Sunday May 27, 2012

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  • 0

    tokyotom

    i like them, they really focus on imagery / textures, etc, nestle always has good ones

  • 2

    the_sheriff

    They used to be quite catchy years ago. It was also great seeing Hollywood stars in them. These days, though, it seems like many are bereft of creativity. When I receive videos from the US, I'm actually more entertained by those CMs and remember those products better.

  • 2

    papasmurfinjapan

    They are much better than the actual TV shows, or at least they used to me. I agree with the_sheriff that recently they are a bit stale. I guess they've cut back on marketing costs in most companies.

  • -4

    The Munya Times

    Japanese TV commercials are one reason why I do not have a TV. The other is the overall low quality of their programs in general.

    I only know this, as all my friends of mine have TV and in Japan the TV runs in the background 24 hours a day even when nobody watches. So visiting them at their home I involuntary become a victim of this intellectual pollution.

    Otherwise their TV commercials seem to calculate that they only run in the background and the sound as well as the light effects are designed overly strong to be effective even for those in the next room.

    Contain lots of hypnotic/mesmeric sound and light effects, harmful to the nerves system, they should be banned.

  • 0

    papasmurfinjapan

    oops "used to me" is supposed to be "used to be".

  • 1

    oginome

    Better than the variety shows.

  • 0

    Harry_Gatto

    They vary, some are OK, some are not. What irritates me however is that some commercials look so much like the program they are being shown in that it is difficult to tell that it is a commercial for a few seconds; bring back the days when the end of a program segment was marked by a screen showing "End of Part One" for example. Am I right in thinking that there is a law in Japan that commercials cannot be shown with increased volume? I believe that law exists in some other countries.

  • 1

    Kwaabish

    Some of the Japanese commercials are outright creative and others are pretty funny. Personally, I like the Boss Coffee Spaceman Jones and the olf Fanta school teacher series. I also like the CM's by railway companies like JR (JR East Shinkansen anniversary series and the recent JR Kyushu Shinkansen wave across Kyushu).

  • -4

    Ivan Coughanoffalot

    Poxy. Asinine. Bland and formulaic. Crap.

  • 2

    Papigiulio

    Some are annoying, some are funny. Saw a new Ikea cm last night with 2 foreigners, pretty funny. I really hate the Maruhan cm with that old hag singing.

  • 3

    Papigiulio

    oh yeah and the Boss coffee with Tommy Lee Jones friggin rules.

  • -4

    Kevin Lee Brooke

    Suck.

  • 3

    Maitake

    I am more annoyed than entertained by Japanese television and commercials. I find j tv obnoxious, childish, absurd, and stupid. that's just my opinion though.

  • 1

    Foxie

    Some are good and some aren't. I wish JR Tokai would bring out new CMs, those were the best. Axe and Cup Noodle are pretty good too. What I really don't like are athletes making beer CMs.

  • 3

    Kevin Lee Brooke

    oginomeSep. 02, 2011 - 09:09AM JST

    "Better than the variety shows."

    So's a burning paper bag full of poop on your doorstep.

  • 2

    smartacus

    Books have been written about this subject. Commercials are a window into a society and its culture. I quite like Japanese ads. Often you don't know what product or service is being advertised until the very end. Another difference I notice is that the price of the item is seldom included.

    My friends at advertising agencies tell me that Japanese commercials regularly win awards at international ad events. I can believe it.

    My all-time favorite is the Coca-Cola ad from the mid-1990s. Elton John is playing the piano at a party and snippets of old films featuring Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney and Louis Armstrong are cleverly inserted.

  • 0

    oginome

    So's a burning paper bag full of poop on your doorstep.

    LOL! Can't argue with that!

  • -1

    cactusJack

    One of the main reasons I stopped watching J-TV....and the shows nowadays are horrible, too...but I was a fan of the old Neruton & Tunnels.

  • 0

    ReformedBasher

    @I believe that law exists in some other countries.

    It sure as hell does not exist in Australia. I have to keep the volume down so I can't hear anything or wake the kids at night. Thankfully there are subtitles with some of the recent shows.

  • 0

    tokyokawasaki

    They are childish and boring and treat the viewers as if they are all 9 years old. Why to they always seem to have some little dance routine... Having said that, the commercials are way superior than the brain numbing and sole destroying 'talento' shows...

    The Tommy Lee Jones Boss commercials are the exception to the above.

  • -1

    ExportExpert

    They mostly appear to be childish, made by infantile people for the children, its an insult that they try to sell things by using such feebley made commercials.

    Maybe they are suited to the japanese mentality but they dont work on me.

  • 2

    The Munya Times

    Maybe they are suited to the japanese mentality but they dont work on me.

    I suspect it's rather the long years of Japanese people watching these commercials suited their mentality to these commercials. Now that became the standard to communicate with them.

