Tuesday, August 25, 2009

WTF Japan?!

Oh Japan...I love you so much, even when you're a little bit weird. Today's example: Mameshiba.

Ever since I got to Japan, I've been wondering what the deal with these commercials were. In every commercial, a person goes to eat some beans, but then a little bean shaped puppy appears! The bean puppy speaks, then the person loses their appetite. I had always wondered exactly what they were saying in these commercials (my Japanese hasn't been good enough to pick it all up). But now youtube has picked up on these weird ad's, and they have given me an English translation! Yay! The thing is though, they're even weirder now that I know what they're saying. Here are some of my favorites:

Edamame:


Peanuts:


Black Beans:



Adorable, aren't they? Maybe a little creepy too, which actually sums up a lot of advertisements I see in Japan. These Mameshiba things are quite popular here too. They have keychains, purses, stuffed animals, etc. of these bean puppies.

Even with the English translation, I'm still not sure what exactly these commercials are selling. Is it, "Don't eat beans. They may give you usless triva?"


Oh, and just in case you haven't had enough cute for the day, here's the Mameshiba theme song!

2 comments:

FilthyGrandeur said...

LMAO!

i love that the puppy-bean thing is so cute, but i really don't understand how telling people useless trivia which makes them stop eating is supposed to sell a product...but then again, maybe the japanese are so smart they already know that people will love the randomness, and soon take over the world with cute puppy-beans!

stufflikemikans said...

i really don't understand how telling people useless trivia which makes them stop eating is supposed to sell a product
Good question, and I wonder the same thing. This isn't the first Japanese commercial to puzzle me in this way.

If Japan ever does take over the world, everything will be sickeningly cute just like this.