Greenpeace’s Anti-Japanese Commercial (Video)
April 23rd, 2007 by James
The Japanese government supports limited whaling under the claim of whaling. Does that make a commercial like this recent Greenpeace ad appropriate?
I don’t know about you, readers, but I doubt that insulting Japan’s national flag is going to anything to change the Japanese government’s position on whaling. What exactly is Greenpeace trying to do with this commercial?
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The target audience isn’t the Japanese government, I’m sure it’s people outside Japan. What they’re trying to do is associate Japan with (what they claim is) illegal whaling and influence the public image of Japan. For that purpose, it’s a pretty good commercial. But do people actually care or are they just wasting money?
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As you said, the audience is outside of Japan, but I think this type of hate-building tactic will only strengthen the resolve of the Japanese government. If they want to continue painting external anti-whaling groups as “cultural imperialists,” things like this commercial will help convince their supporters that such is the case.
I agree with Ken, the target audience is people outside of Japan. I’m not sure if the majority of people Greenpeace is trying to influence cares.
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well, it’s in english… so obviously the purpose is to raise international awareness, and pressure, on japan. i predict that once the average japanese starts to feel like they’re being demonized aboard, they will fold. it worked with pantie machines…
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From my point of view this is probably the only way to “touch” the japanese people´s heart (through foreign influence) since for the japanese whaling is just as normal as doing pee …
The japanese are shielded from critics because of their very effective international marketing effort that through huge amount of money shed on them the image os civilised and “nice” people.
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I wonder why they didn’t choose the flag of South Korea.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4123826.stm
Yon can find a related discussion here.
http://plungepontificates.blogspot.com/2006/01/whalingagaincouple-other-thoughts.html
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This is same level with nationalistic Koreans.
They call Japan’s national frag as sanitary napkin.
Anyway, it is beeing revulged that anti-whaling contemplated to take the edge off Japan’s arguement for Kyoto protocol to reduce CO2 gas.
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Interesting points from Akoua and noah. Gaiatsu can be a powerful effect on Japan, since its leaders do worry about what the rest of the world thinks. Panty machines is a pretty funny comparison, it’s good to see the two issues being linked somehow! But seriously, this was a technique that worked with Southeast Asian sex tours in the 80s…
Ken (above)…you seem a bit confused about the Kyoto Protocol. It was initiated by the United Nations Environment Programme, not by the government of Japan. The name Kyoto comes from the city that the meeting was held at. This would be like saying George Bush is attacking the Swiss by ignoring the Geneva Conventions.
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Let´s save the whales, That´s all I want.
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Another Ken,
No, not at all.
You do not seem to know which country strongly promoted and which country strongly opposed.
And what the country did after the government recognized it could not convince the people.
I recommend you to make reseach on the backside politics.
Besides, Japan is pretending that Gaiatsu is effective but not in reality.
You do not seem to know most of high tech weapons cannot made without Japanese cutting edge technology.
Therefore, even the USA would not like to have Japan for the enemy.
If you do not trust me, please try.
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“If you do not trust me, please try.”
Might want to refrain from using threatening verbage. We get what you’re trying to say, just your words can be like a rose (trying to get your point with the scent yet showing your thorns to get your point across).
Sorry to go off on a tangent, but. . .
By the by, in your logic if Japan’s “cutting edge technology” accounts for “most of high tech weapons” do you mind explaining to me why Japan’s own defense force plans to purchase American Jets (http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/404612)? Not to mention most of Japan’s high end weapon systems come from America (everything from AEGIS to Hummers). I have my doubts that most of those “high tech weapons” were made with Japanese cutting edge technology. Because if they were; wouldn’t Japan be more than capable to make their own (in the first place)? And please save me the “Japan doesn’t have the capability to manufacture weapons.”
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As far as I remember, you said you dislike Japan, didn’t you?
What are you following JAPAN PROBE for?
Those who have any prejudice to a subject would not be able to understand any answers about it as is.
It would be better to ask your brethren who says, “I know that very, very well.”.
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“As far as I remember, you said you dislike Japan, didn’t you?
What are you following JAPAN PROBE for?”
Yeah! JAPAN PROBE isn’t a place for people who dislike Japan, it’s a for people who dislike Korea
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Ken,
You do not seem to know most of high tech weapons cannot made without Japanese cutting edge technology.
I know that very, very well. What from my comment suggests that I don’t know that? How is it relevant?
167 nations have signed the Kyoto treaty. It is named after the city where the meeting took place. It is a treaty under UN administration.
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Again I suggest you to study the background of anti-whaling.
By the way, a whale seemed to have been killed in NY a few days ago.
Why don’t you demonstrate?
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Ken:
I suggest you study the news reports on the whale in NY a few days ago. You’ll find that it was not “killed” by someone but wandered into the harbor and died.
James,
Was the cause confirmed? If so, please tell me.
Anyone did not bring on panic, did they?
Anyway, this discussion is effective to let Japan-haters appear to the surface and increase foreigner-haters in Japan, isn’t it?
There is a sentence in the essay ‘Idea of Individualism’ adopted in the textbook for junior high school written by Jun-ichiro Tanizaki, famous novelist in Japan.
