Maybe global consumers know the difference between George Bush and Starbucks

If I had a dime for every story I’ve read about “trouble for American brands” in the global marketplace because of the U.S.’s poor reputation in the world right now … well, then I’d probably have something more fun to do than post this Business Week story about MTV Arabia:

How will the likes of Justin Timberlake and Rihanna go down in a region that’s not exactly brimming with goodwill toward Americans? Better than you might think. Middle Eastern youth may not agree with U.S. politics, but they can’t get enough of Western music and fashion. “The myth about the Arab world is that people go to bed at night hating the U.S. and wake up hating Israel,” says James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute, a think tank in Washington. “But go to any mall in Saudi Arabia, and you’ll see kids in jeans and baseball caps hanging out at Starbucks and McDonald’s.”