Toyota, Nissan, and Honda normal don't bring up the fact that they are Japanese companies in their ads. If they mention geography at all it is normally to focus on the fact that most of the vehicles they sell in America are actually built in the southern United States.*
But this Honda ad features Japanese stuff out the ass. It starts what appears to be the slightly older Japanse version of "Hit Girl", is clearly is supposed to take place in Japan, has the main character go to a video game arcade, which I guess must still be popular in Japan but died out in America before the Play Station 2 had even come out. The ad even has those crazy customized "Art" trucks that are a thing in Japan but exist nowhere else, ever.
Over top all of this a girl group sings "I'm a Ninja! I'm a HORNY Ninja!" over and over again. If someone tried to make a safe-for-TV tourist ad for Japan based solely on reading the Cracked.com topics page about Japan, this would probably be the result.
In Summery: I have watched this commercial 4 times now, and my main reaction still is: "What the fuck just happened?"
Footnote(s):
*Which I would like to take the time to as quickly as possible point out that numerous foreign cars made in american these days makes these companies responsible for as many american factory jobs as GM or Chrysler, who make almost all of their parts overseas at this point and just ship them to Detroit so they can stamp "Assembled in the USA" on their cars.
Many of the best selling GM and Chrysler models are actually made in Mexico and Canada these days (the canadian government ownes 10 percent of Chrysler because they gave a bunch of money to its bailout because it has so many factories in Canada.)
I'm not against overseas manufacturing, I just think its funny when people talk about "buying American" without doing the research into where their car is actually being made. Read this USA Today article if you want more info on this. Sorry to get serious for a minute. Here is the Monty Python Fish Slapping Dance to lighten the mood:
But this Honda ad features Japanese stuff out the ass. It starts what appears to be the slightly older Japanse version of "Hit Girl", is clearly is supposed to take place in Japan, has the main character go to a video game arcade, which I guess must still be popular in Japan but died out in America before the Play Station 2 had even come out. The ad even has those crazy customized "Art" trucks that are a thing in Japan but exist nowhere else, ever.
Over top all of this a girl group sings "I'm a Ninja! I'm a HORNY Ninja!" over and over again. If someone tried to make a safe-for-TV tourist ad for Japan based solely on reading the Cracked.com topics page about Japan, this would probably be the result.
In Summery: I have watched this commercial 4 times now, and my main reaction still is: "What the fuck just happened?"
Footnote(s):
*Which I would like to take the time to as quickly as possible point out that numerous foreign cars made in american these days makes these companies responsible for as many american factory jobs as GM or Chrysler, who make almost all of their parts overseas at this point and just ship them to Detroit so they can stamp "Assembled in the USA" on their cars.
Many of the best selling GM and Chrysler models are actually made in Mexico and Canada these days (the canadian government ownes 10 percent of Chrysler because they gave a bunch of money to its bailout because it has so many factories in Canada.)
I'm not against overseas manufacturing, I just think its funny when people talk about "buying American" without doing the research into where their car is actually being made. Read this USA Today article if you want more info on this. Sorry to get serious for a minute. Here is the Monty Python Fish Slapping Dance to lighten the mood:
Its NOT Horny Ninja, Its Hoodie Ninja by MC Chris. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1uG03JRQiU&feature=watch_response
ReplyDelete@ Joe B: Sorry just saw your comment now. Thanks for the info. The words being "Hoodie Ninja" make this ad make even less sense (if that is even possible) since the ninja in the Honda ad is not wearing a hoodie.
ReplyDeleteAlso she appears to be too young to able to drive.
But thanks for the note about that song, we here at Strictly Commercials try to be silly but also factually correct.