Advertising Done Right

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The videos posted here are just the last five compilation videos released on their YouTube channel. There are a handful of good CMs in this video above, but I’d have to say my favorite is the Maple Story one at the very end.

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Oh man. So many good CMs in this one. I don’t think I can pick just one. The face wash one, the lip animals, and the Merry Christmas one near the end were the ones that stood out to me the most I think. But like I said, lots of good ones in here.

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Tommy Lee Jones! I haven’t even watched the rest of this compilation and I’m calling it right now. Tommy Lee is one of the CM kings. And then I saw the boob commercial. And then there was a Doraemon commercial, another classic. And then there was a World Order CM too. Dang, Japan has a lot of awesome commercials. The light commercial at the very end was pretty cool too.

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Well, the Obama commercial definitely takes the cake in this set. Other than that, the CMs here were just pretty average I think. Decent but not great. Still, I wouldn’t mind seeing these all the time instead of the ho-hum ones we get in America.

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I have to admit, I’m a little partial to the Softbank CM near the start of this one just because it has Golden Bomber in it. If you don’t know who they are, check out the last video in this post here. Hilarious. Also Jack Daniel’s because reasons.

You can check out JPCMHD (Japanese Commercials in HD) on their YouTube channel and also on their Tumblr page. The compilation videos are released on both, whereas each standalone CM is only put up on their Tumblr. In no time you’ll be wasting your life away, 15 seconds at a time.

So tell me, which CM was your favorite? How do Japanese commercials compare to those in your home country? Let us know in the comments!

Of course, no product in Japan is without goofy advertising campaigns. Some of my favorite commercials (CMs) of all time are for Nissin’s Cup Noodle. The premise: aliens walk among us, and they want to add delicious toppings to your instant ramen! I think that was the plot of Signs, right?

The CMs start out simply enough: a cheese alien (チーズ星人) shows up to put cheese into a woman’s instant ramen. How thoughtful!

But, like pretty much every Japanese CMs, over time they grow increasingly complex. Other characters, like mozerella and garlic aliens, were added on to complement the original cheese alien.

Even with all of the other characters, it’s clear that the break-out star of these commercials is the original cheese alien himself.

He started a solo career of sorts, appearing in his own CMs and even making TV appearances.

Now, all of these commercials are well and good, but I don’t know how I would react if I saw one of these aliens in real life.

They walk among us.

My best guess is I would act like the people in the commercials and just have a full-blown panic attack. That seems reasonable, right?

(Although I’m sure people outside of the US who have seen the berries and cream or “I feel great” commercials have probably wondered WTF is up with American advertising.)

But what’s the story behind these ads? As much as I’d love to imagine that these bizarre ads just occur naturally in Japan, it takes a lot of hard work and creativity to crank out these wacky ads.

While the real advertising world isn’t quite as glamorous as Mad Men depicts (although Japanese ad execs probably drink just as much), it’s still a powerful, competitive industry with high stakes.

Just take a look at Dentsu, Japan’s most powerful advertising company. Dentsu is huge. It’s the biggest advertising company in the world, raking in over $4 billion last year, and controlling almost a third of advertising in Japan.

Some classic Dentsu advertising

But Dentsu doesn’t just make the goofy, wacky kind of commercials that are known the world over. The agency has an incredible breadth of talent that ranges from the strange to the serious. Just take a look at this bullet train ad that won Dentsu several awards:

In the aftermath of the 3/11 earthquake and tsunami, Dentsu’s feel-good commercial with its message of unity really struck a chord in Japan and abroad. (You can read more in the post we wrote last year.)

Even ex-Dentsu have gone on to do incredible things. Dentsu alumni Hiroshi Sasaki went on to create the Soft Bank “Shirato family” and Tommy Lee Jones Boss coffee commercials (both of which I love).

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And, thankfully, these wacky Japanese ads might just be coming to your country not too far in the future. A lot of Japanese ad agencies are looking to expand overseas, and have put their money where their mouths are. Last year, Dentsu spent $5 billion dollars to buy a British ad agency.

Between that and SoftBank’s recent acquisition of American telecom company Sprint, I can only hope that I’ll be able to see the whole Shirato family here in the US.

There are some other parallels between the Japanese advertising industry and Mad Men — let’s just say that Dentsu has been behind things much more dubious than uplifting commercials about trains. The agency found itself ensnared in scandal a few years back when it was discovered that the Japanese government had been holding town hall meetings with paid actors planted in the audiences.

This town hall scandal helped bring down the then-Japanese prime minister. Who collaborated with the government in orchestrating these meetings? None other than Dentsu.

So while Dentsu, along with other Japanese ad agencies, make incredible commercials, billboards, magazine ads, and all sorts of promotional materials, remember that they might be a bit more Don Draper than you would like.

Read More: Otosan, Japan’s top dog, The lion’s Dentsu

But some of those commercials are more strange than others. Case in point, Jean Reno’s recent commercials for Toyota in Japan.

Jean Reno, if you don’t know him, is a French actor who’s had crossover success in the English-speaking world, with a handful of high-profile movies like Leon: The Professional, Ronin, and the trainwreck that was the American Godzilla remake (but we don’t talk about that).

What’s weird about these recent commercial isn’t the actor nor the company, but the fact that they feature Jean Reno dressed as cartoon character Doraemon.

