 i’m French and I once visited the US, I was honestly shocked by the amount of flags everywhere, in France you’ll only see this amount of flags in a nationalist party gathering or in a sporting event

[@michiganstad]

it reminds me of germany back in the second ww.

[@Biorx8]

I'm french too, Last football with the french team I've been I saw more Algeria and Maroco flags than french onces!!!

[@ktartyk]

Well, when it comes to flag overuse, there's us. The bretons, in France... We can't help but show our flag at any occasion... Sport event ? Breton flag! Political meeting? Breton flag! Travel to a foreign country? Breton flag! A random party! Breton flag! A concert? Yup... Breton flag!

[@thejackimonster9689]

In Germany you were literally perceived as extreme nationalist for flying any flag before 2006. This changed a bit with the soccer world championship back then. But especially before that it was kind of weird thing to say being proud of the country or something like that. Still weird to be honest. I would assume it's still very different in Germany than in other countries because of our history. It is also part of the program in school to learn about the worst effects of nationalism. The most flags you will see are during international sports events and the national team plays. But besides that it's hard to find any flags in the public. Maybe in a museum or when any extreme nationalists hold protest. But then it's likely they will use flags which are actually forbidden in public.

[@ExUSSailor]

Unfortunately, blatant nationalism has become normalized in the U.S. in the last 20 years. It's a HUGE problem here, because, it's inevitably linked with racism, xenophobia, and, authoritarian, pro-fascist politics.

[@puffin20]

I live in Greece and Black Friday was imported like 5 years ago or something. Was working in the first European Under Armour brand house at the time when it came around. The usual discounts during the sales was 10-20% but on Black Friday (which for some reason lasted a whole week) the max discount you'd get would be up to 30% and only at selected items. So 40% of the items had discounts, the other 60% no. So European "Black Friday" is a completely different thing and it is super hard to find stuff for over 50% discount. US on the other hand has a long history that accompanies Black Friday, something that Europe doesn't have. As for flags, Greeks are proud of their country as well, but you only see flags at government buildings, churches, sporting events (like UEFA and other big championships) and also people hang out flags on huge national holidays such as the Independence day. Also at nationalist gatherings which many people are against.

[@royjonesjrjr6396]

It was the same in Spain. Something like 5/6 years ago I suddenly started seeing "Black Friday" written everywhere, completetly out of the blue...

[@nastiaandrej]

In Europe, we have Black Fridays, but we don't tend to sleep outside of the malls or be violent. The biggest sales in Lithuania are around Christmas and Easter, it doesn't mean though that people will physically attack each other to have stuff

[@BICIeCOMPUTERconGabriele]

Garbage disposal: here in Italy (and I think in Europe in general) we collect the food related waste (for example bones, egg shells, fruit kernels, the part of vegetables you discard and so on...) in a separate bin, that will be turned into "compost" that is a fertilizer! In fact we have a quite advanced separate waste collection: we separate in different bins: plastic, paper, glass, alluminium and steel, and food related waste.

[@ianyoung9539]

Same in most of Australia too. We also don't have huge mountains of food on our plates that you can't eat all, like in USA - what a waste.

[@amaroaverna923]

We have also special waste that should bring in specific places like: wasted oil, battery, electronic objects, pills and medicines etc etc.

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

We basically have paper, recyclable, and proper waste. In many households also compostable stuff.

[@kumaahito3927]

Yep, here too. One for paper, one for plastic and metals, and one for general garbage. Composting isn't something they do centrally, but plenty people do it at home anyway. Dangerous waste obviously goes to the respective places, but those are not regularly thrown out so they don't have a separate bin, but you do need to bring oil, batteries, old fridges, etc. to certain places where they collect it. (Schools and public institutions for example usually have one or two "battery bins" near their entrance. The market near us has a large container for used oil. Etc.) Edit. The above are the household bins. These are gathered separately at home, and are taken away separately weekly/biweekly/monthly depending on the type. There are public large "garbage collectors" where you can put paper, plastic, white glass, colored glass, and metallic~y waste separately.

[@thomasmattsson3410]

Same in the Nordic countries, Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark. Probably Iceland too.

[@elisabethatkin9297]

I'm in the UK and in my area our food waste is taken by the local authority to an Anaerobic Digestion facility where it is turned into energy to power 4,800 homes. It takes 85 days for the food waste to break down and at the end of the process it is sold onto local farmers as a nutrient-rich fertiliser.

[@minischembri9893]

Same here in Germany but food waste is mostly used for being turned into fertilizer and non-recycable waste is turned into energy.

[@barbararees604]

Wish they did that here in Australia.

[@danicadamosti]

Same in Italy, almost everywhere. More common in some regions, less in others

[@smartassdroid5149]

Thats what they tell you anyway...

[@razzmatazz1974]

Same here. I'm from Argentina and a huge landfill from the 70s in my local area is being reconverted into recycling facilities. Part of the waste is recycled, part converted into biogas, part incinerated for Energy and the old landfill is now a forest. There is a section with solar panels. Used cooking oil from homes and restaurants is collected and turned into biodiesel for vehicles and glicerine soap for hospitals. The people working in the recycling process was before scavenging in the trash. Our county has made a great job with these initiatives

[@alec7568]

Those red frat party cups actually get sold in bottle-o's here in Australia. People in other parts of the world were wondering what the deal is with those red cups in every party scene in an american movie. So they started popping up in those stores with ads basically saying: "look! Now you can have those infamous red cups!"

[@AbiGail-ok7fc]

Long ago, I read an article on explaining why there are so many US flags shown on TV (IIRC, it was specifically about news programs), but seldom a UK flag on the BBC. The answer was "Brits don't need to be constantly reminded in which country they are in".

[@massimoblanco2132]

I used to work in a flag factory in Belgium. 65% of the production were U.S. flags.

[@GH_97]

That’s insane 😂

[@noatasss]

Only flag merch I had was a shirt with a little 3 cm by 4 cm French flag. I’m Belgian, my mom bought it cuz we were stuck in France during the world championship and the rest of my clothes were unavailable(packed and in the trailer, the flat ones) and I needed some clothes

[@zwenkwiel816]

has to be a lot of work too, all those stripes and stars (well if you actually sew it together and not print it or something)

[@hvalhajen]

I just can't stop laughing about the flags, as i look at your T-Shirt :D

[@davida7227]

They are so oblivious to it! xD

[@AngryLookingBanana]

I was thinking the same thing i was like screaming, you even have an american flag on you shirt bro the whole time haha XD

[@A7XNoiD]

lol, true!

