Culture Through the Lens of a Brand

One of the things I enjoy most when travelling is seeing what brands are the same, what are different, and also just what is interesting on the store shelves. Here are a few from Greece:

So.... that glass, the one that says "Ban" - I confirmed, the brand is a knock-off of Fanta orange soda. Hopefully they aren't trying to appeal to North American tourists, as the memory of Ban deodorant is just too strong... heh....
I had to buy more jam today (for toast, and I also make my own fruit yogurt by adding jam to the plain stuff), and noticed this on the shelf. It has real fruit inside, which I guess I'll need to cut up. But it says "clementines", which makes me wonder if that's what I had the other day when I picked up bitter oranges from below a tree (see here). Will see in the morning...
Interesting wine bottle! I picked it up, it is real ceramic.
So, does "The honey that goes everywhere" go in one's purse? Neat idea. Well, except for the fact that I have first hand evidence from my 20's that jam and honey do not belong in one's purse, if you also have a hairbrush, regardless of the fact that they are free in restaurants and handy for camping. LOL.
Laughing Cow brand is big in Europe, lots of shelf space. Here I found it in tubs. Yes, the same stuff in the little squares in a spreadable form. Yum!
Isn't this brand name kind of corny?
OK, not from Greece, but got this in Berlin when my friend didn't lose her luggage (long story)... Nivea is HUGE in Europe, big stores like Clinique. This is deodorant, but has words on the packaging that I don't associate with such products...
The Greeks have these evil breads and croissants stuffed with chocolate the consistency of pudding. I only tried them because I missed breakfast flying from Athens to Rhodes, so was happy to eat two on the plane. Then bought them a couple times. Not sure about the "7 days" brand though... does that mean it will last 7 days? Not sure that's the best advertising for "fresh"... and they could probably last 30. heh.
So the other day I saw Becel brand yogurt. I associate Becel with magarine which - I don't know about you, but for alot of people - is fake butter. And not something considered healthy. Was this the best brand to use for yogurt? On the other hand, haven't seen their margarine here, but then again, not looking... (toes thrown in for good measure)
Just some interesting bottles in the liquor aisle at the grocery store...
For the most part, I am suffering way less culture shock in Greece than I thought I would. Saw a lot less familiar brands and products in Rome. Here, the very modern grocery store down the street boasts about half brands I know. Sections like cereal have nothing unusual (boo), as I usually like to try local stuff; for now I am content with my Weetabix and Alpen.

Just interesting food for thought... once this trip is done, I should put together a collection of all the brand/food pics I've taken... I'm often pulling my camera out in stores and there are some interesting exhibits scattered amongst my pics of art and ancient sites...

For now, I am going back to my Mythos beer. I always drink the local beer - and this one is good!