History Main / WeAllLiveInAmerica

Disabling redirect to disable indexing

[[redirect:CreatorsCultureCarryover]]

!This trope is [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16699563910.04858800 under discussion]] in the Administrivia/TropeRepairShop.
%%
%%
%%
%%
%%
%% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Please add your example in the proper place. Thanks!
%%
%%
%%
%%
%%
%%

[[quoteright:350: [[Series/LastWeekTonightWithJohnOliver https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/last_week_tonight.PNG]]]]

->''"Every country in the world belongs to America!"''
-->-- '''Bandit Keith''', ''WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries'', Episode 37

Every country in the world has a unique series of cultures and traditions, and even the smallest ones in the world (e.g. Singapore) have numerous diverse cultures and traditions. However, NationalStereotypes and personal experience aside, you probably couldn't tell that just from consuming entertainment media.

Often, when writing a story set in another country, the writer [[WriteWhatYouKnow basically takes their own country]] and substitutes in some foreign (or [[AsLongAsItSoundsForeign 'foreign']]) names, and might refer to a famous local festival or two if you're lucky. If you're not, it will be the writers' own country half-dressed-up as a [[PlanetOfHats Land of Hats]] in "[[TheThemeParkVersion the local style]]". And then, there are works that barely try at even that. If you find an author who demonstrates a more-than-superficial understanding of other countries and cultures, cherish them -- [[ShownTheirWork for they have a gift.]]

The title is inspired by ([[BeamMeUpScotty but is not a direct quote of]]) a line in the Music/{{Rammstein}} song "Amerika", which is about [[EaglelandOsmosis the spread of American values and culture across the globe]].

Please note that, despite the {{trope}} name, this is not an exclusively American phenomenon; writers from other countries will often project their own cultural mores, vernacular, and sense of geography onto countries other than their own, including the United States. Most common is the strange tendency to treat all the landmarks and major cities of a country that spans an entire continent as if they are within a couple hours' drive of each other. Another is to set a fictional work in an American InformedLocation whose inhabitants all speak in Britishisms. However, writers from non-American English-speaking nations writing chiefly for an American audience will often do this as well.

SuperTrope of HollywoodProvincialism, when American media, most of which is produced in or around UsefulNotes/LosAngeles, wrongly assumes that aspects of life in L.A. are the same at a national level.

Compare with CreatorProvincialism (where nothing important happens outside the writer's home country), PoliticallyCorrectHistory (the temporal version of this), and CanadaDoesNotExist (a weird mutation of this trope that Canadian TV producers often impose upon ''themselves'' in order to sell their shows in America).

Contrast with EaglelandOsmosis, where the influence of another country's media (chiefly that of the United States) causes people to do this to their ''own'' society. See also ValuesDissonance, which is perhaps the most compelling reason why this {{trope}} doesn't work.

Related to CultureChopSuey, which is about ''fictional'' locations that are based on cultures of several different real-life locales, often accidentally including the author's own. When a dub attempts to make it seems like the series takes place elsewhere, but the numerous set pieces make it apparent that's not the case, see ThinlyVeiledDubCountryChange.

For when we all really do live in America, see AmericaTakesOverTheWorld.

----

!!Example subpages:
[[index]]
* ''WeAllLiveInAmerica/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball''
* WeAllLiveInAmerica/FanWorks
[[/index]]