[@janelleagius4198]

Literally right!!! Laughing so much!

[@noeraldinkabam]

It was a bit of a tender spot for him.

[@hatjodelka]

I live in the UK and we had a waste disposal unit in the kitchen sink in the early 1970s in a house we moved into. It was rarely used, not because it was illegal or bad for the environment but because it chewed up my mother's engagement ring which had belonged to her grandmother when she tried it out with potato peelings. It made a terrible noise as well. Hated it.

[@FreddeSkywalker]

When it comes to the flag I'd say that when you see the news from the US you'll see the flag almost everywhere and US-tourists here always have at least something with the flag on it. Here in Sweden, we are of course proud of our country aswell but we very rarely have our flag anywhere else than on official places. We might have a little flag on the table at occasion's like birthdays or when we celebrate our National Day. I can't really say that I've seen many clothes with the Swedish flag on it... I know that they exist but I haven't seen them in the same extent that I've seen clothes with the American flag. Black Friday and "black week" exists here aswell but they blend in among all the other sale's we have (Summer-sale, Autumn-sale, Winter-sale, after Xmas-sale, Spring-sale etc.) and the deals often aren't that great anyway and that's why I think that people over here isn't as hyped as you Americans are.

[@deadkodo]

Black Friday sales are really only a recent thing in Australia. I think probably around the time Amazon set up here. Our usual big shopping sales day was the boxing day sales which happens right after Xmas.

[@zhukie]

@kellie heald Fucking typical Amazon lol

[@slyking214]

No one can Replace Boxing Day.

[@Lydisquidie]

Yeah. Our big day is definitely boxing day sales.

[@lieutenantsloth2153]

Same in New Zealand

[@phoenixparrot9351]

And Black Friday, has another meaning in Aus as well as its about those bush fires that happed back in 1939 I've always thought it insensitive to still call it black Friday here.

[@908947]

because of the flags. a good example...look at your t-shirt. I believe that the flag is so ingrained in everyday design that it's not even noticeable to a lot of Americans. but for non-Americans all the more striking. Greetings from Austria

[@IWrocker]

Good point, this is an Evel Knievel shirt, so not me wearing a flag shirt per say, but yea I get your point. I might not notice American flags as much as someone who isn’t from here

[@merindahthornton5080]

I am a Girl Guide (Girl Scout) leader in Australia we usually hoist a flag with ceremony (either Australian, World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts World Flag or our Unit flag) at the beginning of meetings and lower it at the end. We sing the Australian anthem if it’s an Australian flag, or the World Song if it’s a WAGGGS flag. We sing Taps at the end of our meetings. Guides and Scouts are taught to use and respect flags. I haven’t come across flag use outside of Guides & Scouts except my kids’ school. They raise an lower a flag, without ceremony, just a couple of students.

[@Zepha21]

Free Refill: some restaurants do the free refill thing, got to check first, it's rare but not unheard of. In my European country, usually the food is affordable, but the drinks (or "extras") is what they make the real profit from.

[@TotalRookie_LV]

We do have advertising for medicine in Europe too, followed by "ak your doctor first" or something like that, but only for over the counter things. Besides doctors can no longer prescribe one particular branded medicine, active ingredient is what matters, so pharmacy can suggest a cheaper alternative.

[@chriskelly9476]

I'm of two minds about the free refill thing. On one hand, it's very cost effective, on the other hand, it sort of encourages over-consumption, particularly sugary sodas and the like that are bad for you. If I have to pay for each individual coca cola, I'm only having one. If I can get six for free, I'd have six. And that, to me, is a problem.

[@Wolf-ln1ml]

It still _costs_ the restaurant the same, so that money has to either come from somewhere else, or not get spent elsewhere - and considering how shitty the waiters tend to get paid, I'd guess it's the latter. So the free refills - to some degree or other - come out of the living salary of the waiters. Suboptimal I'd say...

[@gemnfert]

The only place I have encountered free refills outside of America was an American owned restaurant. Personally, I love it. Free refills are ONLY given to those who are not partaking off alcohol. When I first encountered free refills it was explained to me that it was a custom initially begun to encourage someone to not drink alcohol so the group they are in can have at least one sober member of the party to safely drive everyone home. Whether that is the reason or not, anything that potentially encourages greater safety is a positive in my book.

[@raapyna8544]

@@gemnfert Maybe, but McDonalds doesn't sell alcohol. I think the only free refills here in Finland are if it's a buffet.

[@madisspiegel]

@@raapyna8544 I've had beer in McDonalds in Prague for example. But regarding free refills - they are included in the cost anyways, so everyone will indirectly still pay for it.

[@AJ73]

There were some Hungry Jacks (Burger King) restaurants in Australia that were doing free refills along with various all you can eat restaurants that had self serve soft drink stations too

[@cyrilbilkenstein4677]

Free refills are banned in France for a question of public health in order to protect the youngest from over consumption of sugar. Black Friday exist but by the law it's not allowed to sell under the price the shop bought the products, it's possible under certain circumstances like summer sales. Ads for lawers and ads for medication/doctors are forbidden ( some exceptions)

[@wyterabitt2149]

I don't mind minimum pricing for things like tobacco and alcohol where you don't want sales on these things or to push things like that. But blocking shops from selling general products for whatever low price they want, as long as they are honest about everything, seems very silly.

[@nikespen768]

@@wyterabitt2149 The reason for that lies in fair competition, without that rule financially strong businesses (like Walmart) can just undercut the competition, have them go out of business and then raise the prices. Thats the reason selling for less than the buying price is forbidden in Europe.

[@wyterabitt2149]

@@nikespen768 I was talking about sales only. There are other protections for long term competition that makes banning it entirely unnecessary - most countries don't allow it permanently, this was about in a sales where they still can allow it under the right circumstances (or other situations such as getting rid of old stock, or stock that is about to go out of date etc, etc).

[@themissakura599]

@@wyterabitt2149 we have that too to avoid destroying perfectly functioning goods, but there's a waiting period to respect, and the prices can't drop too low either.

[@andy70d35]

Ian in the UK where I live, we put all the food waste into a small bin in the kitchen lined with a biodegradable bag that then goes into the Brown wheeled bin outside the house for garden waste and food waste. We also have outside a Green bin for plastic and cans, a grey bin for paper and cardboard, and then a blue bin for normal household waste that can't be recycled.

