As bad as the relationship between Japan and Korea can appear to be from time to time, not even in Korea would a commercial such as this ever be deemed acceptable:
This anti-Japanese commercial is from the Australian brewer Blue Tongue Beer. The owner of Blue Tongue Beer, John Singleton just happens to be a big supporter of the eco-loon group the Sea Sheppard Society who makes it a yearly mission to attack the Japanese whalers by ramming them with their boats or throwing acid at them. You can read more bigotry from John Singleton in this Australian newspaper article full of a lot of Jap this and Jap that. At least he didn’t call them gooks I guess. Ironically I don’t even think the actors in the commercial are even Japanese because their accents do not sound Japanese. The actors are, if I had to guess, probably Chinese. Anyone else have any opinion on this?
At least Koreans are funny in their Japan bashing. Who didn’t laugh at the antics of flag eater, bee man, Comrade Chung, the Dokdo Riders, or the declarations of war from Roh Moo-hyun? Okay finger lady wasn’t so funny. Anyway Australian eco-loons can actually learn something from Koreans in regards to Japan bashing; it is a fine art and the Koreans are the masters at it.Â
6:13 am on December 29th, 2007 1
[...] Comments Racist Anti-Japanese… on Stopping Japanese whaling by h…ponta on BBC: Inciting racial hatred of…desslok on BBC: [...]
9:24 am on December 29th, 2007 2
OK, so now some anti Japanese commercial made in Australia is Korea’s fault too? Everything always comes back to those horrible evil Koreans, don’t they?
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9:34 am on December 29th, 2007 3
I never said it was Korea’s fault. I said Korea’s Japan bashing is funny, not racist which this Australian beer commercial is.
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10:17 am on December 29th, 2007 4
You never ’said’ this and you also never ’said’ that…
But racism, discrimination, or prejudice-like act is rarely ever ’said’, it’s rather implied. Only an illiterate Korean would find your writing inoffensive.
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10:28 am on December 29th, 2007 5
That Australian video wasn’t that bad. Not as bad as the videos that feature Koreans who are the favorite butt of jokes for the US (you’d probably laugh if this was bunch of Koreans made fun of for eating dogs and would probably tell the Koreans to lighten up), and a favorite target of hatred from Japan.
To tell you what I mean, do this. Go to http://www.youtube.com.
In the search box, try typing in:
1)Ugly Korean
2)Dirty Korean
3)Cheat Korean
4)Stupid Korean
5)Bad Korean
6)Dumb Korean
See how many results come up – too many to count. You will notice that at least 75% of them are from Japanese sources.
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10:42 am on December 29th, 2007 6
Another example. Go see this Japanese TV show
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1W5wJm3mxE
The format of this Japanese show is basically to line up all the international audience to bad mouth the Chinese. If this kind of same show was shown on Korean TV, all the western blogs will post it on the internet to show how racist Koreans are. But.. since this is a Japanese show, it’s overlooked, forgiven. And we can’t have any Australians showing videos of Japanese to protest their illegal whaling.
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10:43 am on December 29th, 2007 7
Oops, I meant to say “all the western blogs on Korea will post it on the internet to show how racist Koreans are and to give us lectures as to why Koreans are barbarians”.
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10:48 am on December 29th, 2007 8
“Ugly Korean” on youtube.com: 55 entries
“Ugly Japanese” on youtube.com: 132 entries
“dirty Korean”: 108
“dirty Japanese”: 234
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10:59 am on December 29th, 2007 9
Knickerbocker, look at the contents. You can’t tell me there’s a big difference. Most of the ‘Ugly Japanese’ are either harmless or made by Japanese themselves. Most of the “Ugly Koreans”, on the other hand… nothing but hate with Japanese writings.
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11:19 am on December 29th, 2007 10
“all the western blogs on Korea will post it on the internet to show how racist Koreans are and to give us lectures as to why Koreans are barbariansâ€.
Most of the responsible ones are pretty good at justifying their criticism quite well. Do you have specific examples you would like to point out or are you just making useless generalizations?
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11:26 am on December 29th, 2007 11
Tom, you need to read people’s comments more closely.
GIKorea never said this was Korea’s ‘fault’, he compared (twice now because he clarified it again) Korean Anti-Japanese loons to Australian Anti-Japanese loons, in a way that indirectly complimented the Koreans for at least not being racist about it like the later.
