A company’s public relations officer is responsible for creating and maintaining relationships between clients and customers. Through areas such as brand management, advertising, media relations and crisis management, public relations officers seek to foster interest, trust and belief in the company and its products. They are aware of how best to carry this out when dealing within their own nations and cultures. However, when dealing with a foreign audience, it is critical that cross-cultural differences are recognized. By way of illustrating the impact cross-cultural awareness can have on the success or failure of a public relations campaign, a brief example can be cited: an American company tried to sell its toothpaste in Southeast Asia by emphasizing that it “whitens your teeth”. They found out that the local natives chew betel nuts to blacken their teeth because they found it attractive.