[@HangmanOfficialUploads]

I lived in Hungary for 9 years, they still do it there with the medical ads, but the Netherlands mostly doesn't do so. Hungarian doctors will often prescribe branded meds more than nobrand stuff because they also get a sponsorship cut.

[@DerJuvens]

Yeah but taking Hungary and comparing it to The Netherlands is kinda a meh comparison. Hungary is pretty corrupt in itself compared to The Netherlands so I'm not surprised that they play outside the rules.

[@HangmanOfficialUploads]

@@DerJuvens Oh I'm not comparing the two. Just that in parts of Europe we still got this, but in others we don't. The further east you go, the more likely you are to see medication ads on TV again. My Polish friend could also confirm that they got it there. And yeah, corruption is god awful in those countries, it's why my spine is still fucked. You could, at the time, buy off a cop with a tenner to jack a car right in front of them. These days I heard it's a little better, but not a by much. It's a beautiful country, Hungary, just steer clear of the politics, police and medical areas. The people were great, the experiences(for the most part) too. It's just that the government side of things is absolutely fucked at the core and shameless about it.

[@DerJuvens]

@@HangmanOfficialUploads Yeah that definitely aligns with my experiences. But I'd also agree it got better, like 20 years ago you could easily pay off most polish policemen for smaller stuff. Nowadays I wouldn't try it anymore.

[@SweetSallyRadio]

Spanish here! The flag thing it's definitely an US thing. Here we have our flags (EU, Spanish and the "autonomic" flag; similar to your states) in official buildings, not schools or universities. We only see the Spanish flag EVERYWHERE is when our national football selection is playing a very important championship. In fact, seen our flag on clothes or cars is definitely a symbol of patriotisms/nationalism, and that is not considered something good... And as for the Black Friday, it's more common now, but still, prices are increased on purpose a month before so they can offer you a "discount". So maybe we buy something that we really need, like a laptop or a smartphone and hope it's cheaper. But it's mostly online.

[@leamsineaj]

Something else about black Friday in Spain is that the discounts are 15%-30% that with the price increase you have the prior weeks, you're paying basically the same prices as in the two sales periods we have (after Xmas and summer).... And instead of a day, they'll do it for the whole week plus cyber Monday.

[@daveaglasgow]

Probably because of the fascist way they force school kids to pledge allegiance to the flag day after day year after year at school, constantly push the American anthem/flag down everyone's throats, and constantly push "American made" at everyone.

[@johnnycavallo5391]

Yes, in fact look at his T--shirt in the video.

[@Paul-zk2tn]

@@johnnycavallo5391 Was thinking the exact same thing, the irony is strong haha

[@vicu_negru]

Dude La Roca near Barcelona is a black Friday year round!

[@georgecurrenti3602]

Beer needs to be drank from a chilled glass… not plastic. Yes, it makes a difference. 👍🇦🇺😀

[@MrReallogs]

pewter all the way ;)

[@drummerboy2834]

I’ll always take a stubby over a can too 🤷🏽‍♂️

[@Dr_KAP]

Those plastic red cups are used at college parties in the US, where you definitely wouldn’t want any glasses 😂 I used to go to big fraternity and sorority parties as well as college dorm parties, they got pretty wild 😆

[@georgecurrenti3602]

@@Dr_KAP Yes… In my uni years I consumed lots of beer from (white) plastic cups. 🍻👍😋

[@jameso9221]

No ice in beer wtf

[@klotz__]

We have some Black Friday promotions in Germany, but shops have to come up with their own names because some scalper registered "Black Friday" as a brand and sues anyone who uses it. Also we have plastic cups but they usually are white.

[@haingis]

we do have black friday in Norway as well, though I usually have my 13,5 hour shifts those days so I don't really know if there are anyone shopping in physical stores. I don't really buy that much though, cause if you search up the price history of certain wares you see that they crank up the price ahead of time to make it seem like it's a lot cheaper than it actually is

[@lytsedraak]

Black Friday did come to Europe in a way, but because we don't celebrate thanksgiving all stores are open on that Thursday as well, which means that that Friday isn't considered special. Companies just take advantage of another "discount" day/week/whatever. (Yeah, we have a "black Friday week"). But our Black Friday discounts aren't more than other discount periods we have so it's just nothing special here. Edit: In Belgium we have discount months in July and Januari. The black Friday discount period is just another discount period...

[@ilya.petersen]

Dutchman here. The free refill thing would not work here, because the way I understand it selling drinks is a huge part of a restaurant's profit margin here. So waiters in most restaurants will come by often to ask if'd like another drink to drive up the bill. And flag flying is not common here at all, only on government buildings. The only time flags are flown here by the wider population are on King's day (April 27th, in combination with a lot of orange flags and banners), Remembrance Day (May 4th, flown at half mast), and Liberation Day (May 5th).

[@WombatMan64]

When I lived in New Zealand, you could get free refills... but only in Burger King. McDonalds didn't follow suit.

[@Rusty_Gold85]

That would be due to staff getting better wages. The US system shit on their staff and get poor hourly rate

[@kevinfisher1345]

They would have to give a ton of refills before they did not make a large profit on it anymore. It is literally just flavoured sugar water that costs a couple of cents, and is typically sold for several dollars. For instance here in AU you pay $3AUD for a regular size fountain drink. You can pay that much for 250ml bottle from restaurants without a fountain. Even if you are generous and say the overall cost to provide that costs them ten cents, that is still 290X profit. Yes drinks and small appetizers is a large part of the their profit in AU as well. Yet there are a few rare places, like recent Taco Bell, that do offer free refills and do not charge anymore then elsewhere. In other words they are still making huge profits from it. And staff in AU get paid well, a livable wage.

[@FurballGamer]

I live in Hungary, when it's Black Friday here we usually order discounted stuff from webshops instead of potentially trampling eachother to death.

[@vicu_negru]

Same in România... In shops the discounts for clothing for example are just like end of season sales, though i am almost sure the end of season sales are greater

[@jasonwood8800]

High school sports, especially baseball, are huge in Japan. Games are often televised and the entire board of education I worked at watched a screening of one of the big high school baseball matches during work ours. The boss’s reasoning was he’d prefer the staff to just watch the match rather than be half-heartedly working distracted by constantly checking their phones

[@kanesanders6669]

I'm a proud Australian but in 50 years I've never owned an Australian flag and never owned a single item of clothing with an Australian flag on it.

