President O-bow-ma

Surfing through the multiple websites I was quite intrigued by the comments and emotions people have poured in after seeing President Obama bowed to greet Japan's Emperor Akihito over the weekend.

There were various comments some , like "Obama's world apology tours", "I wish are first black president had been a rapper at least he’d have some attitude…" , "Obama wasn't bowing - he thought he saw a one yen coin on the floor and bent over to pick it up, because it's worth more than the U.S. dollar now "

Now as to why make such a fuss about a simple greeting, yes it was not done in a proper way "Obama stuck out his hand for a shake. Which was fine. He then proceeded to simultaneously bow. Which was not. And take his eyes off the person he's greeting. Which was not. And then the worst, the over-enthusiastic president of the United States bowed way down at a 45-degree angle", but why there is so much discussion ?

The simple answer which i can think of is, that President Obama is a "BRAND". Yes Obama is a brand, perhaps a brand which all the americans associate to, in their mind President Obama represent America and in turn Americans .

But "bowing" is not an american value, this is not what we associate Americans with.

In Consumer Behaviour terms , when customers see the brand which they use representing the values they do not have/ preffer / ask for there is a dissonance and that perhaps that explains all the analysis and the nasty comments :)