You then say that “Koreans who are the favorite butt of jokes for the US” and proceed to list a bunch of videos you say to be Anti-Korean made by Japanese. What does that have to do with the US? How does your list of Japanese Anti-Korean videos show that Koreans are the “favorite butt of jokes for the US”?
Also, the link you pointed to directly: There was a long running show on Japanese television called ã“ã“ãŒå¤‰ã よã€æ—¥æœ¬ “This is messed-up Japan”. This show seems to be a spoof on that show as it’s the same thing, just with Japan replaced with China. You’ll also notice that the panel of guests is, as it was in the ‘Japan’ version, are all foreigners, for example the first man was from Nepal. You’ll also notice that when he makes the outrageous claim that “Chinese are the worst bread of humans” the Japanese crowd and hosts don’t seem to take what he is saying well, followed with counter-arguments from the hosts. If anything, the only one standing up for the Chinese was the Japanese in that video.
I know we don’t agree on, well, anything, but I still believe that is due to you not reading what other people actually say before you explode into a series of straw-man attacks that in and of themselves alone don’t even make any logical sense. That’s what you’re doing right here now again.
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11:28 am on December 29th, 2007 12
Tom how do you figure Koreans are the butt of jokes in the U.S.? Most Americans can’t even locate Korea on the map. Korea is not really a big deal in the States. The only Korea America makes fun of is the one from the movie “Team America World Police”. And that is only their leader.
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11:34 am on December 29th, 2007 13
[...] No, this isn’t a prostitution link — one Australian beer brewer apparently doesn’t like the Japanese hunting whales. [...]
12:05 pm on December 29th, 2007 14
Peter Pan, the Chinese were setup in that show to be bashed. The people who did the staging were the Japanese. As for that lone Japanese supposedly defending Chinese, it’s two step forward and one step backward, to make it not so obvious. You can’t tell me if that kind a show went on air in Korea, the expat blogs in Korea won’t have a field day. And care to explain why all the Korean hatred by Japanese in Youtube? Goodness gracious, I thought it was only Koreans hating on perfectly innocent Japanese.
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12:52 pm on December 29th, 2007 15
How is this racist?
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1:02 pm on December 29th, 2007 16
Actually I didn’t think the commercial was racist at all.
In bad taste yes!
John Singleton is a very clever marketing man.
I have to give him an A+ in coming up with an ad that promotes his beer.
The ad is shocking, hence memorable, and is tapping into an issue people feel strongly about.
Actually, the Sushi chefs seem to represent, younger progressive Japanese, who seem surprised the older fat guy wants the full whale experience.
Not Racist, just my opinion. Then again I’m not Japanese, and hence can’t empathise. Bad taste with blood spitting out. Yes.
Brilliant marketing, most definitely. John Singleton does it again!
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1:03 pm on December 29th, 2007 17
Traditionally, Japanese have always called Koreans dirty and smelly. That’s OK with me because every nationalities have bad stereotypes of one another. But then Japanese take it to the next level and put up lies like this on the Youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGDo2I0qy1M&NR=1
“The south Korean does not wash the body excessively.
Recently, it reached the point where it takes a bath.
As for those which have been taken, it is the record which interviewed to the south Korean. It is very good tendency. “
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1:51 pm on December 29th, 2007 18
Tom, your arguments are illogical. First, how would Korea-based bloggers know what is on JAPANESE television? Chances are, they are based in Korea. It is Korea that matters to them, not Japan. Second, how is it the Korea is the butt of American jokes, when everything you have cited is from JAPAN? Third, you bemoan the fact that some in Japan refer to Koreans as ‘dirty’ or ’smelly’. And…. how many times have I heard Koreans say the very same things about the Chinese? More times than I can count.
You sound like a rabid VANKer.
As for the subject at hand, I find the commercial in bad taste, but I am not sure if it quite reaches the level of being racist.
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1:53 pm on December 29th, 2007 19
I’d have to agree here – don’t see how this commercial is racist.
It may be sharp or even vicious of its criticisms of the Japanese, but it isn’t making assertions about any traits being inherently or racially linked to the Japanese race, ethnicity, or culture, nor making any assertions about the superiority/inferiority of the any group in relation to say, Australians as a group, nor even attempting to represent the totality of Japanese culture in any way I can see.
