Canon, the Japanese camera company has a camera called “Kiss“.
They used to have TV and print ads that featured kids dressed in make-up similar to that of the American rock band KISS.
I have a few of the ちらし (flyers), of course.
I didn’t know that the Canon “Kiss” camera is called different names in different countries until I read it on bartman905‘s blog.
I shouldn’t be surprised though. I know American movies often have different titles in Japan, and sometimes Japanese products have different names in America…for example, the Nissan “Fairlady” car is called the Nissan “300ZX” in the U.S.
Anyways, here’s the TV commercial for the Canon “Kiss” camera that used to be on TV here in Japan all the time:
Here’s another one:
And another:
Another TV commercial I remember well was about ten years ago for the 日経エンタテインメント (Nikkei Entertainment magazine):
That one was filmed at a real Anna Miller’s cake shop in Tokyo. The shop stayed open for business during the filming…so the customers were shocked when they walked in the shop and KISS was sitting at a table filming a TV commercial. I wish I went by there that day!
I remember all of these commercials well.
Tokyo Five 
KISS music is getting old.
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Don’t listen to it then. Problem solved.
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THEN DONT LISTEN, QUIT BITCHIN, BETTER THEN ANY OF THE NEW CRAP OUT THERE
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The person who wrote that comment above that you’re replying to was just trying to get a rise out of me.
Didn’t work though…because negative internet comments don’t bother me at all.
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KISS getting old.
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Not “old”…”older”.
They’re still “the hottest band is the world!”
By the way, this is the third user-name you’ve commented on my blog under.
Why don’t you just choose one name and keep all of your comments in the same name…since it’s obvious that you’re the same person?
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Sir Pent…
Yeah, that’s probably true.
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Man. What a jerk. I bet if you’d been a young lady that helped him out you’d have been backstage instantly without even asking.
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Sir Pent…
>I think Tornadoes28 was poking some fun at us.
Well, if so, maybe I deserve it. 😉 I don’t wanna sound like an オタク (otaku; obsessed fan)!
>How did you without his makeup?
I have seen his picture before. When I addressed him by his name at the Tokyo Dome, I think he was surprised that I recognized him.
>I wonder why Gene wanted all those books about KISS?
Spiro told me they were for his (Gene’s) collection.
>That’s kind of a shame that you weren’t given a backstage pass.
Yeah, I was disappointed. I was sure that I was in when I helped him (Spiro) out of a pinch.
When he said I couldn’t go backstage, I asked if he’d get the band’s autographs for me when he went to get money to pay me back. He said ‘No’, because if he did that for me…he’d have to do it for every fan.
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I think Tornadoes28 was poking some fun at us.
That’s a great story that you recognized him in the bookstore. How did you without his makeup?
Gee, I wonder why Gene wanted all those books about KISS? Was it to add to his collection, to sue them for copyright infringement or both?
That’s kind of a shame that you weren’t given a backstage pass. Pretty lame and flimsy excuse.
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Tornadoes28…
>I didn’t know Japanese people knew Kiss.
KISS is world famous.
Actually, The Beatles were the first rock band to ever perform at the famous 武道館 (Budokan hall) in Tokyo (it caused a controversy). And when they (The Beatles) played there, they sold-out four consecutive shows. It was a record for the Budokan…until KISS came to Japan in 1977 (Rock ‘N Roll Over Tour) and sold-out five consecutive shows there. It’s still a record today.
Look at my blog’s header at the top of the page. The two pictures there…the one on the right is a recent photo I took in Shibuya. The one on the left is KISS wearing kimono in Kamakura in 1977.
When KISS first came to Japan, the airport was so swamped with fans that some of the band’s security posed as band members so that some of the crowd would follow them out of the airport.
Yes, there are many KISS fans in Japan (even today).
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Sir Pent…
>I remember KISSONLINE posted all of those commercials when they were coming out.
So, you’ve seen them? Boy, this “Internet Age“…nothing’s a surprise anymore!
I was looking forward to your reaction! 😉
>Trivia: the Demon spitting fire in that commercial is not Gene. It was a guy from a tribute band.
Yes, I know. His name is Spiro Papodatos and his became KISS‘s tour manager / assistant.
Actually, I met him in Tokyo when KISS came to Japan for the “Farewell (not) Tour“.
I got to the Tokyo Dome a little early and was waiting for my friend…and I saw Spiro Papodatos in the Tokyo Dome bookstore looking at the KISS books.
So I went over and talked to him. He said that Gene Simmons sent him down to purchase a copy of every KISS-related book they were selling.
Then he took the stack of books to the cash register and tried to pay for them with American dollars! Of course, foreign currency isn’t accepted. So I lent him the money for the books…and he went backstage to get the money to pay me back. I thought he’d let me go backstage with him…I asked—but he said he isn’t allowed.
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I didn’t know Japanese people knew Kiss.
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I remember KISSONLINE posted all of those commercials when they were coming out.
Trivia: the Demon spitting fire in that commercial is not Gene. It was a guy from a tribute band. Gene had a cold at the time, was having throat problems and his doctor had recommended no firebreathing. I think he skipped for firebreathing for a few concerts on that tour as well.
It is hard to believe that stuff is up to 10 years old…seems like only a couple of years ago.
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Do you like KISS?
Do you know the Japanese band “SEIKIMA-II“?
They wore kabuki-style make-up like KISS (another Japanese hard-rock band called “Kabuki Rocks” does, too).
You can buy a SEIKIMA-II CD from my “Japanese Stuff” page…here:
http://www3.ocn.ne.jp/~tokyo5/books.html#cd
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Eric…
KISS was one of the original shock rock bands (I like that genre alot) with Alice Cooper, and later: Twisted Sister, and GWAR, and more recently Marilyn Manson and Lordi…
The name KISS isn’t what I would’ve chosen for a shock hard rock band’s name. But Gene Simmons has said that name was chosen because they wanted something that people in any country could understand and remember (even if they don’t speak English) because they had dreams of international stardom since the beginning.
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I don’t think KISS is a strange name for a band. I think it’s an awesome name!!
I agree with you. If the camera had the KISS logo on it, I would have bought that one instead!
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bartman905…
Yeah, when those CMs used to run on TV here I thought about getting that camera (cuz I needed one…but I got a Fuji “Finepix” camera, instead).
If it had the KISS band’s logo on it instead of Kiss written as it is on the camera, I might not have been able to resist.
BTW, does your camera say “Kiss” on it?
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tokyo5 (and Eric who also posted on his blog), wow – thanks for this post.
These Canon Kiss commercials are just great, now my new camera feels extra special!
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Eric…
Yeah, those ads are a bit old.
And, yes, I thought Kiss was an odd name for a camera. (Odd name for a band, too. 😉 )
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Wow, so it was that long ago!? Don’t you agree the name is a little bit strange for a camera. I wonder why they called it “Kiss”. Maybe for the female market…
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Eric…
Of course it’s OK.
Today was the first time I looked at those CMs on YouTube…I used to see them on TV all the time, but that was ten years ago for the magazine ad and about five years ago for the camera ad…so I had forgotten about them until bartman905 wrote that he bought a Kiss camera.
The print ads used to be all over the trains and at camera shops. I got a bunch of them even though I never bought a Canon camera.
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After reading the comments on the Konnichiwa blog, I went and found the video on Youtube as well and did a post about the commercials as well. I gave you credit and put a link to your post. I’m posting it around 8:00pm.m I hope it’s OK.
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