What made Simon anholt say that Australia is the dumb blonde of the world?

Answer 1

Simon Anholt runs an annual survey on the images of 50 nations, the Nation Brands Index. The survey shows that despite Australia's international strength in education, many people around the world have a stereotyped view of Australia as 'decorative but not useful' - in other words, a highly attractive country without much depth or seriousness. Of course this is an inaccurate and misleading image which ideally should be corrected (but not using PR or advertising slogans which simply don't work when it comes to changing perceptions of nations). Hence Anholt's original quote: "Australia is seen as a bit of a dumb blonde - which is ironic if not tragic, since this blonde happens to have two PhDs".