[@vicu_negru]

Im 36 and can say the same thing! I'm proud of my country, am a patriot, but never owned a flag or clothing with the flag...

[@someonerandom8552]

Proud born and bred Aussie. Ironically the only Australian flag I have was a gift from my cousin when I visited her in California lol She got me a koala wearing a shirt with the flag on it because she thought it was cute.

[@karenwalker321]

We have Black Friday sales now but when I was younger they didn’t exist. Our equivalent used to be the Boxing Day Sales

[@wlbeneathify]

Same here in Norway, just the last 5 - 6 years and never at the same madness and magnitude as the US.

[@DieZockerZone1]

but it seems like the price is like normal. so they call it cheaper but i think it isnt cheaper, atleast where i live. (germany)

[@nelliebly6616]

Where a big part of Australia burned down....

[@annanz0118]

Even boxing day sales are relatively new in my state (WA, Australia) as prior to around 20 years ago shops were not allowed to open on public holidays, including Boxing Day.

[@namewithheldbygoogleforsec673]

@@nelliebly6616, Black Friday Sales have nothing to do with Australia's bushfires. It's an American thing that Australia and many countries round the world participate in.

[@hsal79]

Here in Finland we have had system for bottles (glass or plastic) and cans (aluminium) that when you buy something in those (water, beer, juice...) you pay some static extra (depending container material and size like currently 0.5 liter PET bottle is 20c). And if you return it intact you receive that extra payment back. And that works also to found items and finder can collect that return, some even do this to get extra money. This system has been here somewhere 50s' or 60s' and not common elsewhere.

[@mariusfranzen4375]

Black friday have been a thing in a lot of other countries (at least Sweden, where I live) for the past 10 years or so. It has only been somewhat big for that long at least. But it's not the kind crazy black friday as USA. No violence and stuff, and also not so extreme prices. We usually get 20-30% off And we only get free refills at IKEA :D

[@TheAussieLeo]

4% of the worlds population has 60% of the worlds lawyers... ouch...

[@AnnaAnna-uc2ff]

We once took a Japanese guest to a truck stop, just for the experience. The waitress kept coming by to refill our coffees. The Japanese person expressed concern that maybe the restaurant forgot to put coffee in the coffee maker.

[@raapyna8544]

Yeah, here in Finland at least one refill of coffee is usually free, but you need to get up from your seat to get it yourself. Even in restaurants where you make the order from the table, there is often a side table somewhere in the restaurant where you can go get your coffee. I think it's because of different preferences in the coffee-milk-ratio, type of milk or cream, brew, sugar amount and type, and half cup versus whole cup.

[@Packless1]

@@raapyna8544 ...a.f.a.i.k. Finland has not only the most Heavy-Metal-Bands and Saunas per captia but also one of the world's highest coffee-consumtions...?! ;-)

[@clapetto]

Regarding lawyer ads, something to add to what is said in the video: in Europe generally TV stations work differently, as in local stations are watched by almost no one, or do not exist altogether! So basically you only watch TV channels that are available in the whole country, and that means that advertising local stuff is not possible as almost no one will care. You would never call a lawyer 800km away from you to try and not pay a traffic ticket, and that's also why there are no ads for car dealerships.

[@ghostofdre]

We do have ads for lawyers in Australia, mostly compensation lawyers. There are also adds for some pharmaceutical products like Nurofen or panadol.

[@davidmuller66]

The flags aren't just about flags on houses etc. It's also about where else to see it. Just look at your t-shirt and whoops, there's the stars and stripes to see.

[@IWrocker]

Not a flag shirt, Evel Knievel shirt but yea I get your point haha

[@gemnfert]

@@IWrocker the American flag is so heavily out there that most Americans don’t even see it any more. If I am interested in some imagery that Americans routinely utilise (eagles, wolves etc) the flag is almost guaranteed to be part of the image. It can be hard for non-Americans to find such imagery (made in America) without the flag. Or at least some representation of the Stars and Stripes. My son has an assistance dog and her vest was made in America. It has a very visible American flag on the vest, even though it is officially a plain red vest. I do see this is Americans simply having pride in their country. I believe it’s important to have pride in your heritage, and the Stars and Stripes are how most Americans display that pride.

[@stephaniew9660]

Was looking for that comment!

[@stephaniew9660]

Jea….Evel Knievel…I wonder what inspired his outfits 😊

[@lsamaknight]

Australia and we do have places trying to push the whole Black Friday shopping thing, but its very much an imported thing. OUR thing is the Boxing Day Sales.

[@PhantomFilmAustralia]

Like the desperate attempt into pushing Jack-O-Lanterns and plastic cobwebs down our throats for something we don't celebrate.

[@danielwhyatt3278]

Yeah man same in the UK. We really don’t like to push the whole black Friday thing after how it all first started in the UK so now we just continue to enjoy the Boxing Day sales instead.

[@jadecawdellsmith4009]

@@danielwhyatt3278 Im Ozzie & wouldn't mind 'celebrating' Guy Fawkes Day but that's just cos I love fireworks. Our "cracker night" was taken away when I hit my teens (many moons ago)I always thought it was better than a b'day or xmas.

[@raapyna8544]

Yeah they try to push it here in Finland too, desperately. It has turned into "black week" because they can't get enough customers in just one day. We celebrate midsummer, the best thing about it is that America doesn't celebrate it, so it's not commercialised like every other holiday.

[@spigette]

Same in Canada. Black Friday sales have crept in recently but generally it's always been Boxing Day sales.

[@tisketisja5528]

In the part of the Netherlands where I live you don't throw left over food in the garbage bin. You put it in a green bin and they will pick it up every two weeks. We have everything separate, food bin, plastic bin and paper bin. The rest will go in the garbage bin. There are places to bring your old lamps and batteries.

[@Blue_Caribou]

For Black Friday - the traditional equivalent in the UK is the "Boxing Day Sales", the day after Christmas, but I think the big difference is the attitude - you talk about going on Black Friday to see what deals you can find. Most people in the UK used to go to specific stores on Boxing Day if they needed a specific big-ticket item (couch/furniture/white goods are the main ones) to take advantage of the sale price (nowadays of course, it's all online as well) - they'll know what they want in advance, often down to the make and model.

