This week, Japanese restaurant chain Gusto started running a new series of commercials. It features the above woman, a âhandsome foreign manâ as the chainâs website says, and two comedians. So, whatâs the problem?
The two Japanese comedians in the commercial, Ungirls, can be funnyâat times. For this spot, they are âdisguisedâ. This is a Japanese pun: âUngirlsâ is written as âAngaaruzuâ (ăąăłăŹăŒă«ăș) in Japanese, and they are disguised as âItaliangirlsâ, or âItariangaaruzuâ (ă€ăżăȘăąăłăŹăŒă«ăș) in the original Japanese.
In the commercial, the foreign woman sings a little jingle, asking with whom she is going to eat some Caponata. She picks the handsome foreign dude, instead of either member of the comedy group Ungirls. Part of the comedic schtick of Ungirls is that they are creepy and not popular with the ladies. Thatâs the gag. Apparently.
What makes this ad all the more baffling, is that both members of Ungirls seem to be wearing the infamous âHello Gaijin-sanâ disguiseâa disguise that some foreign residents in Japan have found offensive. Certainly, it is odd to go into a party supply store and see âforeignersâ being sold as a gag costume. Look, big nose! Blue eyes and blond hair! Iâm a foreigner! Hilarious
https://lastchance.cc/hey-foreigners-youre-a-party-joke-in-japan-30775537%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Granted, this kind of thing isnât a Japan-only phenomenon, as evident by this recent âMake Me Asianâ app. Americans might say, see this kind of stuff happens everywhere. It does! That doesnât make it okay. It makes it othering. It means that one groupâs physical features ends up being the joke in and of itself, reducing the gag to a gross exaggeration of how a group of people look. Thatâs it. Different eyes, nose sizes, hair color, so funny
You can watch the full commercial right here
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