  • 0

    Ivan Coughanoffalot

    There's one on in the mornings, wherein a formulaic family (cute Ojichan/Obaasan + salariman/dutiful wife + daughter in pigtails) are waiting for the man from the medicine company, who is striding purposefully across the agricultural landscape, grinning like a man deranged. The family make anticipatory onomatapoeia and agree with each other ("Sorosoro desu ne?" "Sorosoro dana?"), and then are wide-eyed with astonishment when he arrives at the appointed time. Then they all pose in front of the house and make a peace sign.

    My quibbles with this pile of dung are as follows:

    1) You don't wait for a rep from the drugs company to come to your house. You go to the chemist;

    2) If you need medicine delivered, you are probably in a bad way, and should be lying down, not waiting eagerly as you would for the ice cream van when you were seven;

    3) If you've somehow found a magic Candyman drug delivery contact and made an appointment with him, you expect him to arrive. You don't need to shout, agog, and all turn around wide-eyed and open-mouthed when he turns up as arranged;

    4) He shouldn't be letting himself into your house. Dutiful wife should get her pinnie on and rush to the door in pinsteps to let him in;

    5) These drugs must be pretty good stuff if you get well enough to start posing for photos before you even take any.

    6) The fact that the drug company's name begins with "Chi" does not sound enough like "Cheese" to merit the appallingly-contrived and asinine jingle.

    Anyone who wants to believe that TV commercials are witty and imaginative can just stay out of my way, lest a mooning cause offence.

  • 2

    Flippy Jagermeister

    Weird! xD

  • 2

    JapanGal

    I do not recall seeing any commercials except Otosan. That dog is so cute.

  • 1

    some14some

    I dislike NHK and seldom watch but when i am watching any program on private channel and as soon as j-comm appears...i switch to NHK and come back after few seconds.

  • -2

    smithinjapan

    The commercials that are and have been regularly aired over the past decade are at the very least 90% garbage. The remaining ten percent are, for one reason or another, amusing and/or entertaining, and in some cases downright funny. I like the adds that feature foreign, big-name actors, in part because it's unusual to see them in CMs (as it's a big faux-pas back home), and they provide an extra element of humour in most cases. That said, if you do a search for Japanese commercials on YouTube they have some absolutely hilarious, sexy, and very clever adds (some of which probably never saw the airwaves or only for a short time). A more specific search, "Funny Japanese Commercials" yields even better results.

    Again, though, the ones aired on TV are for the most part pretty awful, and often engage in gender stereotypes.

  • 0

    Gurukun

    They used to irritate the hell out of me.............until the AC Commercials ofter the Tohuku earthquake and tsunami.

  • 0

    TakahiroDomingo

    i don't understand a word, but i love them. the dancing and smiling faces seem very silly, but it's just a matter of culture difference; we gaijin must also seem silly to the japanese. no problem, all is meant respectfully.

  • 0

    Foxie

    Saw a new AC commercial today. They still don't play that nice 'AC' jingle at the end. I wonder if it has been banned for life.

  • 2

    Serrano

    I like the ones with Seiko Matsuda.
    It's amazing how a woman who is 49 and a half years old can still look like she's in her 30s.

  • 0

    MoriNoHogosha

    When I first came to Japan, I found a lot of them weird, but most of them now seem commonplace. In general, I don't mind the lot of them. Then again, I watch very little TV, and I had relatively few channels.

    Though, I often felt like I was being bombarded with beer commercials. It was rather incessant, even compared to the frequency of beer ads in North America. At least the average length is much shorter, which tends to limit the annoyance factor a bit (of course, repetition is another issue).

    As for all other product ads, some are quick and to the point, and some are just downright perplexing. You can't even tell what on earth they're trying to sell until the very end. Still, I don't think I've ever seen any Japanese commericial as strange and unrelated to the product as those shown in Europe, and that's probably a good thing.

  • 0

    astrogaijin

    I have seen some really funny ones and I have seem some that make me do a double take and wonder how anyone thought of that and who approved of it. There was one for bananas I think that I saw and it has to be one of the weirdist things I have ever seen.

  • 1

    NYC_Samurai

    How can you not love the Fits gum commercials?

  • 1

    DentShop

    Every second commercial is like this

    odd number of people standing in a row - usually 3 or 5

    focus demographic stands in the middle position

    funny dance, pursed lips, arms waving, bobbing head

    asinine little jingle

    bang - product in your face

    Dont believe me? Go and watch 2 hours of TV tonight and you will be surprised how many commercials are just like this.

    I am surprised by how many thumbs downs are being given to people who realise how silly and half-baked Japanese commercials are. The commercials really are stupid here.

  • -1

    Nicky Washida

    They make me want to pull my own arm off, just so I have something to hit myself with.

  • -1

    CHAMADE

    I think it does not matter one iota what one gaijin thinks about japanese TV commercials.

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