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

Had to look up what that even is. Here stuff is closed on that day. But the day after is always chaos, because 2 days of closed stores, less than a week before new years(another 2 days closed) means people have to restock their apocalypse rations.

[@baxter414]

In Brazil we moved past the Black Friday and created “Black Week” or even “Black November” in some stores, but the day (week or month) became just a marketing excuse when they say the products are being sold for a specific percentage of the original price but in reality they are being sold by “half of de double of the price” as we usually say…

[@IWrocker]

Yea you’re correct, it has turned into a whole month of “sales” here in the USA too

[@fatimahmakgatho8968]

South Africa was the same lol

[@luigibenni3449]

The same in Italy 😄

[@Tonlistmusic]

Same in Norway

[@cynzix]

And don't forget Cyber Monday...

[@lindabakker3727]

hahaha the flag thing! That is so real! We went to the USA for a road trip from NY to Minneapolis and there were sooo many flags everywhere. Our Dutch flag is "proudly" waiting in a closet for a national holiday..

[@sarahmann4753]

Or maybe Football Championships (Worldcup or European). In Germany those are more or less the only events for taking out a flag (or you Support the AfD 🤢)

[@MaticTheProto]

@@sarahmann4753 nah, having the flag out is perfectly fine

[@valeg.4259]

In Italy, black friday has existed for some years imported from Amazon. However, there are longer discount periods during the year called "saldi", but reserved only for clothes and little else, certainly not for electronics.

[@CeravvvEgan]

People have waste disposables in New Zealand too. We had one in our current house, but we renovated our kitchen and got rid of it. We scrape our plates and put scraps in compost, bin or mix it with the dogs meals depending on what it is.

[@tomaskruger4671]

In my part of Sweden we put our food waste in green bags and throw them in garbage when full. The green bags gets automatically sorted out and their content turned into methane, which is used to power city buses. Reduces CO2 emmisions and the exhausts are less hazardous than those from fossile fuels.

[@Templarofsteel88]

Plus that the green bags (or at least where i live in Sweden) are biodegradable so if it ends up in nature it won't take as lobg to breakdown as a normal plastic bag. This does not mean you should throw the in the forrest (or anywhere) regardless.

[@divid3d]

in Australia we have ads for some pharmaceutical products (over the counter pain medicine, cough medicine, etc. that you can buy without seeing a doctor) but not prescription medicines. we do have ads for lawyers too. my friend's house down the street when i was a kid had a garbage disposal but they're definitely not common here. plenty of people in australia get braces, teeth whitening, veneers, etc too. and black friday has also become a thing here in recent years. red solo cups are available here but are more often used when emulating a US celebration (superbowl parties for example) rather than all the time. not the most accurate video!

[@ellefitzpatrick6339]

Actually we DO have ads for medications but not many. I’ve seen one for nerve pain.

[@divid3d]

@@ellefitzpatrick6339 pretty sure direct to consumer advertising of prescription drugs is illegal everywhere except the US and NZ, so either it wasn't a prescription drug, the ad was illegal, or they found a legal loophole somehow.

[@billschild3371]

Lawyer adds became very common in Australia when no win no fee lawsuits were allowed. Maurice Blackburn anyone?

[@shaneeslick]

I think their "Nowhere else in the World" does not include Everywhere Else in the World emphasised by "Many Europeans" But even so it did blatantly contradict itself on the Subject of Teeth by saying that UK it is important too So🤷‍♂️

[@evilmessiah81]

same in germany, here its only over the counter drugs, cause advertising for prescription medicine is illegal here.

[@kristiangalue2484]

The thing with Black Friday for example in Spain where I live, is that the discounts are really small some 5 to 20% of the full price. That is an offer that can be found throughout the year as well.

[@xyzm21]

thanks, it actually let me through so i could download it.

[@n0us.]

The flag thing is totally accurate. I play Geoguesser sometimes and you almost never see a flag unless its a government building , and unless you are in the US. I never lock in a US guess until I see a flag flying outside of a door or on a car, and even living in a city where not very many people show flags, I still see them literally everywhere.

[@LegoGBlok]

Is a flag and a government building a thing? we don't have that in Finland.

[@jeffduncan9140]

@@LegoGBlok in the US there will be a US flag ,at a minimum, prominently displayed in front of any sort of government building.

[@luizfelipefranco5381]

@@LegoGBlok Here in Brazil it is, at least. Governamental buildings usually have flags up to the jurisdiction it responds to. For example, a municipal building will have the nation flag, the state flag and the municipal flag (sometimes there is a regional flag as well, but those aren’t as common). In greater National Buildings it isn’t uncommon to see all the states flags with the national flag rising above them, but the national flag is the least it will have

[@DayneD89]

I'm from the UK and I know one person who displays a flag and it's always seemed very weird to me. I went to the US last year and I saw more US flags every day than I'd see in a year here.

[@Tyronejizz]

Well you shoudnt expect to see alot of US flags in the UK

[@DayneD89]

@@Tyronejizz Very droll Mobutu xD

[@markchip1]

Oh, the irony!! As the segment on TV ads for medicines switched onto the lawyers segment, I immediately got a KZbin ad - this was in the in the UK, mind you - for "Injury Lawyers For You"!!

[@lyndihodson101]

In Australia we are spot on with garbage..we have 3 different bins..yellow is for recycling, I make a point to rinse out b4 putting in bin. 2nd is red for rubbish in general n 3rd is green which is for garden clippings..food scraps n even doggy doos. Alittle effort but well worth it.

[@TheProteanGeek]

With Black Friday sales it wasn't something we did at all in Australia until more recently, in the last five years or so really. Here in Australia our traditional equivalent to Black Friday was more Boxing Day sales.

[@leannemassari4378]

That’s cos it’s all about the $$$ Same as the introduction of Halloween crap. Most Australians don’t even know why Halloween is celebrated. They just stand there & say ‘the kids enjoy it!’ 🤦‍♀️

[@leannemassari4378]

@@Lewtable I just hate that it’s the adults that involve their kids in it. They have no clue what it’s about. Halloween or Olde Hallows Eve has its roots in Europe. The whole trick or treat crap about candy is from the US. Has zero to do with Australia except as I said $$$$

[@itsbeckon2017]

Living in Switzerland, the home of cheese, my heart breaks seeing spray cheese. Agree on so many points in these videos about differences between the US and Europe

[@themissakura599]

Frenchy here, and it grossed me out too

[@SuperMaxdragon]

As an American, it grosses me out as well.

