Comments on: Company drops ‘unpleasant’ monkey ad campaign http://www.tokyoreporter.com/2008/07/03/company-drops-unpleasant-monkey-ad-campaign/ "All the News That's Fit to Squint" Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:08:33 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: CJ http://www.tokyoreporter.com/2008/07/03/company-drops-unpleasant-monkey-ad-campaign/comment-page-1/#comment-40 CJ Mon, 07 Jul 2008 01:59:21 +0000 http://www.tokyoreporter.com/?p=204#comment-40 I saw one up in Ginza Station over the weekend. JapanProbe saw one in Shimbashi: http://www.japanprobe.com/?p=5076 So I guess they really only pulled the TV spots. When I first saw it a few weeks ago, I didn' t think about Obama either. And I do think it really is a jab at the Fuji TV program "Change" that stars Takuya Kimura. I saw one up in Ginza Station over the weekend. JapanProbe saw one in Shimbashi:

http://www.japanprobe.com/?p=5076

So I guess they really only pulled the TV spots.

When I first saw it a few weeks ago, I didn’ t think about Obama either. And I do think it really is a jab at the Fuji TV program “Change” that stars Takuya Kimura.

]]> By: camerasian http://www.tokyoreporter.com/2008/07/03/company-drops-unpleasant-monkey-ad-campaign/comment-page-1/#comment-39 camerasian Mon, 07 Jul 2008 01:49:09 +0000 http://www.tokyoreporter.com/?p=204#comment-39 Because of the rain, I rode the train instead of cycling this morning and quite by chance found myself standing next to this very poster, so it's still in circulation as of today. I was fascinated with the image and spent a long time studying it and reading the small print. Not once did I think of Obama (I didn't make the "Change" link in my mind), and when I first saw the headline here I thought the ad had been pulled because of the "cruelty" factor associated with using animals as human entertainment ...An overly optimistic assumption. As this case shows, "gaiatsu," usually from the USA, and Western social or lifestyle trends are often behind illuminating cultural insensitivities in Japan. The fact that animal acts are still popular on TV and the Japanese visitor to an aquarium finds nothing crass about dolphins doing tricks suggests that this issue is not high on anyone's "must eradicate" list. Because of the rain, I rode the train instead of cycling this morning and quite by chance found myself standing next to this very poster, so it’s still in circulation as of today.

I was fascinated with the image and spent a long time studying it and reading the small print. Not once did I think of Obama (I didn’t make the “Change” link in my mind), and when I first saw the headline here I thought the ad had been pulled because of the “cruelty” factor associated with using animals as human entertainment

…An overly optimistic assumption.

As this case shows, “gaiatsu,” usually from the USA, and Western social or lifestyle trends are often behind illuminating cultural insensitivities in Japan. The fact that animal acts are still popular on TV and the Japanese visitor to an aquarium finds nothing crass about dolphins doing tricks suggests that this issue is not high on anyone’s “must eradicate” list.

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