!!Other examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* In the [[ChristmasEpisode Chri-]], er, [[YouMeanXMas Heaven's Day]] episode of ''Anime/TheBigO'', despite Paradigm City clearly being future New York, the celebrations do seem to emphasize romance more than family.
* The OpeningMonologue of ''Anime/CodeGeass'' makes a big deal about how the Britannian Empire has [[ForeignRulingClass suppressed Japanese culture]]. However, the school system we see has almost nothing in common with the British ''or'' American systems; it's really just the Japanese system with funny uniforms.
* ''Manga/DeathNote'' has some of the most Japanese "Americans" ever seen. At least once, a member of a crime family bows to another member - his subordinate, no less. Every mafia thug knows exactly what a {{Shinigami}} is.
* In ''Manga/{{FAKE}}'', Ryo (who is [[ButNotTooForeign half-Japanese, but was brought up in the USA]]) and Dee, two New York cops, celebrate Christmas the Japanese way, with a romantic date. This ''could'' happen in the USA as well, but it probably isn't popular.
* ''Manga/{{Gintama}}'':
** When it comes to the Earth [[AlienInvasion dealing with the Amanto]], it's more like Japan dealing with the Amanto. When talking about "international relations" with the Earth, the Amanto exclusively bring up people from Japan and things happening in Japan, as if it was the world stage.
** This quote from Bansai summarizes the goal of Takasugi's faction to a tee, and delightfully highlights how it's slightly nonsensical precisely because it plays this trope completely straight:
--> '''Bansai:''' We will defeat the Bakufu and rebuild the world.
* ''Manga/GunslingerGirl'', though it's set in Italy, had many of the adult handlers be quite reserved towards their charges, probably causing ValuesDissonance for any Italian viewers (though it can be justified as the handlers aren't comfortable around ChildSoldiers and they all have [[DysfunctionJunction troubled backgrounds]]). They even bow sometimes. The girls don't act much like typical Italian girls, either.
* In the ''Anime/IronMan'' manga, Tony Stark works hard to curtail his American sensibilities (especially his womanizing) while in Japan, knowing it won't win him any points with the locals. His behavior, however, more closely resembles what a Japanese writer would ''guess'' an American hotshot would act like. For example, at one point, he is sparring with a Japanese fighter and compliments the man on his JapaneseSpirit… before [[CombatPragmatist cheating]] and then proclaiming that as an American, he instead has "Pioneer Spirit". Not only is JapaneseSpirit something most Americans have ''vaguely'' heard of, at best, but no American would ever use the term "Pioneer Spirit". The "American Way" maybe, but in this context, even that's a stretch.
* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' has characters from all around the world, but many still use expressions or have norms that are rather specifically Japanese.
** Polnareff of ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders'' is French, but tells a villain that he will be judged in hell by ''Yama'' and mentions the RedStringOfFate when hoping to find a girlfriend. While there was ample opportunity for Polnareff to have learned of Asian tropes like the Red String off-panel (either in causal conversation with his Japanese friends Jotaro and Kakyoin or during his travels through China prior to meeting them), it would be rather rare indeed for a Frenchman to actually believe in East Asian mythology's judge of the dead to the point of using judgement by Yama as a threat against a villain, unless he has converted to Buddhism while in China.
** ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind'':
*** The main characters are [[TheMafia Italian gangsters]] who [[HonorAmongThieves despise the drug trade]]. Such beliefs are commonly attributed to {{Yakuza}}, but aren't generally associated with organized crimes much of anywhere else (although the most famous Mafia film example, Don Vito Corleone in ''Film/TheGodfather'', also refused to deal in drugs).
*** While doing math, Narancia draws a ''{{henohenomoheji}}'' on the side of his paper (which is made of Japanese characters).
*** Guido Mista has a deep superstitious fear of [[FourIsDeath number four]], as if he were Japanese. Italians actually fear seventeen the most[[note]] The reason for tetraphobia in Japan is that "four" and "death" are both said as ''shi''. In Italy, on the other hand the number 17 is feared due to its Latin reading, XVII, being an anagram of VIXI, meaning "I have lived", and thus "I died". Friday 17th is especially disliked in Italy due to Friday representing Jesus' death [[/note]]. The InUniverse explanation is that his tetraphobia originates from his neighbor being attacked by a kitten who was born in a litter of four, which is a rather weak justification. In Neapolitan Smorfia, however, the numbers 47 and 48 (both of which start with 4) are associated with "the dead" (O'Muorto) and "the dead that speaks" (O'Muorto che Pparla) respectively.
** In ''Manga/SteelBallRun'', Sandman's Stand involves materializing {{Written Sound Effect}}s in the form of Japanese characters. It's not explained why a Native American in the 19th century would know Japanese well enough to have it be an integral part of his ability.
* ''Anime/KaleidoStar'' does this a couple times. It takes place in America, but the characters who are supposed to be non-Japanese occasionally do Japanese things, like bowing. One of Sora's friends, Mia, uses the Japanese gesture for "come here" (the maneki neko paw gesture), in an episode of ''Kaleido Star New Wings'', but it may not count since she was signalling Sora.
* ''Anime/LittleWitchAcademia2017'' is set in the United Kingdom and for the most part, the writers did do their research. However, the lone episode set abroad (in Finland, home to Lotte's parents) shows Lotte's family have very typical Japanese traits, such as bowing and saying "Itadakimasu" before the meal. In what may or may not be a parody of this kind of thing, the same episode shows that the lone Japanese character (Akko, the protagonist) strongly dislikes the typical Japanese tradition of having long, hot baths.
* ''LightNovel/MyNextLifeAsAVillainessAllRoutesLeadToDoom'': ''[[FictionalVideoGame Fortune Lover]]'' is set in a MedievalEuropeanFantasy universe, but its Japanese roots can be seen from the fact that Keith is ''adopted'' as heir -- a ''very'' common Japanese practice, but virtually unheard of in post-Roman Europe. There are of course also things like tools, architecture details (despite ostensibly having "European" aesthetics) or even such silly things like desserts - all of which quite blatantly show its Japanese origin.
* The gods in ''Anime/OhSuddenlyEgyptianGod'' despite being [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Egyptian gods]] do a lot, if not mostly, normal Japanese activities.
* ''Anime/RedGarden'' is set in New York and does a good job of reflecting that, but a few bits of Japanese society leak through: people bow to each other, students have access to the roof of their school, the metric system gets used casually, etc.
* Creator/StudioGhibli's anime adaptation of ''Literature/RonjaTheRobbersDaughter'' is set in medieval Sweden. And yet Mattis and his crew can sometimes be seen wearing what looks like [[http://i.imgur.com/wSSNJKu.png Japanese "Oni" type masks.]]
* ''Anime/ShootfighterTekken'' has a TournamentArc set in the US and falls into this trope hard, with the announcer denouncing modern problems such as high-school girls going out with older men for money. Not exactly as common in the US as it is in Japan.
* In ''Manga/SoulEater'', it's implied that the school is located in Nevada in the US, since Spirit is the local Death Scythe of North America, and there aren't many other deserts that fit the bill (why the author didn't go with ''Death'' Valley, in California, is anyone's guess). Yet there are certainly a lot of Japanese cultural tropes at work, such as the bento lunches, students can go anywhere in the school (barring [[spoiler: the underground SealedEvilInACan]]), group baths, etc. ''Manga/SoulEaterNot'' states that Death City has its own culture independent of its surrounding, but Japanese culture is still represented disproportionately both with locals (like [[ButNotTooForeign Maka]]) and characters from other countries.
* ''Manga/SpyXFamily'' is normally pretty good at avoiding Japanese cultural traits where they would differ in what appears to be central Europe, but the beginning of Chapter 26 shows test papers look exactly like Japanese ones, only in English, with a series of pre-printed multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank questions with a score out of 100 written on a space on the upper-right corner. In particular, Anya gets a score of 13 on a history test with the reader expected to understand this is a failing grade; tests done in western schools are not necessarily out of 100, and a score of 13 may be a passing grade (such as if it's out of 15). In addition, wrong answers are marked with a check; teachers in western schools instead most often use an "X" for a wrong answer while a check mark, if used at all, is for ''correct'' answers.
''Anime/TransformersCybertron'' primarily takes place in a fictional town within Colorado, USA. Yet one episode has the TagalongKid characters bowing deferentially to a senior figure, a specifically Japanese custom. The dub unintentionally adds another one, with a scene of a man pulling up in a car and getting out adds him saying “Stop here” to an offscreen chauffeur… before climbing out what would be the driver’s seat in an American car.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* Frequently in U.S.-set comics of ''ComicBook/TheBeano'' and ''Comicbook/TheDandy''. For example, steering wheels are often portrayed on the right side of the car. The Mayor of Cactusville in ''Desperate Dan'' dresses like the Lord Mayor of London, complete with gold chain of office and tricorn hat. Even ''British'' mayors don't really dress like that, except on special occasions.
* ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'' occasionally shows people driving on the left side of the road in America[[labelnote:*]]There ''is'' one part of America that drives on the left: The U.S. Virgin Islands, which drove that way before America bought them in 1917 and just never bothered switching[[/labelnote]]. Background text tends to use U.K. spellings as well.
* ''ComicBook/TheMuppetShowComicBook: On The Road'' has a brief reference to replacement comedian Mitch Wacky getting his gags from [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_cracker Christmas crackers]]; a UK and Commonwealth tradition that barely exist in the US, where the Muppets live. (Writer/artist Roger Langridge is a New Zealander living in the UK.)
* ''El Libro Vaquero'' is an erotic Mexican graphic anthology of stories that take place in the American WildWest, and most of the characters are Americans. The problem is, most of the American characters act and behave like ''Mexicans'' and this was completely deliberate, according to the [[WordOfGod creators]], as they didn't like the way how American creators of WildWest stories write them. The WildWest depicted in ''El Libro Vaquero'' is essentially Mexico from the same time period, with more romance [[FanService and soft-core eroticism]].
* Creator/NeilGaiman briefly but memorably flirts with this in ''ComicBook/TheSandman''. In #7, the American John Dee calls Morpheus "a spittle-arsed, poxy pale wanker", which is a string of British-specific oaths. Dee's mother was English, but it's unlikely that any American-raised person would say this in the heat of passion.
* There's a number of instances of British terms and phrases used in ''ComicBook/TopTen'' despite the American setting of Neopolis. For instance, Neural 'Nette compares the Libra killer's RazorFloss to "candy floss", which any American would call "cotton candy." Oddly, this seems fairly unique to ''Top Ten'' -- Creator/AlanMoore has written ''dozens'' of comics set in the US without running into this problem.
* In an issue of ''[[ComicBook/TheUltimates Ultimate Avengers]]'', Comicbook/WarMachine tells the second Comicbook/BlackWidow not to refer to their teammate Tyrone (the original [[Comicbook/TheIncredibleHulk Hulk]]) as an "African-American" since he comes from England. Widow responds by saying she's still not comfortable saying "black", and asks if she can just call him "African-English".
* The comic book ''ComicBook/{{WITCH}}'' tends to hint it's set in America (currency, American flags, law enforcement with US-like uniforms and cars and, in one vacation town, being led by a sheriff). The problem is the human members of the cast act as generic Europeans (with a light leaning on how Italians act), and the traffic signs are obviously European.
* In ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'' [[ComicBook/WonderWoman2011 Vol 4]] #50, a young boy in England whose father died of cancer is worried about how his mum would pay the medical bills. Nobody in the UK actually has this worry thanks to the NHS, which (usually) covers stuff like this. Britain ''does'' have private healthcare with higher out-of-pocket cost, but it's a choice rather than the default. [[https://www.the-medium-is-not-enough.com/2016/04/weekly_wonder_woman_batman_v_superman_teen_titans_.php#more-27875 One reviewer]] looked at this and a few other oddities in the storyline, and came to the conclusion that, in the DCU, Britain actually is a US state, where everything is exactly the same except they drive on the left.
