I don't get it (part 2)

America's love affair with Britain has turned a ghastly corner. First it was the Beatles, then it was casting an English guy as every villain in every movie for the last 40 years, and now it's come down to our cosmetics.

If you've been in Target recently, you may have sauntered past the Boots aisle. "Welcome to the British aisle," it crows. For those of you who have never been to Britain, 1.) Go. 2.) Boots is an omnipresent drugstore in Britain -- nothing more, nothing less. Depending on the size of town and concentration of other nearby Boots locations, the shop may vary in size from little more than a newsagent to a full-on grocery store, drug store, and pharmacy. The Boots brand products at said store are just like store-brand stuff here -- slightly cheaper versions of name brand items.

Americans either don't know this, or don't care. Apparently some focus group said, "Yes! Put face lotion in a Boots bottle and women will choose it over Neutrogena or Olay because it will make them appear knowing and cosmopolitan. It's British, can't you see? It says so right on the bottle!"

This is what it must feel like to be Japanese and falling all over oneself for a t-shirt because it's in English. It certainly makes us look just as silly.

P.S. -- if you haven't wasted an afternoon on engrish.com, you haven't lived.

Update -- I was wasting the evening on engrish.com and found this gem, which is much more relevant to my interests.