AKB48′s notorious mouth-to-mouth feeding CM campaign has come under fire for everything from promoting the evils of female homosexuality to putting innocent children at risk of infection with horrible diseases.
The ads, considered by many tawdry and annoying even by AKB48 standards:
The BPO, Japan’s main and thankfully toothless TV watchdog, reports receiving a deluge of complaints about the ads, for once even outnumbering complaints about the evils of anime:
“Please stop these undignified ads. Passing food from mouth to mouth like that is most unhygienic, and gross to boot. Maybe this stuff makes their otaku fans happy, but having teenage girls in their underwear cuddle each other and ask ‘do you want to have a baby with me?’ is really unsettling. And you can’t avoid the ads because all the other shows pick them up…”
“Children might well copy this mouth passing! There are all kinds of microbes in your mouth, and it appears to be promoting homosexuality as well. These are ads for sweets, what is the meaning of this! It’s dirty, please stop it!”
“These sweet passing ads are just pointless. TV shows and advertising have a great deal of social influence on both children and society at large, these disgusting ones ought to be stopped!”
“My 2-year-old was watching when these sweet passing ads came on! It was absolutely shocking. My child didn’t know why these girls were kissing, and was quite upset by it, to say nothing of the difficulty I had explaining it. They shouldn’t show this around cartoons for children.”
“When I saw that ad I was really worried young kiddies might emulate it – and not just with sweets, but perhaps with an eraser, and end up swallowing it!”
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"“My 2-year-old was watching when these sweet passing ads came on! It was absolutely shocking. My child didn’t know why these girls were kissing"
Of course it didn't. It's two.
"and was quite upset by it"
No it wasn't. It's two.
"to say nothing of the difficulty I had explaining it."
I imagine you did have difficulty explaining it to someone who can't form sentences yet.
And how is passing someone food with your mouth less sanitary than kissing?
At the age of 2, the brain is too under developed to actually retain memory...the child wouldn't even have any recollection of this ever happening.
Not necessarily. It differs from person to person. Some people do have memories of things when they are babies, others do not.
I bet the kid saw the candies and got hungry, and was quite upset at not being fed. A 2 year old kid would understand two people wanting to eat the candy and sharing it mouth to mouth, more than understanding the act of two people kissing.
Still, I doubt the kid would be upset by it. He probably went "uh-huh" then went back to playing.
I remember as a kid I wondered why adults would get pissed off about their partners being with someone else, couldn't they just share? Kids that young probably don't have any deep understanding about romance and morality, they just know that when they do certain things, mommy gets angry.
2-year-old child
If promoting yuri is wrong, I don't want to be right.
yuri = win
I Agree. Yuri FTW!
The People who are "Outraged" are probably just still in the Closet.
While I don't exactly like they way they this ad was presented(I've seen far better lesbian kisses) it nonetheless befuddles me how Japan still lives in the dark ages.
"Children might copy this"? Seriously Japan? Grow up! Your nation has been ruled by neo-conservative, far-right old men for the past 50+ years. Wake the Fu%K up Japan! Your lack of any respect for your foreigners, naturalized citizens, minorities, and gays/lesbians is truly an embarrassment to world.
They object to encouraging babies. They can rip them away from their fantasies (like how they dealt with hikkikomoris oh wait) or they can try and lead them away with other subjects. Although at this current stage the ad would only increase an idol-otaku's infatuation with their idols. I am certain if they put enough brain power behind it they can lead otakus away with ads just like these. (Hikkikomoris again hmmm...)
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Meanwhile
2yr olds wouldn't think about it... and compared to other TV ads on Japanese TV, this is nothing.
Amen Sister.
But it's the right kind of homosexuality! It's not true that children turn lesbian out of example, if it was, I'd start handling yuri doujins around girl's schools.
(* just kidding Im pro gay too)
yuri is wrong! less woman for man :(
Dude, if she prefers boobs and vag00 you never had a shot with her anyway.
What? You think the reason you don't have a girlfriend is because the lesbians are taking them all?
THAT made my day...
you sir is genius!
true words
Naw, lesbians are ok as long as they are the ugly ones. When it's a hot, sexy woman it means one less hot and sexy women for us. Which is a crying shame. But let the ugly woman have the other ugly women. It's a win/win scenario!