* In ''ComicBook/WerewolfByNight'' volume 2, Jack is shown to have a bidet in the bathroom of his small New York apartment. The issues were penciled by Leonardo Manco, an Argentine artist. In Argentina, bidets are a standard feature of homes but they are rare in North America.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooAndTheLochNessMonster'', The Mystery Machine drives past a road sign for the A83 towards Loch Ness. The road number is right - but the sign is an American-style shield, not the road signs used in the UK.
* While Belleville from ''WesternAnimation/TheTripletsOfBelleville'' isn't ''explicitly'' referred to as being in America, it's an ocean away from France and clearly modeled after New York City. But it's a very ''French'' version of New York City. Aside from the name:
** The chase scene at the climax of the film takes the characters through the kind of narrow, steep, cobblestone-paved streets you'd find all over old-world cities but never in America. (And the streets are nearly deserted at night. New York is called the "city that never sleeps" for a reason.)
** The opening scene depicts a broadcast from Belleville, including a fully-topless Creator/JosephineBaker in her famous banana skirt. While Baker was born in America, she had moved to France decades before the era of television and had dropped that persona by the time she (very briefly) returned to the States. And having a topless dancer on live television would be controversial in the US ''today'', and most likely illegal in the black-and-white era.
** The whole business with the frogs. It's probably not ''inconceivable'' that ponds with a healthy frog population exist somewhere near New York City, or that someone sufficiently poor might try to catch them for dinner, but... well, you'd never expect to see it in a movie that wasn't made in France.
* Overlapping with MisplacedWildlife, Disney in general had a habit of sticking New World animals in their adaptations of European fairytales, starting with the raccoons and California quails in ''WesternAnimation/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs''. See that trope page for more.
* A mild, Dub-induced version of this happens in ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles''' Hebrew dub, where during the chase behind Syndrome's robot in the city, Elastigirl tells her husband to turn into "[[UsefulNotes/GeraldFord President Ford]] Avenue". The fact the movie's vague setting might be before the Ford Administration aside, American cities do not have major streets named after national leaders from the 1960s/1970s[[note]]The ''17''70s and the ''18''60s, on the other hand...[[/note]], whereas Israeli cities do – mostly as commemoration for the Six-Day and Yom Kippur Wars.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* ''Film/Aquaman2018'': One of the water-breathing Atlanteans plunges his head into a toilet bowl to avoid asphyxiating. Toilet bowls in Europe aren't filled with as much water as in America, so he would likely not be able to completely submerge his head as shown.
* ''Literature/TheAsteriskWar'': Volume 7 has the GirlGroup Rusalka try to {{exploit|edTrope}} ContractualPurity to ruin their rival Sylvia Lyynneheym's career by starting a scandal with the rumor that she has a boyfriend. While this might work in Japan due to the culture surrounding {{Idol Singer}}s in the region, Sylvia explicitly has a worldwide fanbase and Western audiences would overall be at worst apathetic towards the news.
* ''Film/TheAvengers2012'': The German company being guarded by security officers complete with [=SMGs=] may be somewhat believable in an American setting, but in Germany, most private security firms would get into trouble issuing as much as ''tasers'' to their personnel.
* ''Film/BestOfTheBest'': The South Korean Tae-Kwon-Do team cheered for their country as "Korea, Korea!", but "Korea" is an exonym. It should've been "Hanguk, Hanguk!" (Korea) or "Daehan Minguk!" (South Korea).
* In the first ''Literature/BridgetJones'' adaptation, American actress Creator/ReneeZellweger absolutely nails playing the very British lead character and does this so convincingly she could pass for a native. '''Except''' for the inserts where she is getting angsty about her weight and she panics that everyone is aware she's putting a little on. Suddenly and jarringly her weight is presented in the American manner, for no readily discernable reason. A Brit would never give her weight as a hundred and six pounds; this means bugger all if you're British. Nine stone two, on the other hand, ''does''.
* ''Film/Deadpool2016'': After being diagnosed with cancer, Wade says that Vanessa is working on Plan A, Plan B and all the way to Plan Z, pronounced "zee". Being Canadian, he should have pronounced it "plan zed." However, Deadpool may have spent enough time in America to adapt his expressions, and many Canadians already pronounce it "zee", partially due to [[EaglelandOsmosis Eagleland Osmosis]]. What makes this doubly odd is that Ryan Reynolds, like Deadpool, is originally from Canada.
* The British movie ''Film/TheDescent'' is set in North Carolina, but was filmed in Britain, has one American character (Juno - played by an Australian-Chinese actress) to the majority British cast, and has British flora, fauna, and vampire-like cave monsters typical of European folklore.
* ''{{Film/Geostorm}}'' shows a Chinese car with a thermometer showing temperature in Fahrenheit rather than Celsius.
* The film adaptation of ''Literature/TheGirlOnTheTrain'' moved the setting from the suburbs of UsefulNotes/{{London}} to the suburbs of UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity, and changed little else. At least one critic noted that the very English names of some characters (like "Hipwell"), while not particularly unusual to the ears of British readers, can sound like {{Preppy Name}}s to Americans even though the characters aren't supposed to be upper-class.
* ''{{Film/Gladiator}}'':
** Most characters have an [[PresentDayPast anachronistic]] desire for democracy and speak of a return to Republican rule as a realistic alternative to the Empire, which is in turn painted as a purely monarchical institution. The Roman Senate is portrayed, likewise, as a much more powerful institution than it was [[spoiler:and is free to take over after Commodus is killed, something that obviously didn't happen in reality]].
** Maximus's full name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, which is consistent with modern American (or generically Anglo-Saxon) naming conventions. However, in the ancient Roman system "Maximus" was a ''cognomen'', which was said last. So his name should be Decimus Meridius Maximus.
* ''Film/{{Godzilla 1998}}'': Jean Reno's French secret service agent character travels to Tahiti to investigate Godzilla's recent attack on a freighter. Upon arrival he is hounded by members of the US Navy who demand to know who he is and what he is doing there, apparently unaware that Tahiti is an island in ''French'' Polynesia and that it should be him asking them those questions, not the other way around.
* ''Film/TheGreatMuppetCaper'' is pretty good about this. Yes, the take on London is a bit touristy, and all the Muppets who supposedly live there still have the same accents as they did on ''The Muppet Show'' (this also happens in ''Film/TheMuppetChristmasCarol'' and ''Film/MuppetTreasureIsland''). And then Beauregard shows up driving the only yellow cab in the city. It's particularly confusing and distressing for Sam the Eagle, an in-universe [[MoralGuardians moral guardian]] who is [[EagleLand deeply patriotic... toward America]].
-->'''Sam the Eagle''': Mm, you will love business. It is the AMERICAN WAY!\\
'''Gonzo''': [whispers] Sam...\\
''[whispers in Sam's ear]''\\
'''Sam the Eagle''': Oh... It is the BRITISH WAY!
* In ''Film/{{Mortdecai}}'', the flashback scene showing Charlie, Johanna, and Alister at university clearly shows them in an American-style college dormitory of a type not really present in the UK, despite the fact that all three characters are British and therefore are (presumably) being educated at a UK institution.
* ''Oscar Pistorius: Blade Runner Killer'', the LifetimeMovieOfTheWeek about the Reeva Steenkamp murder, has the trial lawyers pacing around the courtroom and talking to other people besides the judge. They didn't in real life, because South African trials have no jury.
* ''Film/Titanic1997'': When Rose asks Thomas Andrews where she may find Jack, he tells her to take the ''elevator'', despite being an Irishman who would say ''lift''. The next scene does feature a crewman correctly using "lifts." Then again, Andrews may have said "elevator" for Rose's benefit, since she's American.
* ''Film/VantagePoint'':
** It's set in Spain, yet the Secret Service (the U.S. President's bodyguards) are seen seizing cars from the locals, as well as chasing, arresting, and ''shooting'' them, even cops. Plenty of wars have started over much less. Such a policy was proposed in real life when [[http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2003/nov/16/terrorism.usa the USSS asked Britain]] to allow its agents to shoot to kill when protecting the US president in the UK. The British said no.
** The film's setting is an ''international'' summit, but it is presided over by the city's mayor (with no member of the Spanish national government apparently present), the President of the United States is the absolute star, and the public waves a zillion Spanish flags at him - but only Spanish flags, something much more reminiscent of {{Eagleland}}. This level of flag waving is generally looked down upon in Europe, unless it's the national football team playing. And the film's scene is excessive even for that. Plus, if they want to honor the POTUS and Spanish-American relations, they should at least have Spanish ''and'' American flags (and likely flags for the other foreign representatives as well). It's painfully evident that the writer had in mind an American president giving a speech in the US and only painted a light coat of "but in Spain" over it. The cherry on top is that the original script was apparently set in Madrid and was written right after the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Madrid_train_bombings 2004 train attacks]], when the American president [[http://www.realinstitutoelcano.org/wps/portal/rielcano_en/contenido?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/elcano/elcano_in/zonas_in/dt47-2005 could not be less popular in Spain]]. The only reason the movie took place in Salamanca was because [[ExecutiveMeddling the studio felt that Madrid was not "exotic" enough]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* Proving that this trope is older than dirt, ''Literature/TheAeneid'' is set centuries before the Roman Empire, in places that are definitely not Rome, but at times you wouldn't know it. Carthage has pretty much the exact same kind of buildings as a Roman city, and Aeneas's customs, values and funeral practices are all very Roman. (This one is especially egregious, since Jupiter says outright that he'll satisfy Juno's hatred of the Trojans by having them assimilate culturally with the Italian locals, thus "destroying" Troy. Apparently they assimilated so hard it went back in time.)
* The original ''Literature/{{Aladdin}}'' is often said to be set in China, as this was the most distant and magical land that most Arabs had heard of. The character's names, the genies, and so forth all seem Arabian, however. Almost every single character is a Muslim (except for one Jew), even though Muslims in general then -- as now -- made up a ''phenomenally'' small minority in China, and Arabs specifically are all but nonexistent. [[note]] An argument can be made that ''Aladdin'' takes place in East Turkestan, a Muslim area which is today mostly in China (the famously restive Xinjiang province), or possibly somewhere a little farther west on the Silk Road, like Afghanistan or Samarkand, but none of the three is part of the Arab world either.[[/note]]
* The ''Literature/AlexRider'' series of children's books subverts this this trope at one point. The British main character, who is undercover as a kid from the United States, uses language that is obviously not American and is chastised for breaking his cover. However, played straight for nearly every other scene set in the United States.
* It's a minor point, but the American character in Nick Hornby's ''A Long Way Down'' refers to his apartment as a "bedsit", a very British term. It is set in England, so it's possible he just picked up the term, from his real estate agent or neighbours, perhaps.
* ''Literature/ArtemisFowl and the Eternity Code'' has Chicago Police Officers referring to an elevator as a "lift". [[note]] The term "lift" most definitely exists in America, but it tends to be used for simpler "open" or portable systems (not enclosed cars), like for moving equipment or the disabled a small amount.[[/note]]
* Creator/DanBrown's rulebook for writing foreign locales [[DanBrowned usually]] boils down to "[[{{Eagleland}} America]], but everything sucks and is [[AndYourLittleDogToo deadly]]", when not pulling from the drawer of [[TheDungAges Dark Ages stereotypes]].
