New LDP attack ad: The DPJ makes disgusting ramen
Japan’s ruling party has released a follow-up to is popular proposal attack ad. This time, the DPJ character prepares a delicious-looking bowl of ramen (his party manifesto) for the woman:
As Mr. DPJ is readying the ramen, he hears complaints and suggestions from a variety of people and tries to respond to all of them. The final product is a ugly mess that doesn’t at all resemble the nice ramen he started with. Text appears on the screen reminding viewers that if you try to hard to please everyone, you’ll end up satisfying nobody. The clip ends with a reminder that the Liberal Democratic Party has solid policy plans.
Like the previous attack ad, it was no doubt produced by advertising mega-company Dentsu. It looks like it was expensive and it seems to have been worth the investment: the video is already at nearly 15,000 views on YouTube and is bound to get attention from TV news programs.
Update: They also have another attack ad making fun of the DPJ’s flip-flopping on the refueling issue, free trade with the United States, and decentralization of government authority. It also looks like Taro Aso took a ride on the Keihin Tohoku line.
Side rant: Is the presence of a foreigner in the commercial a swipe at the DPJ’s view on non-citizen voting? [Not just a joke about their stance on the refueling mission.] Also, what’s the deal with the cartoon foreigner speaking with an appallingly fake gaijin-san accent?
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The foreigner is complaining that it “needs more oil”, referring to the call to support refueling American warships in the Indian Ocean.
Hatoyama obliges, representing how the DPJ did a 180 degree policy change and supported the new anti-terror laws, thus supporting the continuation of the refueling efforts.
Then a lady strongly resembling Fukushima Mizuho from the SDJ comes and complains about it saying “I thought you were going to cut the oil!”, no doubt paralleling the real person’s efforts in real life to kill the refueling operations by pointing out the DPJ “flip-flop”.
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Maybe that gaijin-san is a subtle dig at Japan hands like Michael Green who make their supposedly perfect Japanese a basis of their credentials but end up sounding more like the dude in the commercial.
Is it me, or is this ad asking for a kind of high level of sophistication from the viewer? Are most Japanese voters familiar enough with political news to get all those references?
Also, has anyone actually seen any discussion of these ads on TV? I don’t watch much other than NHK and I never saw it there…
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The proposal ad was all over the non-NHK news broadcasts (Asahi, NTV, TBS, Fuji).
“I don’t watch much other than NHK and I never saw it there…”
Do you knit woollen sweaters while you are watching only NHK?
Anyway, has anyone actually heard Lord Green speak Japanese? A Japanese guy who was in the know told me he could speak it very well, but I’m not sure they had a decent conversaion. I think green trotted out some seldom used phrase that impressed my contact. Anyone actually heard him speak it?
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Turns out he speaks it pretty well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3JFJ4n6no0
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“Is the presence of a foreigner in the commercial a swipe at the DPJ’s view on non-citizen voting?”
I don’t see anything suggesting something like that. Why would the mere presence of the foreigner be something about voting?
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They’re screening the comments. I left a nice comment in English… let’s see if they accept it.
All their videos seem to have 4.5 or 5 stars. I wonder why.
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i’m totally blonde and I have all my hair and I always ask for more oil (and more oil) in my ramen. everyone should just stop complaining and pay their taxes.
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At least the white guy can use chopsticks!
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Funniest damn political ads I’ve ever seen. I hope the Japanese find it as funny as I did and put no stake in these propaganda clips.
I’m not sure where I stand on the election, but this isn’t the way for Taro Aso to gain votes.
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