>>> Item number 17709 from WRITERS LOG9309D --- (57 records) ----- <<< Date: Fri, 24 Sep 1993 18:00:06 JST Reply-To: WRITERS Sender: WRITERS From: Mike Barker Subject: FILLER: A Japanese Ad Funny Ad! A recent advertising campaign here in Japan has an interesting "hidden message". Let me describe the two ads I've seen, and the message I think is lurking in there. The product is a patent medicine, pills that make you feel better, more wide awake, etc. Very common, we have lots of these "healthy foods" - which are not required to pass any tests, so there are "Lydia Pinkham" herbal drinks (at 60 percent alcohol, they are bound to help you sleep or feel better - three drinks a day!), magic "magnetic" beads (worn with a little bandaid, and thrown away because the magnetism gets stale or something), and other patent medicines busily raking in the yen. Anyway - first ad had the twerp you love to hate standing in the doorway of what is recognizably a little office kitchen - sink, cupboard, etc. He's sounding off to an unseen OL (office lady), something like "Hurry up with the water for the boss. I bought him product X, and he really needs it for his yyy. Haven't you got that water ready yet? Poor boss, he tries so hard, and product X will help him. What is keeping you with that water? Do I have to do everything myself?" and so on. End of the commercial - he leans forward, griping at her slowness one more time. The edge of a wash basin (or bucket, maybe) comes into screen, and he is doused with water from head to foot. Cut to picture of the product. Second ad - the twerp you love to hate (yeah, the same one) is shown walking up to the boss's desk, box of product X in hand. He's fawning on the boss, then yelling for the OL to bring water. Several rounds of brown-nosing alternated with yells at the unseen OL later, a hand comes in from out of camera and deposits a tin pail on the desk. (Farmer's style bucket, ok?) Cut to picture of product. I'm fascinated because of the hidden message in here - the (largely unspecified) boss and the brown-nosing twerp you love to hate are familiar, especially the twerp's chattering pushiness to get somebody else to hurry up in support of him. But the ending in both cases is a (mild) revolt by the OL! Not commented on, no extended explanations, but that final move is the office lady thumbing her nose at the office men! I can't wait to see the next one in the series (I presume there are more - and it does feel nice seeing the twerp you love to hate get taken down a notch). I wonder who designed these ads - and if they really knew the subversive message they had designed them around? tink