A Chevy TV commercial? There’s something you don’t see everyday!!

I saw a TV commercial yesterday for a 「シボレー」 (“Chrevolet“) car.
It was a car called the 「シボレー・ソニック」 (“Chrevolet Sonic“).

This may seem like nothing unusual to you…especially if you live in America, where TV commercials for American cars are quite common.

But I realized, after seeing that commercial, that I don’t recall having seen an ad for any foreign (ie: not Japanese) cars, until now, since I came to Japan in 1990.

I realized that every advertisement I’ve seen in Japan for automobiles or electronics (Japan’s two biggest industries) have all been for Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Mazda, Sony, Panasonic, Toshiba and other Japanese companies.

Almost every car and motorcycle on the road in Japan is Japanese. Sometimes wealthy people buy a foreign car as a kind of “status symbol”…normally it’ll be an Italian or German car that they choose.
Also, close to every single electronic product sold in Japan is made by a Japanese company. Products made by American companies such as Kodak, Polaroid or Zenith aren’t normally found in Japan. Do those companies even exist anymore?

Here’s the commercial for the 「シボレー・ソニック」 (“Chevrolet Sonic“) that I saw on TV:

Do you see many TV commercials for foreign companies in your country? Are American products popular in your country? Have you ever seen a Chevy “Sonic”?

Japan in the Guinness Book of World Records

Have you ever looked through the Guinness Book of World Records?

Some of the records in there are amazing. Like the “World’s Fastest Professional Boxing Knockout” which was dealt by Mike Collins to Pat Brownson with the first punch in their match in November 1947. The fight was over four seconds after it started.

And some of the records are odd. Such as that currently held by an American woman named Lee Redmond…”World’s Longest Fingernails”. She hasn’t cut her nails since 1979 and now they’re about 90 cm (3 feet) long!

I was just watching a TV program tonight about some of the unusual records in the Guinness Book and it made me wonder what types of records are held by Japanese people.

So I checked the Official Guinness World Records website.

It seems that there are many records currently held by Japanese people.

For example:

– Megumi Suzuki of Saitama, Japan has held the record of the “Most Jump-Rope Skips in Thirty Seconds ” for four years now. In September 2006 she skipped 152 in thirty seconds.

– The record for “The Largest Toast at a Single Venue” was made this past June in Tokyo at a Swallows vs Tigers baseball game. 27,126 people held up their drinks in unison and said 「かんぱい！」 (“Cheers!”) together.

– The famous Japanese TV host Mino Monta broke the record for hosting the “Most Live Hours on TV in a Single Week” when he was on TV for a total 22 hours and 15 seconds in one week.

– When 569 Honda car drivers got together in Tochigi, Japan this past July they set the record for the “Longest Parade of Honda Cars“.

– The parade of Honda cars must have been quite a sight…but couldn’t have compared to the procession of 323 young women in bikinis at a shopping center in Tokyo this past May. They broke the record for the “Longest Bikini Parade“.

– Since 2008, Toshie Kawakami of Tokyo has held the record for “Longest Eyebrow Hair” when she had a single eyebrow hair officially measured at a length of 15.1 cm (nearly 6 inches) long.

What types of world records are held by people from your country?

Car recall isn’t an issue in Japan

In America and China many 「トヨタ」 (Toyota) cars are being recalled because there’s a possibility that an ill-fitting floor mat can cause the accelerator pedal to stick which could cause an accident.
And now 「ホンダ」 (Honda) cars overseas are being recalled too.

I heard that Toyota and Honda dealers in those countries are losing a lot of potential business because the public has become hesitant to trust the safety of those cars now.

「トヨタ」 (Toyota)

「ホンダ」 (Honda)

This issue isn’t an issue at all in Japan.

Most Japanese feel that the cars being recalled overseas are different because they were made in America or China.
Japanese cars in Japan are made here…and anything “Made in Japan” is seen as superior in quality and safety.
So, Toyota and Honda dealers here in Japan aren’t feeling the affects of the recall overseas at all.

In fact, Toyota is the best-selling car in Japan…and has been for many years.

Has your image of Japanese cars changed because of this recall?

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On a totally unrelated subject…
I found out that Gene Simmons (of the rock band KISS) did a TV commercial in America for the Dr. Pepper soft drink.
His son is also in the commercial.

As I don’t live in America, I don’t normally watch America TV…but thanks to the internet in general, and YouTube specifically, I was able to see it.

It’s here:

Do you live in America? Have you seen this commercial on TV before?

In Japan, KISS has done a few TV commercials too.
I wrote a post about them last year. Click here to see that post.