What is Digg?111 Comments
- geminitojanus, on 10/12/2007, -3/+130The real question is: Is there going to be an American camera/chick when they remake the "Network" ad, and will the conversation be in English?
- exobyte, on 10/12/2007, -2/+85LOL. Japanese slacker.
- rcomegys, on 10/12/2007, -9/+54These ads are a lot more direct than the original American bits, with the PC guy totally admitting he's a piece of crap. But, this may be due in large part to the fact that Japanese people do not understand sarcasm.
- rcomegys, on 10/12/2007, -3/+44I've lived in Japan for about 3 months and I recognize them.
- MacParrot, on 10/12/2007, -7/+48Except that you probably couldn't...
- pu-z, on 10/12/2007, -1/+35OH MAN! I know these guys! They are from a Japanese comedy team and made a hilarious spoof of japanese traditions.
Check it out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ads_XnWvMd4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0b75cl4-qRE
Absolutely hilarious. Including the airraid music in the intros. - taizoshiozaki, on 10/12/2007, -1/+24Like it is in many parts of Asia, Eastcoast sarcasm doesn't work in Japanese conversations.
They dismiss it with a smile, calling it "American joke" which means "it's not funny". - bluemist, on 10/12/2007, -3/+25(why double posted? digg down my first)
"Nickname" seems to be a Japan-original and the only one needing translation.
I'm not native but...
PC: Hello, I'm a PC
Mac: Hello, I'm a Mac
PC: Heh? You are a PC too right?
Mac: But everyone calls me a Mac
PC: That seems to just make you special, like a friend
Mac: Everyone uses me privately at home, maybe it's easier (my nihongo failed me here!)
PC: I see, I have lots business-like acquaitances... I want to be called something special too
Mac: Work acquaintances are your main so... how about Wa-ku (Work)?
PC: Mac... and Work! MAC!!
Hope you get it. - h2d2, on 10/12/2007, -6/+23I've seen those two guys somewhere... wait, they were in that funny sushi etiquettes video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYlcgq-U5js
(And no, I don't think all Asian people look the same, it's really them!) - rcomegys, on 10/12/2007, -1/+17"pasokon" is the Japanese abbreviation for "personal computer", and it's used just like "computer" in English.
- Elec, on 10/12/2007, -2/+18I live in Japan too, and I personally haven't seen them in Japanese media, but like other people have been saying, I guess they have some notoriety. The dialogue didn't irk me like the American ads did, so that's a plus.
- mikev, on 10/12/2007, -7/+23The mac guy looks like he is (even more) on drugs..
- felchdonkey, on 10/12/2007, -8/+23@rcomeygys:
"Japanese people do not understand sarcasm"
What the ***** are you talking about? - MacParrot, on 10/12/2007, -2/+16"They dismiss it with a smile, calling it "American joke" which means "it's not funny".
That alone is funny! - bluemist, on 10/12/2007, -1/+14yurobi-to = Eurobeat
wa-ku = work
oh and of course:
ma-ku = Mac - hanshasuro, on 10/12/2007, -2/+15He is saying "pasokon", which is a colloquial shortening of "paasonaru konpyuuta" or "personal computer", or PC. The Japanese language tends to get American phrases imported into its phonetic structure, then shortened to four syllables.
edit: I was too slow - AwesomeMonster, on 10/12/2007, -1/+15Then again... Japanese tv is completely off the walls. I cant imagine them enjoying any form of subtle humor.
- darkamster07, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11I don't speak Japanese, but I am a fan of anime and I have noticed that the Japanese language is absolutely flooded with English words and phrases, why is that?
- yoshitx, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12
M:Hello Im a mac
PC: Hello Im a PC
Mac: Oh an I pod, what are you listening to.
PC: Euro Beat
PC:Euro Beat
PC: Its really good, ipod and Itunes are easy to use. Podcasts are fun too
PC: On a Mac its easy and enjoyable to do photos and movies just like an iPod using iLife (that comes with your mac)
PC: ILife... I have a bunch of cool apps (that come with a PC )too.
Mac: For Example?
PC: Calculator
Mac:And.....
PC: Clock - pu-z, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11The group is called «The Rahmens» this series is called Japan culture lab. Check out this site for more info (japanese): http://www.twinkle-co.co.jp/profile/rahmens.html
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11We get signal
- JorgeGonzalez, on 10/12/2007, -6/+15All you Jap diggers, why aren't you giving translations?
- vocaro, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9There are four other non-English versions of the "Get a Mac" ads:
http://www.digg.com/apple/Apple_s_Get_a_Mac_campaign_goes_international - kourge, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10It's because of word borrowing, just like at least half of the English vocabulary comes from Latin or French.
- kourge, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8"Samui" literally means "cold". A "cold joke" means a joke that's not funny or extremely corny.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7don't hate on anime, there are better things than naruto and dragon ball z out there.
