Japanese teen to eel in swimsuit sexist, netizens complain
Japanese teen in swimming pool fattened, then turned into eel & barbecued in failed Japanese ad to promote fish.
Japanese teen in swimming pool fattened, then turned into eel & barbecued in failed Japanese ad to promote fish.
ADVERTISING
Japanese teen to eel in swimsuit ad sexist, netizens complain
26/09/2016
AFP News agency
TOKYO - An controversial online ad featuring a swimsuit clad teenage girl who turns into an eel was pulled Monday after Japanese internet users complained it was .
CONTROVERSIAL VIDEO
The bizarre two-minute spot begins with a teenage girl in a black one-piece swimsuit swimming in a pool.
Gentle piano music is playing.
In one scene she asks a man to feed her and then eats by the side of the pool.
Apparently, being fattened up for some unstated reason.
For some reason, she has problems holding a sticky bottle of water.
In another scene, the girl is seen poolside exercising with a hula hoop.
Then the TV commercial takes a bizarre twist.
After an apparently long period of time has passed, the girl dives into the pool and turns into an eel.
She says goodbye and swims away.
The male narrator tells us, "I fed her delicious food until she was full and allowed her to get plenty of sleep."
Next, the eel is seen being cooked in a barbecue.
The narrator tells the viewers, "We take great care when farming our eels."
Bucolic images of southern Japan are intermixed with what is apparently a sort of eery eel farming Japanese fairy tale.
Right before taking the final dive when she turns into an eel mid-air.
NETIZENS COMPLAIN ABOUT SEXISM
Viewers were unimpressed with the commercial.
"This makes me think of a girl who is being kidnapped and locked up...it's the delusions of a pervert," said one Twitter user.
Another added: "They should take down this sexist video."
Japanese eel-girl having problems with sticky water bottle.
OFFICIALS ONLY WANTED TO DRAW ATTENTION TO LOCALLY FARMED FISH
Officials from the far-south Japanese city of Shibushi yanked the TV commercial but insisted they had only wanted to draw attention to locally-farmed fish.
Stung by criticism, city officials pulled the ad, with a local official telling AFP: "we're aware that some people were offended".
"We just wanted to make a video that simply explains the city is known for eel farming."
Traditional Japanese Ama diver; Inset: Cartoon Ama diver mascot of the city of Shima that drew widespread criticism (Source: Wikipedia).
NOT THE FIRST TIME THIS HAS HAPPENED
This is not the first time a Japanese city has found itself in hot water over advertising deemed demeaning to women.
The city of Shima, which hosted G7 talks earlier this year, changed its new female community mascot after it was blasted as obscene and sexist.
The cartoon image of a voluptuous 17-year-old aspiring "ama" diver in search of a boyfriend drew fire from real female divers, who traditionally harvest seaweed, clams and, in some areas, pearls.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/1095513/japan-swimsuit-teens-eel-ad-pulled-over-sexism-claims
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/27/japanese-ad-eel-showing-girl-fattened-up-cooked-pulled
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