Mr. ジェームス ads in 日本

[RebelDogg]

I just found out about this. Apparently a lot of people are P. O.'ed.

I think it's hilarious. I am looking up more about it. Anybody see/hear about this? Thoughts?

He has his own blog that appears to be written in a mix of kana... hey... reading practice! Although if it's broken Japanese it may be hazardous to my studies... I can't make sense of most of it yet... the video was funny though.

http://mcdonalds.dtmp.jp/blog/

Hell, I'd move to Japan just for the tv commercials. I wish people in America would just shut up and laugh at stuff every now and then... commercials here are SO lame...

Although I did enjoy some of the Got Milk? ads on tv (Old lady with cats) and the Real Men of Genius on the radio.

[Jessi]

I saw these commercials on TV and didn't think too much of them, and then I read what everyone was saying and found out about the blog and the whole campaign. I wouldn't quite recommend his blog for reading practice, however... They DO use weird\broken grammar and throw in a lot of unnecessary English.

The overuse of katakana for foreigners is kind of annoying. It just seems to imply that foreigners can never speak Japanese right. I mean, katakana is used for when robots speak Japanese

[Javizy]

I don't know about this one, but usually Japanese adverts are as annoying and lame as hell. I mean, some of the ones I've heard were actually shocking considering that the target audience wasn't supposed to be 7 year old remedial students. The level of cheesiness of some of the ones that aren't supposed to be funny would be unthinkable in the west, but then other forms of media seem to follow this trend (pop music, dramas, etc).

I agree with Jessi about the katakana. Foreigners tend to be portrayed as clowns or savages most of the time. I think it's a testament to how the concept of political correctness is still completely foreign in Japan. Although, I don't doubt the breed of idiot that Japanese society has been exposed to over the decades; we all know what English speakers are like when it comes to "learning" a second language...

[RebelDogg]

... I mean, some of the ones I've heard were actually shocking considering that the target audience wasn't supposed to be 7 year old remedial students. The level of cheesiness of some of the ones that aren't supposed to be funny would be unthinkable in the west, but then other forms of media seem to follow this trend (pop music, dramas, etc).

Well, I think if I lived in Japan and was exposed to it all the time I may feel differently. But I like the cheezy lameness. I've only seen Japanese commercials through YouTube and such. But I found some to be great. But then again, I have a weird sense of humor. I like all the bright colors and weird stuff... but then again I don't see it 24/7.

Also, my Japanese is still in the beginning stages. So I don't understand most of what's going on. I think this helps rather than hinders my enjoyment of some commercials.

... I think it's a testament to how the concept of political correctness is still completely foreign in Japan...

I wish it was foreign to the U. S. as well.

we all know what English speakers are like when it comes to "learning" a second language...

No, we "don't"... not sure what you mean by that.

But I do find myself doing like Mr. James in the commercial. Walking around saying random phrases. Trying to say them different ways or how as if I was in mid conversation. Looking in the mirror watching myself say the words... That was part of what I thought was funny. I only understood about 25% of what he said, though.

[untmdsprt]

Probably Javizy means that since everyone is learning English as a second language, why should native English speakers bother with learning a second language?

As far as the commercial, I thought it was ignorant at best. It seemed like they were perpetually promoting the myth that Japanese is difficult for foreigners to learn.

Looking in the mirror is a great way to see what your mouth is doing when speaking. I learned that when I took a TESL class.

[Javizy]

The majority of English speakers that Japanese come into contact with are probably the people who go there to teach English without knowing a word of Japanese. Many of the ones who do try to learn the language underestimate the effort involved in attaining good pronunciation, and try to begin a never-ending process of learning kanji like Japanese gradeschoolers. It's easy to see how these stereotypes come about. We might want to think about how Japanese and other Southeast Asian races are portrayed in Western media before we start getting too high and mighty though...