- manitoba98xp, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7For me, it wouldn't render either. Disabling Adblock did the trick :
- Aikinai, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Maybe some of the early influence was from the occupation, but there's no way you an attribute the majority of loan words to that. Japan hasn't been occupied since the 50's, but they still adopt every new English word, only shortening it if it's too long. They certainly didn't get yurobiito (Eurobeat), pasokon (PC), intaanetto (internet), etc. from the occupation. They're just very open to adopting outside influences.
- igraham09, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6dude, shut the ***** up, please
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Really? With a name like macbookpromat I would never guess you would like anything to do with Apple.
- thescott18, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7This is actually traditional Japanese comedy in which the straight man (tsukkomi) criticizes the actions of the idiot (boké). I think the original American ads are the closest we've ever come to the tsukkomi-boké formula, so it's not surprising that these ads would also appeal to the Japanese.
- FHKE, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Good Catch!
After I did some google-ing I found their official website, and on their news page they indicate that their "Mac" ads are on air.
http://www.rahmens.net/news.html - neko, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5NANDEYANEN! *whack*
nandeyanen! *whack* - yoshitx, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5
Kind of like Abbot and Costello or Martin and Lewis.... - bluemist, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6As I said, the other two are the same thing as the US ones. No need...
...just the Eurobeat and 'enjoying podcast' instead of Slow Jams. - ZenMojo, on 10/12/2007, -9/+14Ha. PC guy's still more likeable.
- Gir53457, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Those people who are complaining are on a Mac.
- Qoogirl, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Are they o-warai? I've never seen them, and I'm sure a lot of people haven't, haha. In any case, I agree, the Japanese ads (save for the 'Mac to pasokon' skit) are the American ads verbatim...it almost seemed unnatural in Japanese. They definitely should have used someone a bit more famous who actually uses a Mac (there are tons of famous people from television and media industries splattered on the Apple Japanese website...or at least, there were before the "Get a Mac" campaign kicked in for Japan).
Japan has a strong work ethic, just like America--two countries often called "workaholics"--so for Apple to say that PCs can be nicknamed "Waaku" (work) and Macs are fun "Makku" (Mac), they're really taking a risk, IMO. They should've recreated the ad where it shows Macs run Microsoft Office or something. - yoshitx, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7Word for word on this one is a bit tricky as they use some idioms that don't transle word for word. But here it is:
M:Hello Im a mac
PC: Hello Im a PC
PC: Sneeze
Mac: You OK?
PC. Im not OK I got a virus. Dont get close. Its bad (Slang phrase)
Mac: Im ok.
PC Don't be tough it out lat year there were 114,000 virus for the PC Its tough.
Mac: Macs are oK when it comes to virus.
PC: Oh No. Im going to crash
Mac: You had better take it easy them
PC: I think I will. - diggerStaz, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7It's kind of funny, but this seems kind of relevant to your upbringing. My girlfriend is Korean but raised by white parents. I also have a cousin in the same situation. They both think that all Asians look alike. My Asian friends who were raised by Asian parents never think that all Asians look alike.
- magcius, on 10/12/2007, -4/+8Fill in the blank:
All _______ people look the same to me. - Matadon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I think they're called 'Japan Culture Lab'.
(I'd have to watch the videos to be sure, so that's just off the top of my head).
Not mega-famous, but not total unknowns, and yeah, I think they're pretty funny. - FHKE, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4There is no "R" sound in Japanese. It's kind of between "R" and "L."
- diggerStaz, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5I'm on a Mac using Firefox 2.0 and it won't work (just blank space where the ads should be). It works perfectly within Safari, though. I am able to stream mov files on other sites. My girlfriend is using 1.5 and having no issues. I think their JavaScript detection may be off. I tried disabling JavaScript but then it just has a static picture of the US Mac ad guys (kind of weird...because you're still on the Japanese page). Anyone else confirm this?
- idonthack, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6Main screen turn off
- mrASSMAN, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Why is everyone giving bad advice? It's due to adblock. It's blocking the video because the address contains "/ads/". Disable adblock to view it.
- Matadon, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5I'd never heard 'American Joke' before, and googling doesn't seem to turn up much -- is it 「アメリカ冗談」?
When I was first starting with Japanese, I found that I was always having to say 'Hiniku dayo' to my friends, and so I had to learn to tweak my sense of humor a bit so that it translates well. 'hiniku' is Japanese for 'sarcasm', so there's a word, and thus the concept clearly exists in the Japanese mindset. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5When your country is occupied by a foreign power for any significant length of time it's inevitable. Another good example is Hong Kong. Because it was a British colony for so many years, Cantonese is mixed with many English words (ga fei = coffee, ba si = bus, dik si = taxi). However, you don't see this in mainland China with Mandarin because it was never occupied by English speakers. :P
- crypticreign, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4did he say iRife?
- yoshitx, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4There is a picture of an old woman holding up a sign......
Seems General MacArthur was favored by the Japanese to win the US elections for president.
The sign read "Mr MacArthur we pray for your erection" (so did Mrs MacArthur)
More recently the McDonalds "I'm lovin it" ad campaign was confounded by the lack of V and B distinction .... It came out "I'm rubbin it." -
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