And now, time for a word from our sponsors.

[shadowspar]

Have I ever mentioned how much I like Japanese Beer Commercials? Actually, I shouldn't go so far as to say that. I don't actively dislike them like the ones we have here in North America. Why? Because almost without exception, they don't follow the Western Beer Commercial Standard: Guy in a Bar with Hot Women Draped All Over Him, or some other formulation that clearly shouts "Drink our swill and you'll get laid, stud."

Now, this isn't to say that the Japanese breweries don't engage in other kinds of stupid/sexist marketing, or even that their commercials don't have problems in other ways, but the fact remains: Japanese mass-produced beer is no better than North American mass-produced beer, yet they still manage to sell boatloads of it without Swooning Sexy Babes in their TV spots. I'm sure if you told North American beer execs this their heads would explode, but it's true. Here's a typical example:

A more laid-back specimen:

I can't seem to find my favourite one; it featured a guy chopping wood in an exaggeratedly comic way, clearly showing how hard he was working at this sweaty, tiring job. He managed to get through one piece, then stopped for a beer.

This one is almost as good:

Contrast this with a typical bullshit commercial from Molson:

I won't even link to one of the Guinness spots I found.

Yeah, taste isn't the only reason I don't buy North American macrobrewed beer.

Comments

[br3nda]

that bugs me about NZ beer adverts is that, although women feature in the adverts, often doing the same activity as the men, they never get to drink the beer.

[br3nda]

a fairly decent advert from New Zealand: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qamQyzJ1Knw
i guess there's hope.