In fact, the older Japanese businessman’s punishers are fellow Japanese themselves, and the commercial limits itself to making a statement about the issue of whaling only, in a context that seems appropriate, i.e. a Japanese man comes into a Japanese restaurant and orders whale meat.
I don’t know about John Singleton’s other commercials, nor where this commercial may fit in with other commercials in say a genre of like commercials, but this commercial itself doesn’t raise any hackles in relation to racist representations.
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1:54 pm on December 29th, 2007 20
Furthermore, Tom. Explain this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyOBUhNzOow&feature=related
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2:00 pm on December 29th, 2007 21
Or this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiU4i0eicOo&feature=related
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2:04 pm on December 29th, 2007 22
This commercial is not racist because it has NOTHING to do with race.
It is a comment on an aspect of Japanese CULTURE which is found to be distasteful by many members of Australian culture (regardless of their race).
When people stop confusing culturalism (or nationalism) with true racism, and the media stops encouraging this confusion, people are going to get along a lot better… and certain cultures will be forced to face their bad aspects instead of hiding behind the cry of racism whenever criticized.
Now if everybody would stop looking for racism and just STFU&GBTW the world would be a better place.
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2:32 pm on December 29th, 2007 23
“As bad as the relationship between Japan and Korea can appear to be from time to time, not even in Korea would a commercial such as this ever be deemed acceptable:”
Dear GI
In Australia there is an organisation called the Advertising Standards Bureau. People such as yourself may express their views to them, if an ad is believed to be offensive.
For example:
http://news.www30.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=151553
As for racist advertising, programs, children’s books, etc in Korea, what are the avenues available in Korea to object to such advertising? Zero!
Korea does not legislate against racism. Australia does have legislation and does in fact enforce it.
Various media people in Australia have in fact been fined and lost their jobs over racist remarks. Does the same happen in Korea? Yea right!
Finally, such a commercial would not be successful in Korea, as Koreans in general don’t care about environmental issues. Show me a green polititian in Korea and I’ll show you a pig that flys.
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2:58 pm on December 29th, 2007 24
I thought the video was originally in bad taste until I started reading up on John Singleton and his Japan bashing in the media. Also how come John Singleton isn’t harpooning white north Europeans that whale as well in his commercial? I’m not Japanese but I could understand why someone in Japan would find this guy racist.
What would people think if some beer company made a commercial with a Korean man hung by his feet getting bashed with a bat and than killed in protest to Koreans eating dogs? Then the owner of the company then writes articles in the media bashing Koreans and calling them gooks.
Would people say that person isn’t racist as well?
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3:18 pm on December 29th, 2007 25
Standing issues of racism aside, I don’t see the ad as racist at all. Rather, I think it is pretty incisive and gets the anti-whaling message across fairly effectively. There are far better jumping off points for discussions of racism.
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3:25 pm on December 29th, 2007 26
To append to the above, I have to say I don’t see much culturalism at play either, i.e. “eating whales is gross,” regardless of whether the ad creator or viewer actually feel that way. The core of the ad’s message is anti-cruelty, and the Japanese characters are chosen, it seems, merely because Japan is the main whaling nation in Asia. It seems culturally on the same plane as a PETA ad about cows or chickens.
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4:04 pm on December 29th, 2007 27
As an Aussie, I do not see how that ad is “racist” or “anti-Japanese.” The true essence of the ad is against the atrocious treatment of whales by the Japanese government in Australian and international territorial waters.
“Also how come John Singleton isn’t harpooning white north Europeans that whale as well in his commercial?” Well, because:
a) the Japanese annual hunt is mostly on Australian territorial waters
b) the reasons given by the Japanese for whaling is absolutely ridiculous
c) Japan, unlike those north European countries, signed the moratorium to end whaling introduced by the IWC.
d) Until recently, involved endangered whales
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4:06 pm on December 29th, 2007 28
Correction:
b) the reason given by the Japanese for whaling is absolutely ridiculous (scientific research)
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4:11 pm on December 29th, 2007 29
Hmmm…
I don’t understand, GI.