Wow... Tell me again how you succeded in getting the world's most beautiful girl as your fiancée just by telling her these revolutionary ideas of yours, because I forgot it...
yuri is right as long they like the oppose too (you know what I mean!).
gay = hell no!
I like yaoi, so I understand you guys liking Yuri so I won't complaint or say anything bad about it but...
...I'm surprised to see that you can actually be that selfish. :/
What did you expect, almost all these so called yuri/lesbians fans are against any kind of homosexual relationships and gay marriage, yet its okay for them to fap to lesbians. Fucking hypocrites.
“When I saw that ad I was really worried young kiddies might emulate it – and not just with sweets, but perhaps with an eraser, and end up swallowing it!”
Seriously, an eraser? I mean seriously, swallowing an eraser? Seriously again, eraser instead of something edible? Why didn't these soccermoms ever think that having stupid kids like those actually have to do with their suckey parenting? If that's the case, we may as well ban any juice ads on TV, dreading that they may lead us to swallowing a tank of toxic waste.
To be frank the prudes are even more insane than the so-called pervs. The pervs like sex and often think about it. The prudes think about sex all the time and turn everything into a messed-up perverse sexual metaphor.
Not everyone who objects to something is a prude and not everyone who defends porno is a perv. That's presenting a false dichotomy. It's a logical fallacy. You can be normal, as most people are and not want stupid pseudo-porn next to childrens' TV shows. You can even be a perv and want that. Most people actually have this view.
Pseudo-porn? That? You're such a prude!
i think, prudent japanese are just... well. embarassingly stupid when trying to come up with reasons to ban or remove anything.
Aparrently, but why don't these retards stop yaoi before complaining about a lesbian kiss?
Nono, beware of microbes in the mouth. A foreign microbe will KILL ME!
Oh wait it's the one in your mouth. YA GONNA DIE!
No wait a second, it is not a foreign microbe in your mouth. It's a Microbe that's GONNA KILL YA!
Wait a second, if it was going to kill you, why aren't you dead yet? ... ...
Darwinism says if he swallowed an eraser, he deserves to die.
yup, let the stupid die off.
Actually it happens often enough. Aspiration of small objects by kids is a common problem in ERs. Srsly.
So they're just homophobes... No real issue here. Bigots with be bigots.
I think these ads promote more fapping than homosexuality.
But that is just my opinion.
Fuck them.
It looks hot.
Very, very hot :)
If they don't want to watch the commercial, they don't have to watch it. They can click away or turn off the TV. As for me, I DO WANT to watch it. Preferably on loop.
Amen brother, amen.
Exactly, if you don't like it, change the channel.
Nobody is forcing them to watch.
While it's true that no one's forcing them to watch, imagine you being a homophobic, watching T.V. and suddenly these kinds of ads come on. You're a good person, so you won't complain. You then switch the channel for a short while, wondering "Is it over yet?" countless of times.
...And when you switch the channel back, turns out you missed several seconds of the show you're watching. Iunno for you, but I'd be pissed.
Least' air them late at night? As long as it's past kid's bedtime.
WON'T SOMEBODY THINK OF THE HOMOPHOBES?!
" Maybe this stuff makes their otaku fans happy, but having teenage girls in their underwear cuddle each other and ask ‘do you want to have a baby with me?’ is really unsettling."
Lady, that should be taken as a thing of beauty.
"Children might well copy this mouth passing! There are all kinds of microbes in your mouth..."
uh... something that can't kill you in your mouth can kill me in my mouth? So kissing is deadly now? Also... "teenage girls in their underwear cuddle each other and ask ‘do you want to have a baby with me?’" ←WANT
Yes, you could be carrying something that you're completely immune to, but the person you kiss is highly susceptible to. Diseases can spread through oral contact, this is nothing new.
That being said, they're overreacting as usual. I do find passing stuff between mouths aspect quite disgusting, but the rest of it is A-OK by me!
Nobody should be deprived of an opportunity to build up their antibody.
Does want :D
and then those complainers go home and watch scat porn...
Ewwww cooooties!
Lol, I understand if they have a problem with the ad but using hygiene as an excuse is just terrible.
Actually mouth contains more microbes than anus. Human bites regularly cause amputations for septic joints. Google the medical literature.
Bites maybe, but to get ill from swapping spit, you would have to have an open wound in your mouth. And never brush your teeth. And take antibiotics to get rid of the good microbs in your mouth that are there to get rid of bad microbs.