[@kimmieb2u]

As an American I do not buy nor consume spray "cheese". 🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮

[@jeffduncan9140]

Not all Americans like spray cheese. That crap is nasty!

[@LM-oh3vw]

Italian here: I am also disgusted

[@ristube3319]

Velveta is used for many steak sandwiches, nacho cheese, etc, just not in a can but same product.

[@Jkos1980]

the reson you don´t put food waste down the drain is you get an abundans of bio mas to the treatment plants, and it would make the bacteria that cleans the water in the plant grow to quickly and clog the system, it is all about balans. In Sweden we sort it out and it goes to a special treatment and becomes bio-gas, that is used for fule for city bussen and alike

[@rogercarmel6619]

Whenever I visit the USA, I return with cans of spray cheese. I’ve even sent it to friends in France who find the product hilarious 😂

[@steveweidig5373]

For the free refills, in some countries it's actually forbidden in restaurants to serve soft drinks from a big bottle to ensure the drink is fresh and untampered with, so the drinks come in small bottles instead - and you have to pay for each one of them separately.

[@lestranged]

Restaurants in US aren't serving soda from any size bottles, they have it on tap, like beer taps. It's not just a giant keg of soda, it's a tank of flavored syrup, which is mixed with water and a tank of compressed gas to carbonate it. The tap (soda fountain) mixes these three components as the soda is dispensed so it can't go flat because it's not carbonated until the moment it's poured..

[@komkwam]

@@lestranged But are those free refills really free? There must be some sort of business model behind those free refills, maybe they are included in the price of the meals you take? Only the air you breath is free.

[@lestranged]

@@komkwam They are included in the price of the drink purchase ( along with all 'free' items like cups, straws, lids and napkins) but that means you pay for a refill whether you get a refill or not. you pay for napkins whether you use them or not.

[@berndkemmereit8252]

In Europe Black Friady is used to empty the warehouses with old stock, most ofthe time they increase the prices shortly before so they can advertise huge savings.

[@HalfEye79]

In Germany there are ads for certain medical stuff, which you can buy without receipt, such as aspirin. The standard-text for this is "Bei Risiken und nebenwirkungen lesen Sie die Packungsbeilage oder fragen Sie ihren Arzt oder Apotheker." ("When there are risks or side-effects read the package insert or ask your doctor or pharmacist.")

[@avmavm777]

When I visited the USA the myriad of flags was the most obvious difference. They were everywhere - even in suburban houses. It was a little disconcerting- like I’d stumbled upon a cult. In the UK we have maybe one flag on a public building and the occasional union flag in a residential house (although it’s seen as a bit eccentric). You will see England, Scotland or wales flags at big sporting events though

[@eskhaphey2873]

That's because Americans need to be reminded where they are, so a flag on everything is a good way to choke the populace with location info :|

[@nunya2171]

It is alot like a cult. They pledge allegiance to the flag every morning at school, sing the national anthem at the drop of a hat and if it wasn't an american idea it must be bad and "socialist".

[@alandoyle8880]

No it’s just because they are patriotic which we are not.

[@unwokeneuropean3590]

When we Europeans do this we are the bad guys from ww2 era.

[@bct8881]

@@alandoyle8880 Draping yourself in a flag doesn't make you a patriot. Certainly says you're trying to look like one. Trump proved that isn't always the case.

[@ravendesignstudio]

From Canada.. the number of USA flags when I went down south was staggering. Just weird.

[@joshualoukianov7099]

I live in British Columbia and work in Alberta and the Amount of Canadian flags there is literally more than in the USA. Grande Prairie Alberta literally has the biggest Canadian flag in Canada. Plus in my elementary middle and high school we had to raise and lower out Canadian flag in the morning and after school. What part of Canada are your from?

[@demolition3612]

My garbage desposal goes into the septic tank, also you avoid puting meat of any kind into it, but orange peels and other stuff can just go down it, and you turn it on, it grinds it up, and it goes to the tank, however its weird to just throw food into there, it just means you dont have to worry about food getting in the drain, cause you have a garbage disposal.

[@josecarlosgarcia2652]

In spain we have some legal advisor companies (lawyers) ads but they are very rare, and more often on the Radio.

[@bernardsulman1506]

RE: Black Friday. In the last few years there have been attempts to push it in Australia. But it generally fails because the Thanksgiving on Thursday is not a public holiday over here. It is not observed except for US immigrants or people with some personal connection. So the following day is not observed either. Neither is a day off, they are just ordinary working days. There are some attempts to promote Black Friday through online sales, but not for real stores.

[@rocco5045]

Same thing in Europe,nobody gives a f..k about black something. Discount doesn't need another name.

[@Kayenne54]

An "online store" being regarded as "not a real store"? I get from this. When I was a kid we lived far out west, and received mail order booklets where you could order anything. Literally anything, by mail order. I loved it. Occasionally a huge truck would visit the outback cattle stations and they'd have nearly everything you could want; fabric, paper, safety pins, gift type things, hardware, cutlery, dinner sets...They were, I think, the same company that provided the mail order options. So intimating that an online store isn't a real store is way off the mark. There are, in fact, still mail order companies doing very good business, thank you. Ezibuy for one...Returns are a nuisance, but clearly available, and refunds are quick.

[@Rusty_Gold85]

The markdowns are not that good either

[@jasonwinthrop6235]

Hi @@Kayenne54 the statement was that the Black Friday sales are pushed more through online purchasing channels rather than designed to increase foot traffic to bricks and mortar stores which is true given Black Friday occurs on a working day in Australia. Being online it’s easily stretched out over a week too, whereas Boxing Day Sales drive in person shopping as it occurs on a public holiday.

[@Ulexcool]

My perspective from Spain. *Medical ads:* We have medical ads but for common flu, cough and things like that. *Lawyer ads:* Never seen one on TV in 37 years. *Spray Cheese:* I might have seen this in some supermarket, but it was advertised as "American Spray Cheese" with the American flag and all 🤣 *Garbage disposal:* Never in my life. *College sports:* Nope, we only watch pro leagues. We don´t care *AT ALL* about amateurs. *White teeth:* Here people care about their dental health, not about their dental looks. Their are not the same. *Black Friday:* We have Black Friday, but it`s advertised as a 100% American "new" thing. It´s done mostly online. *Solo cups:* We have solo cups, but their are white and for children birthdays. *Free refills:* Free refills??? WTF!!! *Flags:* We only fly flags in administrative buildings. People do not fly flags here at all.

