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Donald Trump fronts Twitter ads on Japan’s rail network【Photos】

Oona McGee
Apr 4, 2017
Tweet

Written entirely in Japanese and without any English text, foreign visitors are wondering what on earth these ads mean.

Japan, USA
(ads • advertising • Donald Trump • Japanese trains • marketing • train stations • trains • twitter)

Japanese “nose-gargling” advertisement attracts attention on Tokyo’s trains

Oona McGee
Jan 9, 2017

Passengers say they’ve been trying to hold in their laughter after laying eyes on this unforgettable image.

Japan
(advertising • funny • Japanese trains • LOL • marketing • trains • wtf • Yamanote)

Pokémon Strike Back in Basel, Chase Trainers with Giant Pokéballs

Anime News Network
Aug 5, 2016

Europe
(advertising • Pokemon • Pokémon GO • video • viral video)

“Flying Sumo Wrestler” performs sumo moves mid-air while hurtling towards earth at high speed

Oona McGee
Jun 30, 2016

Can a skydiving sumo wrestler complete the ring-entering ceremony mid-air with a “gyoji” sumo referee by his side?

Japan
(advertising • FujiFilm • instax SHARE SP-2 • marketing • skydiving • Sumo • tradition • video)

Shinjuku’s giant Godzilla statue gets a new addition, reminds us that fresh breath matters

Philip Kendall
Apr 5, 2016

Everyone’s favourite tokusatsu titan has a very important message for the people of Shinjuku this week.

Japan
(advertising • Godzilla • Isodine • Kabukicho • mouthwash • shinjuku • tokusatsu)

Emotional video explores the gap between ideals and reality for working mothers in Japan【Video】

Oona McGee
Feb 4, 2016

Get out the tissues because this short ad will make you appreciate family bonds all over again.

Japan
(advertisement • advertising • hot chocolate • marketing • motherhood • mothers • Van Houten • video)

Merchant shipping posters invoke romance and wonder of Japan’s Meiji, Taisho and Showa eras

Oona McGee
Jan 19, 2016

There was a time when sumo wrestlers and kimono-clad ladies made shipping companies look beautiful.

Japan
(advertising • art • culture • history • Meiji • posters • ships • Taisho Era)

Beep beep! Trucks cruising Tokyo and Osaka to promote easy bowel movements this Enema Day

Master Blaster
Jan 19, 2016

On and around 19 January, trucks will be hitting the streets to raise awareness of the health benefits of enemas. You’ll be able to recognize them by the cute female drivers who appear to be constantly pooping…

Japan
(advertising • enema • Enema Day • health • Ichijiku Pharmaceutical • wtf)

Singapore retailer a contender for “Worst Ad Campaign Ever” title after Black Friday rape gaffe

KK Miller
Dec 3, 2015

A retailer in Singapore swung and completely missed with their advertisement that was trying to catch some of the Black Friday shopping buzz.

Internet, SE Asia
(advertising • Black Friday • controversy • shopping • SuperGurl)

Poignant video about inner beauty is an unlikely ad for a beauty clinic 【Video】

Aleisha Riboldi
Sep 22, 2015

At first glance, it looks like a trailer for a new movie or even a documentary about the pressures of beauty, popularity and social media. But in what is one of the most elaborate video commercials we’ve come across in a while, one beauty clinic in Thailand has gone to extreme lengths to advertise its services. Playing on the vulnerability of today’s millennials and modern societal pressures of beauty, they have produced a 14-minute short film which is as compelling as it is a disturbing.
Read More

SE Asia
(advertising • beauty ideals • skin • video • YouTube)

7-Eleven issues statement over the discontinued Olympic emblem, and their oden

Master Blaster
Sep 2, 2015

With the Tokyo Olympic Committee (TOC) officially cutting ties with Kenjiro Sano’s much maligned emblem, one obvious question is on everyone’s lips: What does this mean for that oden poster made by the 7-Eleven in Musashikoganei, Tokyo?

Some of you may recall that this particular franchise had made a poster promoting their oden sale which bore a striking resemblance to the former Olympic emblem. After a request was made to the TOC, they had denied the poster’s commercial use and likeness to their intellectual property. However, now that the emblem will no longer be used, is the poster back in play?

Internet, Japan
(7-Eleven • advertising • emblem • Musashikoganei • oden • Olympics)

Panasonic develops data communication using an ordinary light and smartphone

Master Blaster
May 18, 2015

There are many ways that data is transferred these days, be it fiber optic cables, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 4G-LTE, and a whole slew of other brand names and acronyms the meanings of which I don’t care to learn.

Now Panasonic has come up with a way to send and receive data that’s easy for everyone to understand: light. Actually it uses light emitting diodes (LED) to be exact, but that’s about as technical as this explanation needs to get, I promise.