“I try to like others. But after I knew those who I had liked disliked me, I try to dislike the person.”.
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Ken,
We were talking about the Kyoto treaty…what does anti-whaling have to do with it? How is that even relevant?
Given your mistake on the whale in New York story, I think you’ve lost all credibility. Get the facts straight before you come to a discussion. And when you come to the discussion, stay on topic.
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Another Ken,
“I think you’ve lost all credibility.”
Victory declaration? Like a race.
It seems useless because you turn a deaf ear to my advice to study the other side opinion, in what timing and for what purpose the propaganda is brought up.
Let’s end up.
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Ken, it’s really hard to take you seriously. Four commets ago I made my point and you spent three comments dodging what I have to say and bringing up points that aren’t relevant. I know your side of the opinion as well as you do. When you can’t stay on topic, it means you’re out of gas. Now, get back to three comments ago and address my points without bringing up irrelevant side issues.
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Let them eat whales.
Norway does too.
And so do the Inuits.
I think killing humans (i.e IRAQ) is the real crime and W should be responsible.
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So that wasn’t a tampon commercial?
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it looks nice, like Mishima’s film or smth ….
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ponta, the reason is probably because whaling is not that big in S. Korea, and the anti-whaling movement is supported by quite a few Koreans. Greenpeace also has a pet peeve with Japan because, despite many smiling and saying they love animals, there is a general indifference about actually doing anything about it such as protests. The whole dolphin issue is very similar;
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=11794
http://www.glumbert.com/media/dolphin
Anyway ponta, it is kind of funny when I scrolled down the comments and saw yours, my mind simply said, “Korean people also do it, talk about them instead”, and had to re-read the post. I agree though, if there is negative about a few countries, why not focus on other instead of Japan? People try to criticize Japan too much because they have a lot of money and because American car companies are getting destroyed by Japanese.
I’ve seen cows get killed for meat, and I don’t see how it is any worse than whaling and such, especially when cows are holy in India.
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Well … we keep arguing but whales are still being killed. I think Greenpeace wasted money or need to think´again its strtategy …
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I´m sad because my grandchildren will never see a whale alive. I would like to ask to the japaneses who love whales to join Greenpeace´s effort …
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I don’t care about target, flags shouldnt be objects for third parties.
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Both Korean & China do whaling, but not comparable to japan and their Governments do not support whaling, Japan slaughter more whales than any other nations on earth apart from some European and Americas.
This senseless hunting must be stop!
Again, Japan is trying to ignore rest of the world. It’s time to listen and straighten Japan’s dark past and join the real world.
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Greenpeace? Those idiots are still around? I don’t agree with their violent tactics and have/would never support anything they do. I automatically consider anything they say as a lie because of their past actions. They have as much credibility as the U.N., the most corrupt orginization on the planet!
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I have to say this commercial is offensive. I’m not in favor of whale hunting but whales have a lot more problems from noise pollution (American navy) and lack of food than they do from hunting. Whales are starving to death because the oceans are warming and the food they need isn’t available.
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That was great Ad from Green Peace, world should get access to more info on how many whaling nation like Japan is doing to nature.
I think China also should be on the target list, they are menace to the mother nature. I think without US, China, Japan, Britain, India, France & Russia, world would be better place. They should be called exis of devils.
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This ad is an attempt to make the people of the world (yes, there is a world outside of Japanese rule) realise that due to the continued whaling efforts of Japan, Norway, Iceland and a select few others whales will soon be extinct.
The Japanese argument? “Its in our culture.”
So is male chauvanism, but you’ve managed to try and do away with that.
There isn’t a culture on this Earth which hasn’t managed to overcome outdated or barbaric past times in favour of a more peaceful, collaborative future.
Japan continues to show its barbarism through whaling, and its hypocrisy through its attempts at telling the world how civilised they are. They show their stupidity in their resolute belief that we are so ignorant as to believe them.
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The argument I often read from the Japanese is that the whaling they engage in is sustainable. Whale population numbers are studied and and each year new quotas for each species hunted are created in a manner that would not cause the decline of the species or its extinction.
Do you have any links to studies that determine the Japanese whaling is actually driving these species into extinction? I’d like to include it in my next post about the whaling issue.
This commercial was made for free in the year 2000 so Greenpeace didn’t spent a cent for it because we thought it was an honest thing to do.
We didn’t want to ofend anybody, nor flags, nor cultures, and racism doesn’t have anything to do with it. We also made ads against bullfighting in spain because it’s an offence to animal life, and we are spanish. We just reflect the simple fact as it shows: in spite of kyoto treaty, whales are still being killed. The blood point on the white canvas is just to keep international and japan atention to the message, and as far as I am concerned it worked. Japan still kills whales, but we got international atention to it. I’m sorry if some people are offended, but I repeat, it’s got nothing to do with racism, it’s just an awareness message to keep in mind. Thank you.
Victor Montanyà ex creative at Tiempo BBDO,Barcelona (Spain)
Creative Director Fire Dept.
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I started to agree with this ‘crusade’, but not this time, and no! Absolutely not! I had no idea they were anti-Japanese! That ticks me clean off!
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