As John Singleton pointed out, “We wouldn’t let the Norwegians or the Icelanders come in.” Since they aren’t coming in and hunting whales, there is no need to be “harpooning white north Europeans that whale as well in his commercial”.
In the end, Mr. Singleton probably just wants to sell more beer… and Australians like whales… and dislike their closely-culturally-identified brands of beer being owned by a radically different culture that has a short beer-making history consisting mostly of crappy brews.
Your hatred for eco-loons (and maybe whales, as well) is making you look rather dogmatic in your approach to all this… everybody who is against whaling is a freak, an extremist or a racist.
Relax, GI. Some people just think whales far from Japan are more valuable than Japanese business interests or nationalism (under the guise of cultural preservation).
(Which makes one wonder if, in this way of thinking, pedophilllia should be internationally acceptable to preserve Greek culture. Your honor, this is not some twisted perversion. This is Spaaaarrta!)
By the way, “Jap” is a term to identify nationality, not race… much like when President Bush spoke of the “Pakis”, he was specifically pointing out nationals of Pakistan and not referring to all South Asians as a racial group.
The media has sold us on the ideas that these are “racial” terms which, except when used by the most ignorant and truly racists, they are not.
I’ll be more convinced that this is a racial issue as opposed to a cultural or nationalistic issue if he calls them “little, yellow, slant-eyed wogs”.
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5:04 pm on December 29th, 2007 30
The fact that the ad is getting talked about in blogs that have nothing to do with australia and japan means that its done its job, notwithstanding this blogger’s patent anti-environmental skew. Racism has nothing to do with it.
GI Korea, Australians like to look after the local environment and marine eco-system – thats why Australian coastlines are so much nicer than the coastlines of your own country.
I’ve surfed the length of the Australian eastern seaboard, and have been lucky enough to have swam and surfed with whales. Its something that is very special, and its something I and alot of other Australians hope to be able to do long into the future.
In contrast, I also surfed the west coast of the US and found it disgusting. Nothing quite like paddling in warm water because its been pumped through a nuclear reactor, while bombs detonate on nearby firing ranges, shit and dead fish bob past in the water, and oil rigs loom just offshore. Thats if the beach isn’t entirely closed for the day due to an algae bloom or a high fecal count.
You’ll have to excuse me therefore for not taking you seriously for having issue with people who want to protect the ocean and what’s in it. I’ve seen what comes of that attitude.
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5:09 pm on December 29th, 2007 31
“You’ll have to excuse me therefore for not taking you seriously”
Kind of like people who say they surfed in California then base their environmental philosophy on that one experience.
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7:05 pm on December 29th, 2007 32
Many whales are on the endangered species list. If they are hunted to extinction (and let me add, for frivilous reasons-no one needs whale meat to live, there are no villages of Japanese or Icelanders who will starve without whales) they will be gone forever. Then your and my grandchildren will watch them only on TV and be told “There once were whales, but now they’re gone. You’ll never see one.”
If I prefer a world with whales in the ocean, am I an “eco-loon?” There are loons in the movement, but hell, there are paramilitary loons around too who play with guns in camps in Montana and sometimes bomb buildings in Oklahoma, I’m sure you wouldn’t accept being lumped in with them, GI-K.
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7:50 pm on December 29th, 2007 33
I don’t hate whales, I have pointed this out over and over again that the eco-loons are actually encouraging the hunting of more whales by making the issue one of nationalism in Japan where they can’t back down without losing face. So now whales are even being served with school lunches.
At least the Japanese are working with the international community to set whaling quotas which they abide by unlike North Europeans who just openly whale commercially. So would everyone feel better if Japan just pulled out of the IWC and just whaled commercially with no set international quotas? That is the direction the eco-loons are pushing the Japanese to do.
Also the Japanese are not fishing off the side of the Sydney Harbor Bridge, they are hunting for whales in the Antarctic waters that Australia claims for themselves but no one else in the world recognizes. If the Japanese were whaling in real Australian waters the RAN would stop the boats like they do with Indonesian fishermen that violate Australian waters frequently. They don’t stop the Japanese whalers because their territorial claim over the Antarctic would not hold up in international court.
