Japanese company pulls ads featuring blue-eyed, big-nosed foreigners

Photo via Japan Probe

Japanese distiller Choya has pulled a TV advertisement for its Kokuto Umeshu in which a Japanese woman "transforms" into a foreigner by growing a giant nose.  After the ad was featured on Japan Probe some readers of the blog complained.

Those who complained in English received a letter stating:

"The product in the commercial is Kokuto Umeshu, a major characteristic of which is its smooth and velvety texture, or 'torori' in Japanese. To communicate this to the public, we had the idea of making a play on words of calling someone who likes this 'torori' a 'tororisuki (torori lover)', and suggesting that you will gain like-minded . . . (friends) by drinking the product. Because of the sound of the word 'tororisuki', we introduced the word as a foreign character, and thought up the story of three female Japanese friends drinking Kokuto Umeshu and becoming 'tororisuki friends', and therefore foreigners, themselves. The first two characters do transform into 'tororisuki', but in the performance of the commercial, the third character failed to turn into a tororisuki. Instead, her theatrically oversized 'blue eyes' and 'eminent nose' illustrate that she has not been able to become a tororisuki. In other words, the theatrical 'blue eyes' and 'eminent nose' represent that she has failed to turn into a tororisuki and are not an attempt to portray an actual foreigner. It is certainly not a case of making fun of any particular country, race or person.

Watch the original video below:


Racism by peakfloods

Rachel Maddow on Rick "Frothy Mix" Santorum's Google problem

Dan Savage on the Bachmanns

Ha.

Fame top value among TV shows popular with US youths

According to a study from UCLA, "fame" is the leading value promoted by TV shows popular among 9 to 11 year-olds.

"Community feeling" (group belonging) was the number 1 value in 1967, 1977 and 1997, and the second in 1987, but had dropped to 11th in 2007. In 1997, the top five were "community feeling," "benevolence," "image," "tradition" and "self-acceptance."

Following "fame," the top values in 2007 were "achievement," "popularity," "image," and "financial success." Benevolence dropped to 12th and tradition 15th, and a frequent trope is young people achieving great fame despite little hard work or sacrifice.

Former SNL cast member: Obama is Hitler

In an editorial posted July 15 on WorldNetDaily, "The biggest, dumbest wingnut site on the Web," former Saturday Night Live cast member Victoria Jackson says US president Obama is like Hitler.

The three scariest things:

1. private army (like Hitler)
2. socialist (like Hitler)
3. media control (like Hitler)

Obama is a racist who controls the media; hates Jews, and wants to destroy Western civilization:

Hitler, like Obama, was a "socialist" who came from a dysfunctional family, had a communist father who abused alcohol, womanized and sired several children from different mothers, had a white mother, suffered child abuse and neglect, moved often, lied about his birth and heritage, changed his name, was a narcissist, rose to power with the help of disreputable men, had the Rothschilds as financial backers, stirred up racial conflict and class warfare, wrote a biography about race at age 35, followed up with another book used to launch a political career, supported infanticide (partial-birth abortion), gave big speeches in stadiums, promised change and a new social order, had youth groups singing his praises, used propaganda, used voter fraud and intimidation, controlled the media, created "crises," used a poor economy, hated Jews (Israel), pretended to be "Christian," advocated population control and euthanasia, socialized medicine, formed a private army and then … killed his political opposition with his private army. Well, I am Obama's political opposition. That's why I am concerned.

Tony Perkins on polygamy lawsuit: Told you so

Former Republican member of the Louisiana House of Representatives Tony Perkins has this to say about the polygamy lawsuit earlier this month by the Sister Wives cast:

"Those of us who have spent years in the fight for marriage have cautioned Americans where this brave new world could lead. And it isn't to 'equality.' Once marriage is redefined, we warned, polygamy and open infidelity won't be far behind. People accused us of exaggerating the stakes. Yet within days of Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) signing his name to the New York law, a man and his four wives felt emboldened enough to launch a challenge to Utah's polygamy ban.

In the suit, they argue that the law violates the equal protection clauses of the 14th Amendment. In an interview with the New York Times, Kody Brown said, 'We only wish to live our private lives according to our beliefs.' Sound familiar? Homosexual activists have used this same 'privacy' argument for decades. And while I believe in those rights, these acts are not constrained to the bedroom. They have devastating implications for society and the culture as a whole. For homosexuals, this has never been about 'benefits' or 'equality.' It's about a devastating strategy meant to destroy innocence, religious freedom, and ultimately, the family."

Perkins is the president of American hate group the Family Research Council.