Is this cigarette vending machine advertisement limited to just machines in Japan? Do those who smoke it in Japan really like to smoke it? Is Village People smoker fashion the new gay in the land of the rising sun?
Whatever the motivation behind this ad campaign is, it’s a bit disturbing.
The dog days of summer have come to Tokyo. The long faces you see on the trains have become a bit longer. Midday, you can see many of the walking dead trudging along outdoors anticipating the relief of shelter and air-conditioning.
People’s fuses have become shorter as well. Exactly what you’d expect during the summer months, [...]
Got on the subway this afternoon and stood near the door. As the train passed from the station platform into the tunnel, I noticed a tired-looking guy in a suit just staring out into the darkness. He had dark circles under his eyes and seemed oblivious to his surroundings. Our eyes met briefly. Then he [...]
Some night views are pleasing in more subtle ways. Here’s an image of Yokohama’s Minatomirai that doesn’t normally spring to mind.
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Last night, I met up with Prometheus, a fellow Japan blogger who also holds photography as one of his hobbies. You can check out some of his work at his new site Floating Camera Tokyo. We had planned to do some shooting together, but found a cool, little bar near Shinjuku 3-Chome to chill at [...]
Is this cigarette vending machine advertisement limited to just machines in Japan? Do those who smoke it in Japan really like to smoke it? Is Village People smoker fashion the new gay in the land of the rising sun?
Whatever the motivation behind this ad campaign is, it’s a bit disturbing.
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An American living in Tokyo. Can be seen bounding through Shinjuku Station most mornings, teeth gnashing, eyes bulging, a cup of cheap coffee clenched in one fist and a satchel in the other. God help those who don't see him coming.
June 1st, 2010 at 12:58 pm
I saw those and couldn’t really get where they’re coming from. Attitudes are such that they’d probably make a great anti-smoking campaign back in my home country (not that that’s a good thing…). Is it aspirational advertising? Self-parody?
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Billy W Reply:
June 1st, 2010 at 3:13 pm
Yeah, at first I thought it was some comedian capitalizing on a gay image, but I don’t know…
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June 2nd, 2010 at 1:18 am
My Japanese wife told me that it’s an ad for a cigarette REPLACEMENT.
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Billy W Reply:
June 2nd, 2010 at 10:36 am
Nah, Dan, I think they’re just low-tar cigarettes. I mean, they’ve even got 100s.
Plus, there’s a cancer warning at the bottom of the ad just like the Surgeon General’s warning back in the States, along with a reminder to not be a douchebag and be considerate of the people around you when you smoke.
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June 3rd, 2010 at 7:01 am
Is Winston an USA cigarette brand? The text message on this poster says どうよ、この味！日本上陸
Does it taste different or better than other brands? Have you seen any ad posters for this cigarette in the USA? Is this model a famous body-builder? So many questions… sorry..
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June 3rd, 2010 at 9:49 pm
*look at the ad, hangs head and disappears*
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June 3rd, 2010 at 10:51 pm
@Taeko:
Sorry, I’m not a smoker myself, so I can’t answer any questions about flavor, but I’m pretty sure Winston is an American brand.
As for the model, I have a feeling it’s some lame-ass foreigner here in Japan that some Japanese advertising manager thought would make for a bizarre advertising character. I mean, I’m convinced that this has to be a humorous effort. If not, then it shows how ridiculous marketing can be here.
@Jamaipanese:
My reaction wasn’t a hanging of the head but an uttering of WTF?!! followed by some picture-snapping with my iPhone
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June 4th, 2010 at 8:47 pm
Simply ridiculous. Is it any Japanese idiosyncrasy?
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June 4th, 2010 at 9:33 pm
Saw one of those ads in the Chiba ‘burbs and realize once again that Planet Japan’s mass media not the pm’s office runs the country. It has to in a consumer culture like Japan. Work yourself ragged for a paycheck! Then buy! Smoke! Drink! Dying soon? Great, we have flashy funeral parlours everywhere to send you out in style!
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June 6th, 2010 at 12:39 am
@Antonio:
Yeah, so much strange marketing here in Japan. I’m not sure of the kind of statistical tracking they do to see how much various marketing strategies work here. But, to give you an idea of the cluelessness… there are still hordes of people standing in and around train stations handing out tissue packs (with company logos) at train stations, getting in the way and generally pissing off already frustrated commuters. Sure, it’s a free pack of tissues, but for the company it’s just bleeding money.