The protests against whaling have nothing to do with the environment and everything to do with feelings. To paraphrase the above commenter, “I surfed with whales and felt good about it so I don’t like Japanese whaling now”. Well I like kangaroos and think they are cool but I’m not about to start attacking Australians or throw acid at them to stop them from the annual kangaroo slaughter. Whaling is not an environmental issue just like harvesting kangaroos is not an environmental issue, it is a feelings issue.
While the eco-loons go after the Japanese they ignore real environmental issues. To many environmental issues are being advocated because of feelings instead of facts. Than guys like Watson and Singleton then exploit these feelings to make money.
For the Aussie readers they might want to read some Prof. David Lindenmayer’s books such as this:
http://www.publish.csiro.au/nid/20/pid/5691.htm
Here is a key quote:
“The state of Australia’s ecology after 200 years of white settlement — the continent has the worst biodiversity loss record of any place on earth and rates of land degradation that are virtually unparalleled elsewhere.”
Their are less koalas in the wild than there are Minke whales the Japanese hunt, yet no beer commercials about this.
Also I find it interesting that someone wants to compare the southern California coast which is one state out of 50 with a population of 33 million to Australia with a population of 21 million and with a nation that spans an entire continent. It is easy to find a clean beach with such lack of population density compared to southern California.
Also before bringing up American environmental problems which I am well aware of remember I’m not the one being hypocritical and going after a foreign nation to divert my own nation’s environmental problems which is what you appear to be doing by trying to bring up American environmental issues.
Australia has environmental problems unlike any other nation on Earth faces and other nations bashing the Japanese have their own issues yet this much energy and attention is being focused on Japanese hunting of whales that are not endangered. All this is based off of feelings that are being exploited by people to make money and score political points.
Yet I’m the anti-environmentalist.
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8:24 pm on December 29th, 2007 34
Hugh,
The Japanese this year are hunting 935 Minke whales and 50 Fin whales. The Minke whale is not endangered with a population of 184,000 and growing:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minke_whale
According to the IUCN fin whales stocks are at 40,000 whales and growing:
http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/details.php/2478/all
A smaller number of whales and thus a smaller quota. Aboriginals authorized to hunt fin whales and the north Europeans hunt nearly as many Fin whales as the Japanese. Studies also show that Fin whales are the most struck whale in the world by commercial boats and probably more die from boat strikes then Japanese whaling:
http://www.nero.noaa.gov/shipstrike/whatsnew/Laist et al_2001.pdf
So how come no one is campaigning to stop commercial shipping from hitting whales?
The argument I hear over and over again that the Japanese are hunting whales into extinction so future generations will not see any whales in the oceans is absolutely false and more eco-loon propaganda.
Also Hugh people will not starve to death if they did not eat kangaroos, horses, dogs, or whatever other animal that nation chooses to eat as well. I’ll keep repeating myself the anti-whale movement has nothing to do with the environment or sustainability; it is all about feelings.
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8:29 pm on December 29th, 2007 35
We’ve gone off track here a bit. It seems the consensus now is that the ad is not racist. Yep John Singleton is making money by taping into the let’s protect whales, train of thought.
Maybe the correct interpretion of the ad would be to call it condacending and hypocritical.
Australia has had a awful environmental record. I know I’m Australian.
Firstly the environment is very fragile, and not very adaptable to European farming practices.
Secondly, until about 30 years ago the attitude was “if it moves kill it, if it doesn’t ring bark it”.
At this very moment huge tracts of land are become barren due to the rising of the water table, caused by inappropriate farming methods.
Given Australia’s record, preaching to others seems hypocritical.
By the way GI, Love your blog.
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8:36 pm on December 29th, 2007 36
“Also the Japanese are not fishing off the side of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, they are hunting for whales in the Antarctic waters that Australia claims for themselves but *no one else in the world recognizes*.”
Actually, our claims to the Antarctic Territory is recognised by a number of nation-states including the United Kingdom, Norway and New Zealand (Australia’s claims to its Antarctic Territory outdated the Antarctic Treaty).
“The state of Australia’s ecology after 200 years of white settlement — the continent has the worst biodiversity loss record of any place on earth and rates of land degradation that are virtually unparalleled elsewhere.”