** ''Literature/AngelsAndDemons'' has a British camerawoman for the [[Creator/TheBBC British Broadcasting Corporation]] referred to as "African American". Her partner is also allegedly British, but seems to think and speak using an awful lot of American terminology and in an ImagineSpot he likens himself to Dan Rather -- who is almost unknown in Britain. Even if the reporter has heard of Rather, if he were really British he would have likened himself to Trevor [=McDonald=].
** Perhaps the most ridiculous, out-of-left-field claim about Spain in ''Literature/DigitalFortress'''s many misrepresentations of Spain, is that cranberry juice is a very popular drink in the country. Not only is cranberry a crop mainly grown and consumed in the United States, but apparently [[CreatorProvincialism Dan Brown's idea of a disgusting]] cranberry drink to attribute to the Spaniards is cranberry juice with vodka, an ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Codder_(cocktail) actual cocktail invented in Cape Cod]]''.
* ''Literature/FiftyShadesOfGrey'' is written by an English author but allegedly set in America. Despite this, there is no concession to the setting whatsoever.
** People refer to "exams" (not "mid-terms" or "finals").
** The very British "do go through" shows up.
** ''Fifty Shades Freed'':
*** It gets a bit funny in Chapter Nine, when one of Ana's bodyguards, realizing that someone has smashed a lot of furniture and knick-knacks in the hall outside the penthouse elevator, yells, "Code Blue!" In the UK, that's a common general code for "Emergency!" In America, that's a common ''hospital'' code for "cardiopulmonary arrest".
*** Chapter Ten talks about the villain being "released from hospital". An American would be more likely to say "released from THE hospital". This mistake recurs throughout the book, too. Earlier in that chapter, a bodyguard says the villain will "have an aching skull when he wakes" instead of "...when he wakes UP."
*** In Chapter Thirteen, Ana refers to Grey leading her from the ground floor of his Aspen mansion to the first floor. In the U.K., that would be correct. However, in America, the ground floor IS the first floor. Ana and Grey would be headed up to the ''second'' floor.
*** In Chapter Fourteen, Ana, her friend Kate Kavanagh, and Ana's sister-in-law Mia all refer to dancing as "throwing some shapes" – which is [[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/throw_shapes Irish slang]] that has penetrated Britain but is virtually unknown in America.
* ''Literature/ForWantOfANail'' is an AlternateHistory by American author Robert Sobel that depicts the world after a failed UsefulNotes/AmericanRevolution. The British government sets up their colonies as the Confederacy of North America, which possesses a parliamentary government. Nonetheless, later on in the book, articles of impeachment are drawn up against this system's equivalent of a Prime Minister despite the earlier confirmed existence of a vote of no confidence. [[note]] Could technically still work, as these are two distinct things – a no-confidence vote merely forces a PM to step down; an impeachment, by contrast, is a legal trial presided over by a judge where conviction typically results in the accused being banned from ever holding public office again.[[/note]]
* A minor example from the Literature/IronDruidChronicles: In ''Trapped'', Atticus and Granuaile raid a sporting goods store for all manner of equipment, including guns and ammo. These are only sold in gun stores in Greece.
* OlderThanSteam: The Chinese Epic ''Literature/JourneyToTheWest'' assumes that all countries have the same kind of governors and imperial courts as China and that all countries in the world recognize a monkey-faced being as looking like a thunder god (among many other We All Live In China examples).
* ''Literature/LeftBehind'' has references to "Captains" and "Lieutenants" at UsefulNotes/ScotlandYard -- in the British police they would be "Chief Inspectors" and "Inspectors".
* ''Literature/{{Moonrise}}'' by Sarah Crossan has the narrator, who lives in the U.S., spell the word "curb" with a K and an E--"kerb."
* ''Pittsburgh Backyard and Garden'', a short story by Creator/WenSpencer set in the same world as her ''Literature/{{Tinker}}'' series, featured a Scottish naturalist reminiscing about how the platypus family in ''Series/MisterRogersNeighborhood'' inspired him to become a biologist. ''Series/MisterRogersNeighborhood'' was never broadcast in the United Kingdom.
* The British ''Saffy's Angel'' series has a recurring character who is a visiting American...and who speaks in distinctly British slang.
* ''Literature/TheSumOfAllFears'' mentions that the UsefulNotes/SuperBowl will be broadcast in Spain "in five different dialects" - implying that the event has a following there far larger than it actually does. In reality, American football is so small in Spain that when mainstream news covers the event, they only talk about the musical numbers during the halftime show. That's right, the sport part of the sporting event goes unmentioned.
* ''Creator/TomClancy's Op-Center: Balance of Power'':
** Aside from being actually {{Spexico}}, the Spain of the book has a government just like the US one, only with a king replacing the president. Spanish provinces[[note]]Not even autonomous communities, the real life highest ranking subdivisions which go unmentioned[[/note]] are apparently as powerful as US states and have their own National Guards, and congressmen (read: deputies) have their own limos and drivers (in RealLife they don't).
** Even though the book is supposedly about an ethnic war, there are actually no separate ethnicities in the world of the book: everyone speaks Castillian Spanish, has "generically" Hispanic names, lives more or less mixed together all over the country, has the same religion, and identifies with the same historical figures. The only basis for the groups and the reason they hate each other is skin color and social class, which sounds rather like...
** In the opening, an African American agent poses as a born and bred Spaniard and nobody finds it unusual. In [[TheNineties 90's]] Spain, black people were either a phenomenally small minority with recent origins in former colonies like Cuba and Equatorial Guinea, or new immigrants from Latin America and Africa.
* ''Literature/TheNightsDawnTrilogy'' had a character who had served in the Australian Marines in UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar. Australia does not have a dedicated marine unit, just army and navy units trained in amphibious warfare.
* Likewise ''Literature/{{Hannibal}}'' by Thomas Harris has an offhand reference to "an Australian quarter" -- there's no 25-cent coin in Australian currency.
* "Rule Golden" by Creator/DamonKnight has a [[Creator/TheBBC BBC]] news reporter say "In Commons today..." But omitting the article like that is an Americanism; any real Brit would at least say "in ''the'' Commons", and a BBC announcer would more likely say "in the House of Commons", which after all takes only about half a second longer.
* ''Science and Sorcery'', a novel about [[TheMagicComesBack the reemergence of magic]] in the modern world, features an American police officer character thinking about her and other cops as "coppers". This is a British slang for police, not American. Chalk this up to the author being English (however, aside from this the American terminology was fine).
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* In an episode of ''{{Series/Alias}}'', Sydney and Vaughn waterboard an enemy in the toilet of an Ibiza nightclub's restroom. There is no way they could do this in a European toilet, as they use less water than American ones.
* ''Series/TheAgency'': During a mission in Spain, the field agents buy tapas in a brown paper bag, rather than white plastic with handles. There is also an [[AsLongAsItSoundsForeign Adalia]] [[FamousNamedForeigner Cansino]] Montes who is married to an Efron Montes, implying she added her husband's name to her own, but this isn't customary in Spain.
* ''Series/TheATeam'' also had a brown paper bag in Spain.
* In the ''Series/{{Bones}}'' episode "Mayhem on a Cross", Norwegian police are depicted as wearing what appears to be riot gear and guns, violently kicking in the door spurring a fight between policemen and musicians and concert goers. In reality, Norwegian police are typically unarmed and many policemen may only arm themselves in extreme situations, such as when approaching a suspect they know to be armed.
* In ''{{Series/Chernobyl}}'', Craig Mazin wrote a scene where a KindHeartedCatLover left extra pet food for his cat before committing suicide. The Russian consultant pointed that there was no market pet food in the Soviet Union, so it was changed to the character leaving extra plates with scraps.
* ''Series/CriminalMinds'':
** In Season 1's "Machismo", where the BAU helps the police of a small Mexican town find a serial killer targeting elderly women, the BAU realizes that the victims are the mothers of young women attacked by an unreported serial rapist when they notice that the surnames of the younger victims match the elderly women's [[TheMaidenNameDebate maiden names]]. Problem: Maiden names don't exist in Mexico. Mexican women keep the same name until they die. Latino people usually have both their parents' last names (father's, then mother's) so it could still be recognized that way.
** An important childhood event for Dr. Tara Lewis is that, while at a school in Germany, she had to correct everybody's pronunciation of her name since they automatically pronounced it wrong ("Terra"). In real life, the pronunciation she insists on is the one that would come natural to native German speakers. A German boy teased her by repeating the "wrong" pronunciation over and over, escalating to that boy beating up Tara's brother and painting a swastika onto her locker. [[SeriousBusiness The swastika would get a student onto the short list for being expelled]], [[NoSwastikas given that the symbol is outlawed and so much as scribbling it into one's own papers would get a student into trouble]]. German schools also don't have lockers, making the whole event appear to be scripted for a US school and then moved to Germany.
* The [[SequelGoesForeign international sequel]], ''Series/CriminalMindsBeyondBorders'', often got criticism from applying the original formula to foreign locales and appearing to give FBI agents an authority (or entitlement...) in places they shouldn't have any. Foreigners also tended to follow American naming conventions, like Spaniards with a single surname and women who adopted their husband's name, or Russian women without the -a added after a surname ending in -ov.
* ''Series/{{CSINY}}'': In the episode "Unfriendly Chat," Adam slacks at work by chatting with a French girl who is [[AlwaysMurder promptly murdered on camera]]. The only clue about where the murder took place is a TV in the background noting the temperature outside, so the team checks climate reports from all over the world to know what place had that temperature at the time. At no point do they notice that the temperature is in Fahrenheit, which is only used in the United States and four small island countries ([[ContrivedCoincidence the murder turns out to have happened in their own Manhattan]]). [[note]]Some American news sources geared towards jet-setters give weather reports for various world cities using Fahrenheit; they may or may not also give the metric equivalent that would actually be used in those places.[[/note]]
* In the ''Series/DoctorWho'' fiftieth anniversary special, the War Doctor sarcastically refers to his successors as "Sandshoes and Dicky-Bow", referring to Tenth's trainers and Eleventh's bow-tie. Creator/StevenMoffat was embarrassed to later learn that "sandshoes" for rubber soled shoes worn in primary school is a specifically Scottish thing - in England they're plimsolls.[[note]]Sandshoes is a common (if slightly old-fashioned) term in Australia, so it passed completely unnoticed there.[[/note]]
* ''Series/{{Heroes}}'': A major element of the Irish arc in S2 involves gangsters robbing what is referred to repeatedly by Irish characters as a "sports book". This is an exclusively American phrase that is not used in any other form of English. Irish people would refer to such an establishment as a "betting shop" or "bookies". Also it is implied that it is a "dodgy" establishment that would be unwilling to seek police help, when in Ireland sports betting is a legal and entirely respectable business.
* ''Series/{{Lost}}'':
** In one particular episode, a woman is on life support and her doctor says that she will be well looked after, the which the patient's sister comments that they can't pay for that. The issue: The hospital is in New South Wales, Australia, where Medicare (or the SIRA, given that it was the result of a car accident) would take care of the bills.
** In a flashback, Claire uses the term "drapes" to refer to what Australians call curtains.
** In another flashback, a policeman visiting a character refers to himself as "officer". The correct term in Australia is "constable".
* Played for comedy in ''Series/TheOfficeUS'' when Andy refers to the South African singing group Ladysmith Black Mambazo as "Ladysmith ''African American'' Mambazo". The "black" in the group's name doesn't even refer to the race. It's a reference to the black ox, the "strongest farm animal" according to the group's founder.
* Discussed on ''Series/RuPaulsDragRace [[ForeignRemake UK]]''. The Vivienne was initially concerned that the other [[DragQueen contestants]] would put on a show for the cameras and spout American drag slang ("Yaasss hunty!") that British queens don't actually say. To her relief, that didn't happen nearly as much as she feared.
* ''Series/USAHigh'' is about a school for Americans in Paris, but even the non-American characters speak American English (in silly versions of their own accents).