Japan
(advertising • data transmission • LED • smartphone • technology)

“Stock we should never have ordered”: This Japanese store’s pricing posters are way too honest

Fran W
Nov 8, 2014

Employees at the campus co-op store at Nihon Joshi Daigaku may work at Japan’s oldest private women’s university, but when it comes to making their special offer displays, their attitude is anything but old-fashioned. Their witty, super-honest pricing displays regularly have the Japanese Twitterverse in stitches.

Join us after the jump for six of the best!

Japan
(advertising • funny • Japan Women's University • point-of-sale • store • twitter)

South Korean lock maker goes (very) hands-on to prove the strength of his product 【Video】

Philip Kendall
Sep 1, 2014

Back in my university days, my creative writing tutors were always keep to hammer home the message of “show, don’t tell”. Rather than explaining everything for the reader and holding their hand the entire way, they taught us, it’s better to simply present your fictional world, characters and dialogue and let the reader experience them firsthand.

Though the end goal maybe slightly different, the same principle can be applied to advertising. Living in a world where we as consumers are constantly being told that product X is better than product Y, or assured that the purchase of item Z will somehow enrich our lives, it’s genuinely refreshing to see a company dispense with words and simply show us that the thing they’re selling works. Like this chap from South Korea who went decidedly hands-on with a window-locking system his company makes to prove its durability and efficiency…

Korea
(advertising • funny • video • window)

Meanwhile, in Japan: Puzzle game Candy Crush hires girl’s nails as advertising space

Fran W
Mar 31, 2014

Japan knows a thing or two about human billboards. And now, from the PR company that brought the world adverts stuck to girls’ thighs on the condition that the girls wear short skirts and knee-high socks, comes a brand new marketing idea: Candy Crush are sponsoring this girl’s fingernails, with a wacky, candy-based design that’s as bold and colourful as the game itself.

Japan
(advertising • Black Diamond • Candy Crush • harutamu • nail art • video games)

Anything is fair game for advertisement trucks in Tokyo

Krista Rogers
Feb 17, 2014

If you spend some time walking around the Shibuya, Shinjuku, or Ikebukuro districts of Tokyo, at some point you’re bound to spot a lavishly decorated truck blasting music from its speakers. These “ad trucks” as they’re known in Japanese are just what they sound like – gigantic, mobile billboards with no purpose other than to drive around promoting the latest music and products. While these trucks do raise some legitimate environmental concerns, there’s no denying that this eye-catching (and deafening) marketing strategy is an effective way to grab everyone’s attention. Keep reading after the jump to view some photographic examples of ad trucks in action. You might be surprised by some of the wacky and suggestive things they can get away with!

Japan
(ad trucks • advertising • weird)

Samsung’s naughty ad: When autocorrect strikes back

Scott R Dixon
Nov 30, 2013

Typographers and moral crusader beware! A risqué Samsung billboard promoting their Galaxy 3 notepad has been, ahem, erected in four countries, leaving the South Korean company with a potentially embarrassing public relations mess. The offending ad must have been designed by someone who forgot to turn off the autocorrect feature before editing, making for an unintentionally hilarious billboard. Click below to find out what the racy sign says!

Global
(advertising • autocorrect • funny • Kenya • mistake • prank • Samsung)

Imuraya brags about the stiffness of their sweet bean bars…“Watch your teeth!”

Rachel Tackett
Aug 16, 2013

Imuraya Confectionary is a Japanese sweets company that specializes in the sale of adzuki (sweetened red bean) products. They pride themselves on sticking to traditional Japanese flavors and sticking to their strange marketing strategies just as hard.

Recently, Imuraya made a pair of official Twitter posts cautioning people against the stiffness of their top-selling Adzuki Bar! This frozen slab of bean paste is a summer favorite across Japan, but according to Imuraya’s own assertions, they can crack your teeth!

Japan
(advertising • adzuki bar • food • Imuraya • wtf)

Okinawa Prefecture Cancels Plan to Use Young Women’s Thighs as Advertising Space

John Stuart Translations
Jan 31, 2013

The Okinawa Convention and Visitors Bureau (OCVB) along with the prefectural government have cancelled their plans to use space on women’s bare thighs for marketing the islands as a graduation trip destination to students outside the prefecture. Citing criticism, the two bodies stated January 24, “Placing temporary tattoo-like stickers on the thighs of young women to advertise Okinawa is not in line with prefecture’s brand image.”
Read More

Japan
(absolute territory • advertising • Okinawa • school girl)

The Nihlistic Bus Schedule Advertisements of Tsukuba, Now in English!

Master Blaster
Jan 21, 2013

Think back to the last time you saw an advertisement for a bus schedule. Difficult isn’t it? Even on the off chance you have seen one before, it probably wasn’t so attention-grabbing as to stick in your memory.

It’s not like bus schedules need advertising anyway. Either you use one or you don’t, no amount of persuading will likely change that.

Nevertheless, Tsukuba Tekken, a travel and rail association affiliated with Tsukuba University in Japan, has for years been designing quirky advertisements for their on-campus bus schedules.

Displayed in limited locations around the university, these posters have become a local legend both for their mystery and unorthodox content. So sit back and enjoy these advertisements translated into English.