Did not realize that was a thing, but the 'smile' that the girl in the top picture has looks absolutely fake to me. And for that, indeed, American. Something I do not know what betrays she does not mean it. And that is quite common when running into Americans, while if someone does that here, people indeed are suspicious. Not sure if the science behind this article explains why we think that, but cool to see there are people researching it. A lot of people I know equate that smile with plastic, fake and mcdonalds here (which is also amplified by unnaturally whitened teeth). Personally I always thought it is positivity: if you smile on the outside you feel better on the inside even if sometimes you do not mean it; that is a good thing and I try it when feeling down once in a while.
This article is acually really interesting and well-written.
I don't find the headshot photo of the American guy as creepy or toothy. And I don't think it's weird for a cashier to smile and have a conversation with a customer.
I can also see the origin of this non-verbal communication as being from our immigration-filled past. Which is great!
But, I'd say, to a decent number of Americans, the walmart chant is extremely fake and contrived. The only people who defend that as genuine are probably truly in love with walmart, whether they know its flaws or not.