* On ''World's Craziest Fools'', a British show hosted by the American Mr. T, Mr. T is made to use British terms for things.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Magazines]]
* In the days when ''Magazine/{{Cracked}}'' was a ''Magazine/{{Mad}}'' knockoff, it ran a parody comic strip of ''Film/StarTrekGenerations'', including a take on the scene where Picard reminisces about his ancestors, where the joke is that the [[ParodyName Discard]] family were all responsible for famous military defeats. However, they're all ''American'' military defeats. The Picards (and presumably the Discards) are French.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
* Done intentionally in the song "Breakfast in America" by the British band Music/{{Supertramp}} to show the narrow worldview of the singer, who thinks people in Texas are so rich they probably have kippers for breakfast all the time.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Mythology & Religion]]
* ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heliand Heliand]]'', an Old Saxon poem from the 9th century AD, paraphrases the Biblical story of Jesus's birth, adding local flavor. So the shepherds would look after horses rather than sheep. The Saxons at the time had only recently been Christianized, so the poem downplays the "meek" aspects in favor of the mighty.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theatre]]
* ''Theatre/TheMikado'' intentionally invokes this, as the Japan of the setting is meant as a satire of Victorian English society, separated by a thin layer of "exotic" Japanese paint over it.
* Very likely even Creator/WilliamShakespeare would've been prone to this; several of his plays are set outside his native England, nearly a third of them in Italy, and yet his Italians and other foreigners speak variants of Elizabethan English.
** Particularly noticable in ''Theatre/AMidsummerNightsDream'', which is supposed to be set in Ancient Greece, but has TheFairFolk straight out of English folklore.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theme Parks]]
* Parodied in this exchange in ''Ride/MuppetVision3D'':
-->'''Kermit the Frog:''' And we've also got a big musical finale from Sam the Eagle. Sam, what's it about?\\
'''Sam the Eagle:''' It's called "A Salute to All Nations, but Mostly America".
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/BlackMesa'', which takes place in New Mexico, clearly employed a Brit as one of their asset creators:
** The vending machines are stocked with BrandX versions of brand-name snacks... specifically, British and European brands like Walker's, Maltesers, and (the British version of) Smarties. Even John "Totalbiscuit" Bain, a Brit himself, knew this was wrong and called it out when he recorded a playthrough of the game in its beta form. The digital readout on the machine itself says "Feeling peckish?" which is not an expression Americans use.
** There's also a [[Series/ChuckleVision Chuckle Brothers]] mug in some of the offices.
** Some of the facility's signage uses British terms and spelling, such as "authorised" instead of "authorized".
* The ''VideoGame/CrashBandicoot'' series is ostensibly set in an Australian archipelago, but since the series was made by American company Creator/NaughtyDog, most of the characters speak with American accents and the locations are quite unusual for the setting.
* In the ''VideoGame/CrazyCars'' games, developed in France by Creator/TitusSoftware, all the races take place on American roads, but speeds are only given in kilometers per hour.
* While ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'''s home base Chaldea has employees and summoned heroes from all over the globe, they only ever celebrate Japanese holidays.
* ''VideoGame/GranblueFantasy'' takes place in a vaguely European setting, with many of its places and characters given western names. While there ''is'' a Japan-like country among the floating islands, and the vast amount of trading done implies some of the cast should be familiar with some concepts, there's still a few times when their knowledge is well over what one might expect. Everyone participates in [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Day White Day]] in March, two of the Dragon Knights go off to a ''hanami'' event in spring, New Years tends to follow Japanese customs (the main cast even gets special kimonos as an alternate skin), and the few private schools we've seen all match up to Japanese high school stereotypes.
* The ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' series of games is, in theory, set in America, but is made by Scottish developer DMA Design/Rockstar North; Americans who play it can tell this is neither real America nor quite [[EagleLand Hollywood America]]. A lot of place-names in San Andreas are thinly-disguised ones from Scottish cities, and there's even an exact replica of the Forth Rail Bridge. Rockstar are based in Edinburgh and Dundee, and evidently like their CreatorProvincialism in-jokes.
** The games frequently use the term "car park", which is commonly used in Britain but not in America, where "parking lot" or "parking garage" are much more likely to be heard. As of ''V'', they seem to have caught on, however.
** One of the trailers for ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIVTheBalladOfGayTony'' is done in the style of a celebrity news program. The (American) announcer refers to television as "the telly".
** At certain points, the words "pedophile" and "pedo" can be heard pronounced with a long "e"; the {{pun}} in the name of the Speedophile jet ski [[AccentDepundent only works with the British pronunciation]]. A similar issue emerges with the trucking company RS Haul, which plays off of the British term "arsehole" as opposed to the American "asshole".
** Likewise, in ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIVTheLostAndDamned'', Johnny Klebitz's brother refers to Billy Grey in an e-mail as an "arsehole".
** In ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV'', the pop music station Non Stop Pop FM features tracks by Music/MisTeeq, Music/NJoi, Music/{{Modjo}}, and Music/AllSaints (with the UpdatedRerelease including Bronski Beat, Moloko, Morcheeba, and Simply Red), all of whom were successful in the UK but fairly unknown in the US, despite the station being based in a pastiche of UsefulNotes/LosAngeles. It's also hosted by the thickly-accented English model/actress Creator/CaraDelevingne, though her case is admittedly justified; she came to America to [[JustForFun/OneOfUs pick up the new]] ''[[JustForFun/OneOfUs Righteous Slaughter]]'' [[JustForFun/OneOfUs game early]]. (It might also explain the large number of British pop stars on the station.)
** This also explains the presence in ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoViceCity'' of Scottish singer Aneka's "Japanese Boy", a huge success in the UK but barely known at all in the US. (It also alludes to the [[JapanTakesOverTheWorld 1980s fascination with all things Japanese]].)
** In ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIII'' and ''[[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoLibertyCityStories Liberty City Stories]]'', TheYardies exist in the [[BigApplesauce New York]] pastiche of Liberty City, despite being a primarily British criminal trope.
** The ''GTA Online'' cars that the first UpdatedRerelease of ''V'' added to the single player game's traffic include cars that'd be more appropriate on European roads. The most egregious is the Pigalle, which can't have an American license plate and is based on the Citroën SM, and yet became an extremely common car to find in-game.
* ''VideoGame/{{Fahrenheit}}'' and ''VideoGame/HeavyRain'' are set in New York and Philadelphia, respectively, but were made by a French company, and there are a bunch of telling details -- for example, both games feature apartments with the bath/shower and toilet in separate rooms, which is not unheard of in Europe but is never seen in America.
* The humans from ''Franchise/MassEffect'' despite coming from a diverse range of nationalities, ethnicities, and culture, act more in-line with how Americans[[labelnote:*]]Although it is made by a Canadian studio[[/labelnote]] would behave; they can be dismissive of cultures of other races, can act boorish at all times, individualistic, and (specific to the Alliance) utilize peace-through-firepower doctrine.
* ''VideoGame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance'' has the [[MemeticMutation memetic]] line "Played College Ball you know, could've gone pro if I hadn't joined the navy" meant to explain [[BigBad Senator Armstrong's]] ludicrous physical strength that allows him to fight on par with a cyborg who can throw tanks with ease despite having minimal cybernetic enhancements of his own (other than nanomachines that give him indestructible skin). It's implied that he's talking about American Football, but no one in America would refer to Football as "College Ball" (or any other sport for that matter). He also states that he played football at the University of Texas, which is meant to play on the stereotypes associated with Texas make his former football player status sound more impressive, but University of Texas isn't known for having a top-of-the-line football team.
* The arcade version of ''VideoGame/NinjaGaiden'', a Japanese game where you play a NINJA IN U.S.A. Signs with [[GratuitousEnglish Engrish]] aside, some levels have random oil drums labeled "Esso Gus (sic)". While Esso is still a brand of gasoline around many parts of the world (including Japan), in America, it was replaced with Exxon in 1973. Also in Stage 2, where you are in New York City, the cars are driving on the left, as if in Japan.
* While the ''VideoGame/ObsCure'' games are set in the United States, they were made by a French developer, and it shows.
** Metric measurements are frequently used in place of UsefulNotes/AmericanCustomaryMeasurements, the parking lot has a large bike shed (most American schools have, at most, a small rack to park bicycles), dates are rendered in the form of "DD/MM" rather than the "MM/DD" format used in the U.S., British spellings are employed frequently, and a notice makes reference to the "Ministry of Health" (the U.S. equivalent is the ''Department'' of Health and Human Services). On top of that, one of the calendars still has the French names for the months of the year (octobre, janvier, avril), though that could just be something that the translators overlooked. If it weren't for the American flag in the gymnasium in the first game and the brief reference to Principal Friedman being born in Iowa, one might guess that the games took place in Quebec rather than the US.
** Likewise, with the exception of the Friedmans (whose last name implies a German background), every single character who's not explicitly specified as being non-white (Mei and Jun) or otherwise foreign (Sven) has a last name from Britain, like Matthews, Thompson, Jones, Carter, Brookes, or Wilde. [[UsefulNotes/MeltingPot No corner of the US was exclusively settled by people from Britain]]; even those parts of the country with substantial levels of British heritage (like New England, Utah, and the Southeast) tend to have plenty of German, Dutch, Scandinavian, Italian, Polish, and other mainland European ancestry mixed in as well, especially in more recent years as people have moved across the US, and that's just the people who are visibly white. To British ears it probably wouldn't be out of the ordinary, but it certainly stands out to Americans.
** One of the weapons available in the second game is a flashball gun, a less-lethal riot control weapon (though for the game's [[WeakenedByTheLight light-intolerant monsters]], it is far deadlier) designed by a French company that is widely used by law enforcement and ''gendarmes'' in France and the rest of Europe, but is virtually unheard of with American law enforcement.
* ''VideoGame/{{Onmyoji}}'' has Christmas and Thanksgiving events despite their being Western holidays with the latter not celebrated anywhere outside America. The fact the game is set in Japan ''[[AnachronismStew in the]] [[JidaiGeki Heian period]]'' just makes it weirder. Subverted in that the developers aren't Westerners. Which makes it even more bizarre.
* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'':
** Characters from Unova (based on New York), Kalos (France), Alola (Hawaii), and Galar (Great Britain) sometimes bow, most commonly the Pokémon Center nurses.
** Bede from ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'' grew up in an orphanage. Unlike Japan, modern Britain [[AnachronisticOrphanage doesn't have orphanages]] anymore.
* Raccoon City in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil3Nemesis'' is a supposed to be a modern Midwestern American city, but the size of the streets and presence of extensive alleys and shopping arcades are clear evidence that Raccoon was based on a contemporary Japanese city. For reference, many of the streets are blocked by a single longitudinal car across the road. In America, the only roads that narrow are called "back alleys", and you're not likely to see them outside of the downtown cores of larger older cities. Further games in the series that revisit Raccoon City, however, seem to retcon it to a more American layout.
* ''VideoGame/SimCity'':