Doraemon is a classic Japanese kid’s cartoon about a time-travelling, robotic cat from the future (who for some reason doesn’t have ears), who hangs out with kids and inexplicably pulls magical items out of a pouch on his stomach.

These Toyota commercials feature a live-action, future version of all the beloved Doraemon characters with Monsieur Reno as the eponymous character.

It’s be like if Chow Yun-fat came to the US to play a live-action Scooby Doo in a commercial for Ford.

The premise of the whole sieries is a little sad, though. It follows the lives of the kids from Doraemon all grown up. The main child from the series, Nobita Nobi, is now 30 years old, single, and without a driver’s license. So who’s to help them?

Nobita has to compete with his rival, Suneo Honekawa, to win the affections of his childhood friend, Shizuka Minamoto. Unfortunately for Nobita however, Suneo has not only a driver’s license, but seemingly unlimited financial success.

But all isn’t lost for Nobita. His old pal Doraemon can help him check out all the sweetest new cars, get his license and hopefully, win the heart of Shizuka.

Doraemon’s help comes in many forms. Hi magical contraptions include a door that leads everywhere; a tiny, head-mounted helicopter; and a phone that shows the future. Not bad for a guy without ears.

One commercial even features AKB48 singer Atsuko Maeda, making the “six degrees of separation” game a snap. Jar Jar Binks to AKB48? Easy!

Jar Jar Binks was in the Star Wars franchise that also starred Natalie Portman, who appeared in Leon The Professional with Jean Reno, who was in a Toyota commercial with Atsuko Maeda who is a singer in AKB48! No problem!

In the end, it’s unclear if Nobita ever gets his license, a car, or the lady of his dreams. But if nothing else, Nobita gets to hang with his futuristic cyber cat and, in the end, isn’t that what’s more important?

Which commercial was your favorite?

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[threecol_two]Young Japanese men’s trend: Trying to look pretty: Young, urban men in Japan have been upping their game lately, paying more attention to their looks than ever before. Known as ikemen (イケめん), or “good-looking man”, these dudes have no qualms with undertaking traditionally very feminine beauty procedures, like pedicures and manicures. For once, maybe the US might actually be ahead of Japan. After all, we went through Queer Eye For The Straight Guy and “metrosexuality” craze years ago. There’s hope yet! [via News On Japan, Reddit][/threecol_two] [threecol_one_last]Narcotic designation decided for 4 drugs: Drugs are weird. Modern chemistry and botany are so sophisticated that there’s almost unlimited potential for the number of sensory-stimulating drugs people can create; and the law, always a step or two behind, has to do its best to keep up. Japanese law has done just that, and outlawed four new drugs. All I really request is that the cannibalism-inducing bath salts is outlawed. [via News On Japan]

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Smokers Find New Haven in Japan, But for a Price: Governments around the world have been cracking down on smoking ever since the whole “cancer” thing was discovered; but Japan’s enormous population refuse to go quietly into that smoke-free night. A new business called Ippuku is opening up in Japan, charging for the privilege to take your smoke break indoors. Will it take off? If I know how much Japanese people love to be surrounded by delicious, carcinogenic smoke, I’d say yes.
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[threecol_one]
She’s Winner! Hatsune Miku’s Chrome ad wins at Cannes: Last year’s Google Chrome commercial featuring the ever-popular Hatsune Miku has earned itself recognition at the esteemed Cannes awards. An impressive accomplishment for a fictional vocaloid character!

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Header photo by phogel

The premise of these commercials (or CMs) is pretty simple: a typical Japanese family talks about SoftBank phones and other products. Straightforward on paper, right?

Here’s the catch: this TV family isn’t actually so typical. The dad is a dog, and the son is inexplicably black. Why? It’s never really explained, but who cares!

Personally, I prefer these ads to the ones I see here in the US, like the Verizon “Can you hear me now?” guy or Zooey Deschanel in her quirky house full of ukeleles.

Like the one above, the CMs dance around the fact that the dad is a dog, but never really explain it. In fact, every mention of the dad being a dog only adds to the mystery, like the below commercial where the dad goes to a school reunion.

Unsurprisingly, the dog (whose real name is Kaikun) has become the breakout star of the commercials, becoming a minor celebrity and getting solo commercial spots of his own. He probably works for less than the other actors, too.

Bizarre Relatives

Just when you thought that the family tree couldn’t get any stranger, it turns out legendary director Quentin Tarantino is part of the family too, as “uncle Tara.” While Uncle Tara’s Japanese skill aren’t quite up to par, that’s probably the most normal thing about the whole situation.

The stepgrandfather of the family is a young, tall, 20-something who looks like he should be in a host club instead of marrying an old lady.

Drama!

There have been so many Shirato family commercials (they’ve been running on and off since 2006) that they’ve begun to resemble episodes from actual TV shows. There’s way more continuity in the SoftBank CMs than most people are used to in their advertising.

Just take this dramatic two-parter where, like a Looney Tunes cartoon, somebody is moving a piano up a building with a single piece of rope, and it threatens to drop on an unsuspecting little girl.

What happens next? I forget, but suddenly I want to re-up on my Double White phone plan . . .

Which CM is your favorite? Did I miss a good one? Let me know in the comments!