>On one hand, it's a funny anecdote; on the other hand, the
>popularity of Coke, Pepsi, etc. in poor nations is often a sad index
>of the absence of potable tap water.
Yes it is. But people also like the stuff, something which causes anguish among high-toned Europeans and American leftists. Interesting he served Pepsi, the Republican cola, rather than Coke.
I was on a panel the other night with Hamid Dabashi, author of a new book on Iranian film. On the subway afterwards, he said that Titanic was enormously popular in Iran. It was a taste of freedom, and a fuck you to the ruling clergy. Dabashi, who is quite against the war, nonetheless had some tough words for the anti-Americans in the audience; he liked the title of that WSWS piece from a few weeks ago - "Anti-Americanism, the Anti-Imperialism of Fools."
Doug