[@uraniaininverno995]

Same in Italy!!! I agree with every single point ✅ Just wanted to add that you could see Italian flags everywhere only after we won Fifa World Cup 🙃🌍 I'm sure the same happened when you won it.

[@KondorMoto]

From Spain as well. Agree with everything except the flags. Spanish flags are flown by some here and there, always as a way to express their right wing views

[@thesnesgeek]

Fun fact, In Sweden you get a calling by a dentist, to attend for a yearly checkup. This is for kids aged between 3-23. It does cost but not too expensive.

[@nicolasschwitzky3010]

14:50 funny is, that the famous Mini with the Union-Jack indicators and painting actually belongs to the German Brand BMW.

[@katehobbs2008]

Insinkerators used to exist in Australia but were banned maybe 40 or more years ago, as an environmental and water quality issue. 🇦🇺 And I guess that most medicines are not advertised is because, if we are sick more than just a flu, we go to the doctor who advises us what is wrong and what to take. If a doctor prescribes them, they almost always cost very little as they are very heavily subsidised so that everyone can afford them. Yay! 🇦🇺

[@marvindebot3264]

ISEs are not banned, you can still buy them. It's just uncommon.

[@purplemnkydshwshr]

Used to sell plumbing gear, still available, even from Bunnings. Just stupidly expensive now😁.

[@chrish4469]

They aren't banned everywhere in Australia, Some local government have banned them. You can buy them at Bunnings or the good guys

[@darianistead2239]

They aren't banned. Had them in houses here in Australia and in New Zealand.

[@chrish4469]

@@darianistead2239 In some council areas they are banned, As animal fats and grease cause massive problems in the sewers and drainage systems.

[@ryankincade]

Black Friday was never a thing in Australia until about five years ago. Now, the major retailers have jumped on board and have tried the make it a big retail event.

[@haleyrichardson8818]

Same with here in New Zealand...

[@catweasle5737]

Yep. Another downhill slide toward Americanism. 😒

[@ernestseubapedrola7110]

@Ryan Kincade In Spain happened the same

[@Daniels_ATS_W900]

Did you forget about the Victorian Bushfires and the boxing day shopping spree.

[@ryankincade]

@@Daniels_ATS_W900 both have nothing to do with America’s Black Friday sales.

[@destraugh5052]

So in South Africa, certain restaurants do free refills, for example you can buy a bottomless Coffee at Mugg&Bean or a specific cold drink

[@JH-lo9ut]

Black Friday is based in relation to thanksgiving, wich is only celebrated in the us. It used to be a way for stores to clean out old stocks before re-stocking new products for christmas. Having the sale close to thanksgiving means people are free to spend the whole day shopping. However, a lot of retailers around the world have adopted the black friday sales, because it is profitable. After all, it's really just a marketing device. The retailers don't really need to clean out the shelves, they are actually filling up the store just for this day.

[@olivianykolyshyn1934]

Canada also has Thanksgiving . That's how much Americans know about their neighbours.

[@jasonkeweneallan2827]

Garbage disposers are still very common in New Zealand. I’m suspicious when I hear someone say “only in…” or “nowhere else in the world.”

[@wjoyes]

Common in some parts of NZ perhaps. Nobody else in my family (including extended family) has one. I do but only because it was already in the house.

[@sazzy1959]

Uk has garbage disposers too, even in Malaysia where I’m living I have one ☝️

[@maxjjackson]

Don't you have direct to consumer medication ads in NZ...? Pretty sure that only NZ and the USA allow Tv ads from pharma companies. The makers can't sell it direct to customers, because the law says selling prescription medication to non medical people is the same as street drug dealing, so are trying to get patients to pester their doctors for a specific medical product regardless of whether there is a cheaper, safer and more suitable medicine available

[@wjoyes]

@@maxjjackson almost none. If it’s over the counter then anything goes. If it’s a prescription only medicine it’s rare but does happen. When comparing NZ vs USA tv ads, the frequency (and content) of pharmaceuticals ads is something that people from NZ notice.

[@warriorsofmayhem]

@@sazzy1959 I mean I'm a 25 year old Brit and the only time I've seen a garbage disposal was when I visited America

[@kholdanstaalstorm6881]

Hi, Norwegian here. We usually don't have our flag out on our houses except on special occasions. We have public flag days (National Day, National and International Historic Events, Royal birthdays and events, local visits of the Royals) and the flag could be flown in addition on own family, relatives and friends big events. Those who have a flagpole usually have it bare or fly a pennant when the flag isn't flown. For funerals the rule are half mast from sun up or 8 AM until the service is over then the flag is flown at full mast until sun down or 8 PM. We have Black Friday and Cyber Monday but it's only slightly more people out shopping than on an average Friday. Many stores have extended it to be Black Week here, some with the weekend also and certain items on sale each day. That's the differences I could come up with now, there's many more but this post is already long. Take care and stay safe!

[@rasmusjensen3966]

When I was in the states some of the things that stood out for me was carpets over all like in the airport.

[@kirk5152]

We have a lot of ("Have you suffered an injury or accident at work?") Kind of compensation lawyers ads on TV. And really the only commercials for medicine we have, is for stuff you can buy in the supermarket like paracetamol, or products for heartburn. You would never find an ad on TV in Australia advertising Anti-anxiety or antidepressant medication.

[@DomingoDeSantaClara]

The first time I went to Aus from NZ was in the 80s,I was amazed at the lawyer,ambulance chaser ads on TV,its deffo not something you'll see over the ditch as we can't sue for personal injury.

[@zhukie]

>You would never find an ad on TV in Australia advertising Anti-anxiety or antidepressant medication. Because its specifically illegal

[@grandy2875]

*indigestion

[@kirk5152]

@@zhukie Really!!!! 😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮Shocker!!!

[@jefferygray946]

Black Friday in Australia was term coined in Australia to commemorate one of the worst bushfire disasters in our history. its not a good sales ploy.

[@SandCoffeeRocks]

I thought that was Black Summer?