@Chibaraki:
I thought Chiba was the ‘burbs.
But yeah, so much useless shit gets marketed here. I mean look at all the beers and happoshus that nobody is drinking. And, the stupid names, OMG, who comes up with this shit?!! There was a happoshu last year called ‘World Value.’ But, Japanese consumers always stick with the standards.
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June 9th, 2010 at 4:01 am
Interesting posts you have here. I just found your blog and am going back to read older posts.
Yeah. I was going to take a photo and post on it, but I see you already have and did much better job than I would have anyway
It is ironic that they are using a bodybuilder to flog cigarettes. And I did an LOL when you mentioned that comment about who, exactly are they trying to attract by it.
It is scary that I could just copy your “About Me” description and paste it into my blog. Well, actually not since these days I changed ot to have both my wife and my name on it since we both post to that Exotic Japan blog.
Tom
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June 10th, 2010 at 2:07 pm
This is the gayest thing I have seen while travelling in Japan - very macho/retro and quite sexy but I wonder if it sells cigarettes?!!
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June 11th, 2010 at 12:16 am
@Thomas:
Appreciate the luv.
As far as the ad goes, it’s just another one of those funny things that you see in Japan that makes you say to yourself, Weird country, but never dull…
@Carl:
The gayest thing you’ve seen traveling in Japan?… Haha. Get yourself to Shinjuku 2-chome.
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Thomas Gantz Reply:
June 11th, 2010 at 2:13 am
Thanks, Billy. Yes, one of the things that keeps me in Japan is the weirdness. I’d die of boredom if I had to go back to the US Midwest to live again.
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June 15th, 2010 at 9:42 am
Hahah I was wondering where u disappeared to man. Yeah when I first started seeing those I thought i was in the twighlight zone or something. Just gay and weird lol…
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June 16th, 2010 at 11:39 am
Inside the dark halls of Winston’s marketing research department…
Biff (VP): OK. We wanna sell a crap load of Winstons in Japan where a large majority of men still haven’t caught on that cigarettes cause cancer… [smirk] Any ideas?
Kent (MD): OH! So that “let’s try to not smoke too much” warning on the side of cig packs isn’t working? I wonder why! [smirk]
Biff (VP): Go wonder. So! Who’s got a fresh new idea?
Mandy (Intern): Well. The camel’s been taken. The cowboy is approaching, like what, 80 years old? Why not try a buffed up, skin head metro transsexual with cutoff’s smaller than Britney Spears? He’ll have to have been through all his estrogen shots for this to work, you know the complex Japanese men have about dong size. So, whadda you say???!!!
Biff (VP): Mandy. That idea’s so crazy, it just might work.
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June 16th, 2010 at 11:39 pm
@Prometheus:
Good to see you’re still around, as well.
@Buchan:
Very nice.
But, I doubt marketers here are anywhere close to that lucid when putting together promotions; it’s more like, “Well, crap, we can’t jam a cute little kid and some stupid, cutesy jingle into a cigarette ad. Hmmm… what to do?… Hey, I saw this musclebound foreign guy smoking a cig the other night in 2-chome and thought it was an interesting image… Let’s put him up on vending machines all over Tokyo and be done with this promotion campaign; it’s giving me a headache. Anyway, I’ve got his number right here in my keitai”
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June 20th, 2010 at 4:10 pm
I have seen these around recently. I was a little taken back by it but the shock wore off quickly. Winston is actually cheap at 280 yen a pack. Still taste like crap though; but for a quick fix when you are short on money they get the job done.
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Billy W Reply:
June 20th, 2010 at 11:14 pm
Hey, buddy… Whatcha been up to? From your comment, it looks like you’re still in Tokyo. Shoot me an e-mail and let me know what’s going on. Let’s grab a beer or five if you’re still around.
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June 22nd, 2010 at 3:54 pm
Yeah, I am still alive and well in Tokyo. I have been getting a few thing in order but otherwise I am doing fine.
I would love to meet up for a few beers. I mobile email has changed. The email connected to this post is my new point of contact. Get in touch with me.
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