An American tourist’s first experience shopping at Asda left her both amused and confused and her reactions to the unfamiliar products quickly stirred debate among Brits
Americans have many new experiences when visiting the UK, whether it’s travelling on the London Underground for the first time, having their first taste of a classic British dish, like fish and chips, or exploring a British supermarket.
They are likely to find lots of differences while on holiday in the UK and certain things they don’t have back home in the US. One major difference is food shopping, as Amber Kacherian discovered during her trip to the UK with her American friends. The content creator, from Florida, USA, known for her comedic videos on social media, explored Asda for the first time while visiting York.
She shared a video on TikTok documenting her shopping experience at the well-known supermarket.
Starting the clip standing outside of the store, Amber said: “I don’t really know what to expect but I think it’s like the UK equivalent of Walmart? Well, let’s go find out!”
As she walked into the supermarket, she was taken aback by how “small” the shop is, comparing it to the size of the deli section at Walmart in America.
The tourist spotted some chocolate bars she didn’t recognise, including Twirl Xtra and Cadbury Mini Rolls, which she liked the look of and shared that there is a similar treat in America by the brand Little Debbie.
She then found a football cake but called it “unacceptable” as she claimed it was a “soccer ball.”
Moving on, her friend was pleased after coming across a gluten free loaf of bread, noting that it would be “at least seven dollars (£5.21) in America” but Asda was selling it for £1.90.
Another one of her friends found shelves of Walkers crisps and said that they’re “clearly Lay’s but they’re the wrong name.”
Walkers and Lay’s are crisp brands that are both owned by PepsiCo and have similar packaging but are sold under different names in different countries due to Walkers’ origins as a successful UK brand.
The American shoppers also noticed the flavours were different to what they have in the US, such as prawn cocktail, roast chicken and cheese and onion but they’re more used to sour cream and onion.
Her third friend who she went to Asda with picked up some Lynx body spray and remarked: “So by the text of this, it’s clearly supposed to be what we would call Axe body spray in America but it’s Lynx over here.”
Continuing to browse through the store, Amber added: “It’s like being in America but everything is just a little bit wrong.
“You can tell what stuff is supposed to be or what it would be in America but everything just has a different name here.”
This observation by the TikToker and her friends didn’t impress Brits in the comments section of the video.
One stated: “Walkers is one of the most popular uk crisp brands, it’s definitely not a knock off version of Lay’s. It’s so interesting to see what Americans think of the UK.”
Another pointed out: “You come to our country and tell us how to say things.” While a third commented: “Everything is wrong here” erm rephrase that love, “everything here is different from what you are used to.”
A further viewer chimed in: “Just because it’s different doesn’t mean it’s wrong!!” As someone else added: “Saying Lucozade is meant to be Gatorade HAS to be a crime.”