[@shaun5552]

Indeed and the term Black xxxday has been applied to various other fires since. For example the Black Tuesday fire, 7 February 1967, which remains Tasmania's worst disaster in terms of lives lost in a single incident or the 2009 Black Saturday fires in Victoria. A retail sales promotion named after disaster isn't ideal in my view. I'm not against the concept, just the name.

[@purplemnkydshwshr]

@@shaun5552 Ash Wednesday. it's unsettling when we realise that there's so many more.

[@AndreasEUR]

10:00 in Norway most products are cheaper before black Friday, then they increase prices so they can have a "good deal" on black Friday..

[@wordreet]

Kitchen waste disposals are readily available in the UK, no problem. I would probably have one now, but I found that the cheap skate builders that built this house managed to partly angle the drain from my kitchen upwards, so some water always remains in the pipe as well as the "u" bend. I will get it fixed some time, then I could get that waste disposal installed. My sister composts all her kitchen bio waste.

[@randomdriver]

The black Friday discounts just came here couple of years ago. Some years ago I wasn't even aware of such thing. People in generally are not fooled by it over here. Most companies still try to rise price of the things that are to be discounted at black Friday month or so before. I believe most consumers over here are using a price watch websites that show the prices and history in a neat graph and you can put a alert to those things when it drops a below certain amount what you set.

[@bev419]

Yes, it's really, really true that US seems obsessive with their flags. Here in Adelaide, South Australia, it feels odd / strange if someone is flying a flag from their house / business

[@Rusty_Gold85]

Theres one on the Derrick Diver Bridge and the top Chimney of Adelaide Brighton Cement but I only know 1 house with a high Flag Pole at North Haven

[@sweetypie9711]

Didn't someone in Australia get fined for flying an Australian flag outside as it was seen as racist? I remember hearing on the news.

[@zhukie]

Completely agree...people flying flags outside their houses feels very disconcerting

[@spugelo359]

@@zhukie Not sure about other European countries, but in Finland we fly flags on special days, especially on independence day. If it's flown all the time then it's nothing special.

[@1953zot]

@@zhukie it's become more of a political thing here stateside used to be you would fly the the flag on National Holidays now it's used to show that you're a "patriot"

[@Jamie_D]

Other countries do use plastic cups, but usually pretty standard white, and slightly different in style

[@UIMcocodog]

to be fair "garbage disposals" are used pretty much everywhere just not directly in houses. we all have macerators in line its just in the 3nd line or so so we cant put anything large into the first stage (at the house).....

[@Templarofsteel88]

What they kind of just glanced over is that most places (or at least here) we have a seperat bin for food scraps or anything other that is compostable, so we don’t just throw it in the bin.

[@MicahWestwood]

"I don't think there's many American flags around me." While wearing an t-shirt with an American flag on it.

[@oskjan1]

In Sweden, if you at ANY time ANYWHERE see ANY flag, that's many flags. You only fly flags in poles on national holidays or to recognize a national tradegy (flewn half way). So 98-99% of the year you can walk around all day anywhere and not see a single flag.

[@LegoGBlok]

@@oskjan1 As you probably knew, same here in Finland. I think its weird to see a national flag, especially on clothes, it might be prejudice or what ever to think like this and i apologize but i always think that person is either a criminal or a racist. - obviously is completely different thing when its a national team sport event...

[@silkwesir1444]

@@oskjan1 How about at weddings? I have once seen part of a Swedish movie on German TV, there was a wedding, and Swedish flags everywhere at that wedding party. Is that a common thing in Sweden? Or maybe was it something specific related to that particular couple which I didn't pick up on because I only saw some bits of the movie, missing the whole story...

[@oskjan1]

@@silkwesir1444 No, to my knowledge noone has flags at weddings either. Must be some movie thing.

[@dinahlavati7249]

In Croatia capital we collect most of food waste into special bio bins. And it is used to make compost. Then you can get in sping (I believe) and autum (I'm sure) up to 1m3 per family member of first calss compost for your garden.

[@SteabhanMacGR2]

UK food goes into a food bin which is collected for composting We also have black Friday. But its only happened over the last 10 years, well ever since amazon took over here. Lots of restaurants offer free refills here in the UK.

[@retyroni]

To me "Black Friday" is Friday the 13th. I heard the term actually came from accounting - as in, that's the point in the year retail businesses went back "in the black" after a period of slow sales that had them "in the red."

[@PhantomFilmAustralia]

I heard the same from Bill Burr. The most unlikely of sources.

[@Phiyedough]

I had never heard of Black Friday until about 4 years ago and I've never heard of anyone who makes a point of shopping on that day. I see it as a last ditch attempt for retailers to boost sales that have been steadily declining due to online purchasing. I used to repair kitchen appliances in UK and was never asked to repair a waste disposal. Some homes might have them but if they go wrong people probably don't bother getting them fixed.

[@geoffoakland]

They have it here in France, they even use the English phrase instead of 'Vendredi Noir' !! WTF. The French need some Québécoises over here to help them preserve their language !

[@DKC0994]

German Medical Ads actually do have a statement about their Products, it goes ''Zu Risiken und Nebenwirkungen fragen sie ihren Arzt oder Apotheker(Ask your doctor or pharmacist about risks and side effects)'' Edit: We do have Garbage Disposal for our sinks, its just not very widely used

[@kayreeve.author]

In the UK I've seen many medical adverts but usually for cold remedies or pain killers. We do have medical-cover ads, and solicitor or injury compensation ads but not as often as funeral cover or pension ads. Straight white teeth are becoming more common amongst younger generations unless they do drugs, so sadly blackened rotting teeth are also becoming more common. We don't have solo cups, but the equivalent plain white flimsy version we simply call a plastic cup. Garbage disposal is definitely unique to America. Great share, I love to see the differences like this.

[@annoyingginger5077]

Medical ads here are just NHS 'catch it early' ads, making sure you know the signs of cancer, and over the counter stuff. I even find it weird to see those.

[@Patrick_The_Pure]

In my country lawyers basically have zero power, they are just there to guide people on what to do, they have to abide by the law, finding loopholes is useless as a judge can just say "you know that's not what is supposed to happen" as common sense is as actual thing to consider. During a police interview, they can be present, but have to shut up, if they speak or even make the slightest eye contact or any form of communication or hints they have to leave the room. Judges are held to the highest regard, completely neutral and have to also, abide to the law. It's very simple, and although everything costs money, it's not a million dollar business model here. That's why you don't see ads for them here, no one cares.