** There is a very mild – and entirely justified (though not {{Justified|Trope}}) – version of this by having the police be run and funded by the city government. On the one hand, this just isn't true in many places, where either the national (as in France) or state/provincial/what-have-you government (as in Germany) is responsible for the police.
** ''Sim City'' also has the city responsible for power plants and many other things that would in most American cities (and, more recently, in many non-American cities) be run by private companies or are municipal services. Admittedly, big plants are mostly in private hands.
* While the ''VideoGame/TheSims'' series is generally good at avoiding this trope due to intentionally creating its own rules to apply within its universe and localized versions correcting slang terms to aptly fit their countries' own, there are occasional slip-ups that can stick out to non-American audiences:
** Your sims can get fired one day without warning, often due to a bad work performance. In many places in Europe, firing doesn't happen that quickly, as there are many procedures to be made beforehand that ensures the firing is made for a legitimate reason, in neutral favor of both the employer and the employee.
** Maternity leave is only for about an in-game week. This is alleviated a bit by a Sim's lifespan being much shorter than a real life person's, but even then it's considered outrageous in many other places in the world wherein paid maternity leave can be up to 4 months.
* ''[[VideoGame/SonicStorybookSeries Sonic and the Black Knight]]'' has Sir Gawain, a knight, try to kill himself after being defeated by the lower-ranked Sonic. While {{Seppuku}} was common amongst samurai, honor suicides were something a knight was unlikely to do for various cultural and religious reasons.
* The ''VideoGame/StoryOfSeasons'' games are apparently set in Europe or America, but the characters retain certain Japanese mannerisms such as bowing, a lot of the characters love Japanese foods, and some of the plants and animals are native to Japan. Characters also celebrate Japanese holidays like White Day and Japanese-style New Years. The fact Muffy from ''VideoGame/HarvestMoonAWonderfulLife'' is having severe difficulties keeping a man due to [[ChristmasCake being 30]] is [[ValuesDissonance confusing in a western setting]]. While some games like ''Tale of Two Towns'' and ''Trio of Towns'' handwave it by having a {{Wutai}} themed town with Japanese crops, customs, food, and wildlife, it actually leads to further confusion in some ways. For instance, you can only learn [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y%C5%8Dshoku yoshoku]] dishes from the western-themed towns.
* Having been made in the UK, all the cars in ''VideoGame/TimeSplittersFuturePerfect'' have their steering wheels on the right side. However, one of the missions takes place in Russia, where cars should have their steering wheels on the left side. [[note]] It's actually fairly common to see right-hand-drive cars in the Russian Far East due to its proximity to Japan. Japanese import vehicles are easier to obtain (thus cheaper) and more reliable than domestic models. A move by Moscow to ban them led to protests.[[/note]]
* In the PAL English version of ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros for Wii U'', Wailord's trophy mentions that it can dive down a distance over twice the height of [[https://bennevis.co.uk/ Ben Nevis]]. Ben Nevis is the highest mountain in Britain and well known there, but almost unknown outside of it. The NTSC English release uses general terms for this trophy, which makes you wonder why the PAL writers didn't do the same.
* ''VideoGame/XComEnemyUnknown'': No matter which country you deploy in, the buildings and cars (especially the yellow cabs) will often look like American cities or towns, not to mention the complete lack of accents for your soldiers prior to Enemy Within. And while EW does offer a new language customization options, all troops start out with English as their default language, and the language of many nations, such as Japan and Egypt, are not available. Occasionally, you'll also find maps which are inexplicably European or Chinese urban areas. Since each map is hand-crafted, however, this is understandable.
* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChroniclesX'' takes place in a human settlement on an alien planet. Despite the fact it is New Los Angeles and most characters are American, you can [[TheMetricSystemIsHereToStay see weather in Celsius]] and characters bow to each other.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* The developers of ''VisualNovel/DoubleHomework'' are American, and it shows. The story takes place in a small European country which is definitely not English-speaking, and yet, not only do the characters speak English and use English figures of speech, but they all have typical names for an English-speaking country that would either be nonexistent or in different forms in other languages.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* In one ''WebComic/CyanideAndHappiness'' strip (written by Dave Mc Elfatrick, who is Irish), a kid asks the jock pestering him about who his favorite "footballer" is. Nothing wrong so far...but the next panel makes it clear they're talking about ''American'' football. In real life, American people talking about football players would just say "football players".
* In one baseline arc ''Webcomic/ArthurKingOfTimeAndSpace'' strip, Lot of Orkney decides it's time to attack Arthur when he sees the first robin of spring. While some European robins (a completely different species to American robins) are known to spend the summer in Scandinavia and the winter in North Africa, across most of Europe, including the British Isles, they're non-migratory, and are a popular symbol of ''winter'' in the UK. The bird that heralds spring in Britain is the cuckoo.
* ''Webcomic/LeftoverSoup'' is officially stated to take place in a town nowhere in particular in North America (as in, the writer went out of his way never to specify even what country they're in). But one place it probably ''isn't'' is Ohio, because Max opens her awesome RPG session at the "Ohio DMV". Ohio has a ''Bureau" of Motor Vehicles, not a Department like most states.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* Parodied in ''WebAnimation/NyanNekoSugarGirls''. It supposedly takes place in Japan but they seem more like Japan-obsessed Americans. One character even almost accidentally refers to their country as America before doing a LastSecondWordSwap.
* ''WebVideo/CarmillaTheSeries'' takes place at a fictional "Silas University" in Styria, UsefulNotes/{{Austria}}, which is portrayed as being exactly like UsefulNotes/{{Canada}} (the show's country of origin), only with more {{Uberwald}} tropes and MagicRealism laid on.
* ''WebAnimation/DarkSecretsOfGarrysMod'': {{Downplayed}} in the {{Halloween episode}}s. The series is created by Hungarians and it takes place in Hungary but Halloween is actually not celebrated there.
** {{Lampshaded}} in ''Egy nagyon ijesztő halloweeni epizód'' (''A really scary Halloween episode'').
--->'''Medievil''': I love Halloween! And I do not give a shit if we do not celebrate it in Hungary.
* ''Literature/SailorNothing'' is supposedly set in Japan, but the characters constantly refer to ''American'' media and pop culture. Some of this is understandable, such as namedropping popular writers like Creator/HunterSThompson. Others decidedly aren't, such as a character describing something as being the "NBC Mystery Movie of the Week".
* In the WebAnimation/StrongBadEmail "[[Recap/StrongBadEmailE172MoreArmies more armies]]", Strong Bad takes offence at the email sender leaving out the full stop in "Mr.", believing he is calling him "mere Strong Bad". However, this particular email sender is from Australia, where it is perfectly acceptable to leave out the full stop. (And by "full stop", [[SeparatedByACommonLanguage we mean what Strong Bad would call a "period"]].)
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'' is made in Europe, mostly London, but set in the United States – Elmore is eventually shown to occupy the space that is taken up in real life by Vallejo, California (the place where most of the show's [[MediumBlending photographic backgrounds]] come from). It's convincing enough that the majority of ''American'' viewers don't notice this, but several things slip by, mostly background details like cars sometimes driving on the left or signs using British word spellings. [[WeAllLiveInAmerica/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball There are so many examples for this show that it actually has its own page]].
* ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'''s ChristmasEpisode had the Kanker sisters play with [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_cracker Christmas crackers]], a tradition common in Canada (where the show is made) but mostly unheard of in the U.S. ([[CanadaDoesNotExist where the show is set]]).
* Right near the beginning of ''WesternAnimation/AGoofyMovie'', Max turns off the alarm on his clock. Though the movie is set in the United States, the clock uses a split-flap display popular in central Europe at the time rather than the strictly digital display on a screen that's the standard in the US. (The film was animated in Paris.)
* ''WesternAnimation/HiHiPuffyAmiYumi'' is about a real Japanese pop duo. Or so we're led to believe. The characters themselves say and do things easily identifiable with American culture as all the writers and animators are from North America. They attempt to remind the viewers that Ami and Yumi are from Japan by having them speak in GratuitousJapanese, use chopsticks to eat, obsess over sushi, and spend yen (even though there doesn't seem to be any rate of conversion...), but it doesn't go much deeper than that veneer.
* A minor example happens in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Unlimited:'' the Injustice League tries to rob a trainload of euros, but when we see some notes, they look more like American dollars.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'': The English dub is made in Paris, France using British voice actors, and the characters are supposed to act like Americans. However, they do screw up at times, like saying "rubbish" instead of "trash".
* Other than cultural references, ''WesternAnimation/KappaMikey'' falls into this headfirst with [[GeorgeJetsonJobSecurity people getting fired and rehired constantly]]. In Japan, a job in a company is considered a lifetime occupation. Instead of being fired, you're usually just demoted, with further failure resulting in getting demoted even further in a manner that all but says "we'd like you to resign".
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
** During a trip to the UK, Bart and Lisa visit a Candy Store, rather than a Sweet Shop.
** When the Simpsons go to Ireland, they are arrested by the "police" instead of the ''Gardaí''. While the American characters calling them "the police" out loud is acceptable (and not uncommon in Ireland anyway), the vehicles having POLICE written across them in big friendly letters is completely wrong.
* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSylvesterAndTweetyMysteries'' set in Australia featured a sign in miles rather than kilometres[[labelnote:*]] (Australia metricated in the late-70s, and usage of Imperial measurements is banned there)[[/labelnote]], and a character with a thick "Australian" accent talking about putting something up in aluminum (not alumin'''''i'''''um as any Australian would say).
* ''WesternAnimation/TarzanAndJane'''s London is mostly okay, but there's a few oddities like cars sometimes driving on the right, a low bridge which has a yellow-diamond warning sign on the lead up (but a British red-triangle sign on the bridge itself), and a poster saying "Visit the London Zoo" (a real poster might say "[[https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/99/9e/2b/999e2b83f67fa9b8d41126c1d76648ab.jpg London Zoo]]" or just "[[https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/e0/55/f9/e055f9b6315b5ffd67f51a40d4f297be.jpg the Zoo]]", but never both.)
%% * ''WesternAnimation/XavierRiddleAndTheSecretMuseum'': The TV movie has Yadina heartbroken to learn there's never been a female U.S. president, despite the show being produced and animated in Canada, France, and Ireland. All three countries, for better or worse, have had at least one female leader each. Justified in that Yadina specifically wants to be the President of the United States of America, which is why the lack of a female U.S. president upsets her.
* WesternAnimation/KimPossible: In ''A Sitch in Time'', Ron moves to Norway. While we don't really see much of his life in Norway, we do get to see the very American style cafeteria at his school, complete with grouchy lunch ladies who serve lamb and cabbage stew. Except in Norway, hot lunches isn't really a thing -- it's not even a given that a high school cafeteria will ''have'' hot food. For lunch you generally eat sandwiches, and it's far more common for students to bring their lunches from home. And while lamb and cabbage stew ''is'' a genuine Norwegian dish, it's strictly a dinner type meal and nobody would eat it for lunch.
* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'', Klaus starts to talk about how he was once cheated on.
-->'''Klaus:''' Elsa was my first love. We met at university.
-->'''Roger:''' You mean you met in ''college''. You're in the states now. Say it the right way.
-->'''Klaus:''' ''(sigh)'' So, Elsa and I met ''at'' '''university'''.
-->'''Roger:''' OHHH! I hate it!!
[[/folder]]
----
[[Music/{{Rammstein}} ...Coca-Cola, sometimes war!]]
----

