The concentrated insanity of Japanese cultural taste

I use the word 'insanity' in the above title because 'Balls-to-the-wall one-small-step-for-man cat-on-a-hot-tin-tin-roof slap-me-round-the-face-and-call-me-Tina unbelievable-awesomeness' was probably a bit too long.

While our culture mandates that the majority of adverts must be safe, inoffensive dross, with across-the board appeal, the Japanese are busy creating some of the best minute-and-a-half moments of beauty ever to grace a TV screen. Take for example computer game adverts. Something we have a history of doing very badly (see Morcambe and Wise and Trevor Brooking trying to sell the Atari). Over here, the Nintendo DS launched with one of the most yawn-worthy and stale moments of boyfriend-girlfriend flirty interaction ever seen. Meanwhile, in Japan, a Wii game is launched with the following campaign:


We get: a smug Lee Ryan lookalike cooing 'that's definitely a keeper' as his overly hot girlfriend digitally alters a photograph so that their skin looks blue. Blue I tell you! Oh how we laughed.

The Japanese get: constellations in the shape of muscles; near naked body builders running through walls; a startling array of rainbows, sheep, aliens, rhinoceroses and penguins; a polar bear in speedos; and a digital representation of Hulk Hogan when he's eighty doing the wanker sign as an over excited man shouts "NAUGHTY, NAUGHTY, NAUGHTY, NICE MUSCLES' over the top. All soundtracked by some lovely female sung Japanese pop.

HOW IS THIS FAIR?

This horrible mismatch continues in every field of advertising and entertainment. We have Duffy advertising Coke. The Japanese have Arnold Schwartzenneger advertising something that may or may not be a drink. In the west, our game shows all now seem to involve an array of talentless buffoons listening to odd members of society cry and sing opera. In the east all their game shows seem to involve members of the public being submitted to humiliating and terrifically painful ordeals, all the while maintaining their good humour:



So who's up for moving to Tokyo with me? FC