Do you know the “Ad Council“?
The Ad Council (of America)
If you’re not American, you probably don’t. Even if you are American, you may know their TV ads but not recognize the name.
The Ad Council puts public service commercials on TV. Not trying to sell anything…just addressing a problem in society.
When I lived in America, their most well-known commercials were probably the “Crash Test Dummies” that were used to try to convince people to fasten their seat-belts when they were in a car and anti-drunk driving ads with the catch-phrase “Drinking and driving can kill a friendship“.
The American Ad Council “Crash Test Dummies” seat-belt ad:
The American Ad Council “Drinking and driving can kill a friendship” ad (you can tell it’s from the ’80s…Michael Jackson’s music was playing in the background:
The Ad Council is in Japan as well.
Here it’s called 「社団法人ACジャパン」 (“AC (Ad Council) Japan Association“).
AC Japan logo
The ads by AC Japan are quite different from America’s Ad Council commercials. Rather than car safety the ads here mainly focus on manners.
If you’re in Japan now and you watch Japanese TV you’ve surely noticed that ever since the 2011 March 11 earthquake the commercials on TV here have been almost exclusively AC Japan ads.
This is because it would considered poor taste and a bit rude to show commercials for beer, fast-food, cars, or other materialistic goods when so many people in 東北地方 (the Tohoku Region) have lost so much and are in need of basic necessities.
So, to fill the time spaces in pre-recorded TV shows that are normally for commercial ads…all of the TV stations in Japan put messages from AC Japan in their place.
The ads extol the virtues of reading, recycling, and being polite.
Here’s one that I occasionally saw on TV a couple of years ago but since March 11th, I’ve seen it countless times. It has a good message though…my translation of it would be something like: “No one can see your heart, but everyone can see how you use your heart. No one can see your thoughts, but everyone can see your compassion.”
They also have one titled 「魔法の言葉で」 (“The Magic Words”).
Not easy to explain, but this ad has characters named after some basic Japanese “magic words” of basic manners. The names are a play on words in Japanese…but when translated into English, the word-pun is lost.
"Arigatousagi" ("Thank you Bunny")
"Itadakimausu" (The "Let's Eat" Mouse)
"Gochisousamausu" (The "Thank you for the meal" Mouse)
"Ittekimasukanku" ("I'm Leaving Skunk")
"Konbanwani" ("Good evening Gator")
"Konnichiwan" ("Good Afternoon Doggy")
"Ohayounagi" ("Good morning Eel")
"Oyasuminasai" ("Good night Rhino")
"Sayonaraion" ("Farewell Lion")
"Tadaimanbou" ("I'm Home Sunfish")
See? The names are cute play on words in Japanese…but kinda odd in English.
But you might enjoy the TV ad anyways:
Besides these TV ads in place of regular commercials, other noticeable differences in Tokyo since the disaster of March 11th are shops opening later and closing earlier everyday…and using only the bare minimum of lighting necessary. All shops and places of business are doing it.
This is to conserve electricity since the nuclear power plant disaster. It’s a bit surreal to see the usually well-lit and neon Tokyo nights so dark these days.
Also, the trains in Japan usually have poster ads on the walls and hanging from the ceiling…but, for the same reason as the eliminated TV ads, these days the trains have very few poster ads.
But soon, I’m confident, Japan will be back to normal.
(By the way, if you want to see my post about Japanese train and subway “manner posters”…click here and here.)
Tokyo Five 
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