* ''WesternAnimation/XavierRiddleAndTheSecretMuseum'': The TV movie has Yadina heartbroken to learn there's never been a female U.S. president, despite the show being produced and animated in Canada, France, and Ireland. All three countries, for better or worse, have had at least one female leader each. Justified in that Yadina specifically wants to be the President of the United States of America, which is why the lack of a female U.S. president upsets her.

** Even though the book is [[CriticalResearchFailure supposedly]] about an ethnic war, there are actually no separate ethnicities in the world of the book: everyone speaks Castillian Spanish, has "generically" Hispanic names, lives more or less mixed together all over the country, has the same religion, and identifies with the same historical figures. The only basis for the groups and the reason they hate each other is skin color and social class, which sounds rather like...

* The humans from ''Franchise/MassEffect'' despite coming from a diverse range of nationalities, ethnicities, and culture, act more in-line with how Americans[[labelnote:*]]Although it is made by a Canadian studio[[/labelnote]] would behave; they are dismissive of cultures of other races, can act boorish at all times, individualistic, and (specific to the Alliance) utilize peace-through-firepower doctrine, and there are hints of imperialism (should the original Council be sacrificed) towards other races.

* ''Series/{{Lost}}'': In one particular episode, a woman is on life support and her doctor says that she will be well looked after, the which the patient's sister comments that they can't pay for that. The issue: The hospital is in New South Wales, Australia, where Medicare (or the SIRA, given that it was the result of a car accident) would take care of the bills.