Yes, we already know this from high school Australian Geography lessons. However, the same can be said for many other nations where the natural environment has been purposely destroyed by rapid industrialisation, occupation, colonisation and/or globalisation. Our attitudes towards the environment and conservation, like most Western and/or developed nations, has changed dramatically to the point where we(students) are taught about the environmental damage caused by colonisation year after year. Oh, and how is this relevent?
“At least the Japanese are working with the international community to set whaling quotas which they abide by unlike North Europeans who just openly whale commercially.”
By lying? I do not understand why the Japanese government, despite low public approval are so adamant on whaling. And the only reason why the whale population is growing is because most nations have stopped whaling. And it should stay that way until all species of whales are listed as non-endangered.
“Well I like kangaroos and think they are cool but I’m not about to start attacking Australians or throw acid at them to stop them from the annual kangaroo slaughter. ”
The only reason why the South Australian state government and the Australian Capital Terrirtory government allows culling of kangaroos is because there are just too many of em’. It’s totally different from the whaling debate.
I agree with Joe on how this discussion has been led away from the so-called “racist” and “anti-Japanese” ad. Again, this ad is not racist or does it show anti-Japanese tendencies.
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8:38 pm on December 29th, 2007 37
Well, if there is no fear of extinction then I have nothing against the hunt, save some sqeamishness about the level of intelligence these whales have. I did think the humpback was hunted almost too extinction and is still on the list, but if as you say they are not being hunted then great.
I forgot to comment directly on the topic above, so I will here – I dunno if the ad is racist, but it sure as hell is in appalling taste – violent, gory death in a commercial? I would never buy that beer again if I lived in Oz – imagine sitting watching TV with your kid and that comes on.
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8:38 pm on December 29th, 2007 38
Again, I should have proof-read before posting
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8:40 pm on December 29th, 2007 39
“I forgot to comment directly on the topic above, so I will here – I dunno if the ad is racist, but it sure as hell is in appalling taste – violent, gory death in a commercial? I would never buy that beer again if I lived in Oz – imagine sitting watching TV with your kid and that comes on.”
I agree. I have no idea on what the connection is between the beer and whaling. And BTW, alcohol commercials are only shown after 10:00 pm and as an Aussie, I’ve never heard of the brand.
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8:53 pm on December 29th, 2007 40
Joe, thanks for reading and the kind words.
Also don’t think I am bashing Australia because I love Australia, I have lived there and thus know the environmental issues well. I will never forget hiking to the top of Bluff Knoll in the Stirling Ranges in W.A. and having a conversation with an Aussie couple at the summit. We got to talking how hot it was that day and then they started saying it was probably because of global warming and then commented how beautiful the view of the many lakes were.
These nice people believed global warming was going to lead to massive environmental damage in Australia but were completely oblivious to the massive environmental damage they were literally completely surrounded by. The lakes were all salt lakes due to rising water table from all the cleared forest lands due to agriculture. The Stirling Ranges is literally an island of what the Australian terrain in that area used to look like before agriculture took over. The ecological damage from the salt lakes is irrepairable and if anyting growing. Check it out on Google Earth, it is shocking. This huge swath of W.A. is an environmental disaster yet this nice couple had no idea because it isn’t in an Al Gore movie.
That is because the people who I like to call eco-loons such as Watson, Flannery, Hansen, Gore, etc. find issues that touches peoples emotions to sell their books and gain influence instead of focusing on real environmental problems that can and should be addressed now.
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9:26 pm on December 29th, 2007 41
GI! You don’t need to be apologetic, or worry about bashing Australia.
If there is one thing Brits and Aussies, do a lot, and that is to take the piss out of our own countries.
You can say I hate Fosters beer, and Australian women have big asses, and we won’t get upset. Actually you’ll get a lot of agreement. (Not from the women though!)
Unlike a certain nationality of people who we won’t mention, who take it as a personal insult if you don’t like Kimchi or Hyundai cars.
GI I think you’ve been living in a certain country we won’t mention for too long, you’ve become too PC. Snap out of it mate!
I would’nt call Al Gore an Eco Loon. More an Eco profiteer, like all those people who make a lot of money out of the poverty industry.
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10:57 pm on December 29th, 2007 42
In hindsight, some of those that you mentioned, flag eater, bee man, dokdo riders, are quite amusing…it makes Western protests look quite bland and boring in comparison hehe. But what’s up with the comments at the site for bee and flag eating man? It’s quite nasty…does the moderator not care for the crap flinging posts?
