For decades America’s soft power put the wind in the sails of its companies as they ventured abroad. When the Berlin Wall fell, Coca-Cola sent lorries emblazoned with its logo into East Berlin, handing out free drinks to the amassing crowds. Sales soon soared, as consumers in the former communist state chugged enthusiastically on the sugary icon of American capitalism.

Peddling Americana abroad, however, is getting trickier. Last month Carlsberg, a Danish brewer that bottles Coca-Cola in its home country, noted that consumers there were boycotting the fizzy drink, opting for local alternatives such as Jolly Cola instead. For this Coca-Cola can thank Donald Trump, who has exasperated Danes—and many other consumers around the world—with his talk of territorial expansion and his chaotic trade war. How worried should America Inc’s bosses be about their new image problem?

That Mr Trump has damaged America’s reputation abroad is clear to see. In a survey of more than 100,000 people across 100 countries carried out last month by Nira Data, a research firm, for the Alliance of Democracies, a Danish non-profit, the share of respondents with an unfavourable view of America exceeded those with a favourable opinion by five percentage points, a sharp deterioration from previous years, and enough to place America behind China in global esteem (see chart).