** In another flashback, a policeman visiting a character himself as "officer". The correct term in Australia is "constable".

* The humans from ''Franchise/MassEffect'' despite coming from a diverse range of nationalities, ethnicities, and culture, act more in-line with how Americans (or Westerners given it is made by a Canadian studio) would behave; they are dismissive of cultures of other races, can act haughty at all times, and (specific to the Alliance) utilize peace-through-firepower doctrine, and there are hints of imperialism (should the original Council be sacrificed) towards other races.

* ''LightNovel/TheAsteriskWar'': Volume 7 has the GirlGroup Rusalka try to {{exploit|edTrope}} ContractualPurity to ruin their rival Sylvia Lyynneheym's career by starting a scandal with the rumor that she has a boyfriend. While this might work in Japan due to the culture surrounding {{Idol Singer}}s in the region, Sylvia explicitly has a worldwide fanbase and Western audiences would overall be at worst apathetic towards the news.

* ''ComicBook/TheMuppetShowComicBook: On The Road'' has a brief reference to replacement comedian Mitch Wacky getting his gags from [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_Cracker Christmas crackers]]; a UK and Commonwealth tradition that barely exist in the US, where the Muppets live. (Writer/artist Roger Langridge is a New Zealander living in the UK.)

** The ''GTA Online'' cars that the first UpdatedRerelease of ''V'' added to the single player game's traffic include cars that'd be more appropriate on European roads. The most egregious is the Pigalle, which can't have an American license plate and is based on the Citroën SM.