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12:02 am on December 30th, 2007 43
Many good points have already been made on this thread. As Metro and Chickenhead explained so clearly, there is no racism in this ad. In fact, the fat, belligerent customer seems stereotypically American, not Japanese.
As for the Japanese versus northern European whalers, both are whaling in international waters, but Japanese are taking whales from waters near Australia. Whales don’t stay in one place, Jon. They are migratory animals. If Mexicans started killing whales off the Baja Peninsula, there’d be an uproar from their northern neighbors. Whale-watching is a lucrative eco-business on the west coast of the US and Canada, and I would guess there Australians and New Zealanders who have figured out to make money appreciating wildlife rather than killing it.
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6:34 am on December 30th, 2007 44
Sonagi,
The Japanese whalers are near Antarctica not Australia. Taking a rough look at a map it would be like Californians complaining about whaling off the coast of Peru. Antarctica is a long ways from Australia. Also the whaling is not effecting the whale watching business because the Japanese are hunting only two types of whales that have larger populations compared to other whale species that continue to grow despite whaling.
Hugh,
The Japanese were originally going to hunt the humpback this year for the first time but I think they never had any intention to actually do so. They added humpback this year as a bargaining chip. They have agreed not to hunt the humpback this year now to show they are willing to negotiate over whaling. It is a bit of political theater from Tokyo. The Japanese want to have a final negotiated settlement over whaling but the anti-whaling lobby will not negotiate thus the status quo remains.
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6:45 am on December 30th, 2007 45
John Savege,
Occidentalism is a bit infamous for being an anti-Korean site with some nasty commenters. It actually has some informative postings from time to time but the comments section is definitely not worth checking out.
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11:22 am on December 30th, 2007 46
Also the whaling is not effecting the whale watching business because the Japanese are hunting only two types of whales that have larger populations compared to other whale species that continue to grow despite whaling.
According to various news stories, the Japanese plan to hunt nearly 1,000 mink, which are not endangered, and fifty endangered fins. Also, the waters in which the Japanese are hunting are not internationally recognized as Australian but are part of the internationally recognized Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. One reason why some whale species like the mink are able to grow is because of international cooperation in sustaining their numbers.
Judging by the Japanese-produced video link in your most recent post, there is emotion-baiting on both sides of the debate.
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5:23 pm on December 30th, 2007 47
A lot of trolls post on youtube. Don’t take their videos seriously.
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2:45 pm on December 31st, 2007 48
Whaling does not fill any human requirement that cannot be filled otherwise. Also, how commercial whaling serves research interests now is not clear. However, every human alive on the planet kills other things on the planet directly or indirectly: yes, even the vegans that steal food that otherwise might sustain a family of hungry slugs or use microbe (small innocent life-form) killers (antibiotics).
There is at least one recent retort here (http://v.backchina.com/watch.php?video=qrB7nPiHNA0) to complaints about Japanese whaling in the vein of “so’s yer ol’ man” that does not rely much on language (a rock bottom minimum of English). The clip is about 10 minutes and may make even some meat eaters a bit uncomfortable if they think about what they are seeing.
This little controversy is at least a year old. The advertisement was run in Australia in late 2006. The advertisement is a very fine video illustration of the meaning of the term “non sequitur” in light of the fact that making/selling beer and whaling are connected about as closely as diamonds and potatoes(for those wondering, the connections there are carbon and sourced in soil).
While it is not overtly racist, judging by some of the people/groups that have had favorable things to say about it, particularly in Australia, escaping the conclusion that it was intended to exploit racist attitudes in Australia – and does so very well in some places – is hard to escape. Think what the advertisement would be like if the man walking into the restaurant was an Australian white and ordered “the full rabbit experience” (a club to the head – true, in contrast to electrodes attached to the sides of the face – patently false) followed by advice to “drink only rabbit safe beer.” Such advice would be seen by most people as idiotic mostly because such advice would be idiotic, the substance of the two advertisements being the same. The Bluetongue advertisement is the more reprehensible because it reflects not a commitment to any environmental agenda, such as “save the whales” (support that or not, as you choose) but a commitment to take advantage of any available cause, no matter how extraneous, to the advertiser’s own (making money selling beer).
