between drafts

Xiao XM

As of yesterday, my edited dissertation is on its way to my thesis advisor, and I transformed back from a troglodyte into a human advertising being by way of a haircut and some other magic. Now it’s high time I attended my precious blogs again!

You may have noticed that this entry’s title is in German. That’s because I couldn’t possibly find a description for this device in English as descriptive and catchy as the German one. Here, I give you the constitutents: digitial, bowels, development. (Some assembly required, but I trust you’ll figure it out.)

This cute little ad comes from Japan, for your entertainment and edification. Those who ever had the privilege to watch Japanese game shows (Takeshi’s Castle is among the internationally more famous ones) surely couldn’t avoid realizing that, in informal contexts, the Japanese are able to make fun of themselves way beyond what would be considered acceptable in Europe or America:

Takara Tomy—Xiao XM

Thus, this cute little ad tells us also a little bit about Japanese culture. The “Xiao CM” (the name effectively stumps me) seems to be, either practically or metaphorically, some kind of digital Polaroid. It’s built by Takara Tomy, the company that emerged from fusing the famous toy manufacturer Takara (“Playing is Culture!”) with Tomy. Who made this spot? I couldn’t find out yet, either. But chances are, it was either Dentsu or Hakuhodo.

I wonder if Takara Tomy would’ve had to weather a cease-and-desist order from Deutsche Telekom if they had released this spot and this product in Europe, because of the Telekom’s fracking trademark on the color Magenta. (Now that’s a story that tells something about our culture.)

Top o’ the Hat to @parasight.