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5:43 pm on December 31st, 2007 49
There is a huge difference between the killing of whales and the killing of rabbits so your analogy is meaningless. One is a protected and (some species)endangered animal to which many people (rightly or wrongly) feel a strong emotional connection and a need to protect in the name of a more humane world, and respect to other intelligent, harmless species (justifiably in my view). The other, if we consider it outside the sense of a cute, children’s pet, is a national scourge (in Australia at least) that, without some form of culling, represents a real problem to farmers. In one sense then it could be argued that there is a justification for the killing of rabbits but there is no justification for the killing of whales, endangered or not.
Another false analogy is the one saying that Australia protesting about whaling in the Antarctic is like Californians protesting about whaling off the coast of Peru. Here the geographical distance is being compared, however there are quite different connections between each: California and Peruvian waters are two clear territorially distinct international regions whereas Australia has a claim to the ocean directly to its south, i.e. the Antarctic. Regardless of this, there would still be no reason for Californians not to protest about whaling off the coast of Peru. Or are you suggesting that we can only protest things that have a local significance?
Personally I think that whaling in this day and age is barbaric and the Japanese are thoroughly disingenuous about their reasons for continuing to do it. The ad is a classic and if the Japanese are offended by it, then good – maybe it will help them to consider the reality of how whale meat gets onto their plate, just as we ought to consider the treatment of chickens and other animals that we happily consume.
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6:33 am on January 1st, 2008 50
There is racist undertone in this commercial (not merely in bad taste), even if the content isn’t explicitly bigoted.
The Japanese customer here is implied here as a powerful corporate type. Arrogant and deprived of emotions. You can certainly detect a whiff of “yellow fever” here. Japanese Americans were stereotyped as insidious business men who bought loads of Amreican lands. Westerners acknowledged Japanese ingenuity even in the old days (whether on economy or science) but it was often belittled as a product of their cunning, darkly ambitious yellow nature.
If the ad featured “me so horny” rat faced chinese man dancing under the confederate flag, I suppose most of us here would swiftly condemn it as “racist”. But that’s too convenient. Racism is most vile when its covert and snide.
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8:20 am on January 10th, 2008 51
I think this is the final nail in the coffin of all those who claim the Japanese are wiping out whales and effecting Australia’s whale watching industry:
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22987914-5001021,00.html
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7:54 pm on February 9th, 2008 52
[...] If you want to see the totally divergent views on whaling between Japan and Australia then head over to Japundit and see the two videos there. The Australian show was in very bad taste and I don’t think they were intentionally being racist, but I can understand why the Japanese commenters on YouTube would think they are. Especially since this comes after what some would call a racist beer commercial. [...]
8:49 am on February 10th, 2008 53
Interesting that whenever someone complains about racism/etc towards Japanese, the response is “well they’re not too cool themselves”.
So basically these people should be as bad/worse than intolerant Japanese – is that what we should all strive to be?
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5:26 pm on February 10th, 2008 54
Korean racist TV commercials.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFG1pGKUSMQ
Read the comments and you can see the hatred of Koreans twards their fellow Asians.
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5:52 pm on February 10th, 2008 55
‘Read the comments and you can see the hatred of Koreans twards their fellow Asians’
Browse thru YouTube and it is very easy to see Japanese/Chinese/Korean/Taiwan etc trash talking eachother like crazy, it isn’t just Koreans against other Asians.
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5:21 am on February 28th, 2008 56
When I first saw this advert I found it in bad taste and shocking, yes , but not racist.
Then when I did a bit of research on whaling, I found out that Norway kills roughly the same amount of whales as Japan does. So why aren’t Norwegians featured in this advert?
I also find it amusing that while the Australians are trying to protect the humpback whale, dingeos are in the same “vunerable” category. Japan hunts whales in a sustainable manor.
On another note, Australia produces more than double the amount of greenhouse gasses per capita than Japan.
And isn’t factory farming just as cruel as killing whales. Yes whales take a while to die, but animals like chickens are kept in crowded, smelly conditions their entire lives. Not to mention they are bred so that they grow so big that they can’t walk, just so us greedy rich countries can have cheap animal products.
(And I am vegetarian, by the way. )
Personnaly, I don’t see why such a commercial is advertising beer of all things.
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