#im unsure if this counts under it since the terms are kinda vague

[argumentl]

The Freedom of Expression Ep 48 - Nike CM inundated with criticism.

K: Hi, this is Dir en grey's Kaoru, with this week's episode of The Freedom of Expression. Joe san, Tasai san, welcome. Ok, lets get started, Joe, if you please.

J: Yes, uh, last week's episode...the first episode of the year, we were talking about poo, haha. It shows what a wide scope this show has. This week I have some more serious news. This was quite a talking point back in December, I think many people will already be aware of it. Its the news about the Nike commercial which recieved an avalanche of complaints. The promotional video made by Nike Japan, 'Keep moving - yourself - the furure. The Future isn't Waiting' has taken a lot of criticism. The view count on youtube had reached a million views as of last December, but at the same has recieved a lot of negative comments thought to be from Japanese users. The majority of these seem to be from online right-wingers saying things like, 'Racist discrimination is extremely rare in Japan (This cm is outrageous)',  'There is no discrimination against Koreans in Japan, even if there was there would be a reason for it', 'Nike is anti-Japan, Im not buying from there any more', 'Are Nike aware that the Association of Korean residents in Japan (Chongryon) were involved in the abuductions of Japanese people?' etc. Incidentally, there are 3 young people who appear in the commercial mainly. One of them appears to be a Korean resident of Japan. She is shown walking the streets looking down, while wearing Chima jeogori, and also being bullied at school, likely due to her ethnicity. The online anti-Korean, right wing Japanese sphere are thought to dislike this depiction. To summarise, their reaction to this CM has been to say it shows contempt for Japan, by suggesting that Japan is following the same kind of trend as the West in terms of discrimination, even though Japan hardley has any discrimination compared to the West (they think)....

So I checked out this cm as soon as it became news, and the first thing I thought is that these kinds of comments have kinda missed the point. The second thing I thought was in regards to the claim that anti-Korean discrimination is extremely rare in Japan. I personally have quite a few Korean-Japanese friends, and they have said that since they were small, throughout school, they have faced discrimination. Well, discrimination isn't a uniquely Japanese thing, many countries also have discrimination. Im not saying we are the only ones who have it, but I am at least very aware that, even in Japan, discrimination does exist. Well, I mean, how should we interpret this CM?

T: As for the meaning, I get that it shows there is discrimination, but after that it must somehow be related to sports, being Nike?

J: Yeh, so when you see these young people in the CM suffering discrimination, they are each doing different sports. Its like, if you excell at your sport, you can change your own future, kinda. A message like, even though there is discrimination, if you find your calling, you can change the world with it.

T: I see.

J: Kaoru, what do you think?

K: Well, even with that, its definitely not wrong.  *1

J: Yeah, as for Nike, they must have made it this way deliberately. They made a Korean resident of Japan the protagonist on purpose, so they are trying to put out the message of 'lets stop this kind of discrimination'. And with sports, surely...well, its not limited to sports, if there is anything that someone really excells at, they can overcome discrimination with that, and create something new. I think thats the message of this CM. But..

K: Its a bit difficult to get that message across.

J: Well, yeah...

K: To get that across as the point.

T: Yeah.

J: Hmm, yeh. Another thing I was unsure about was the response from the mass media. When this kind of news appears, they use the phrase 'the cm is under fire/recieved a backlash'. But as far as I could see, I had a look at the comments, they seemed a lot more like false accusations, or like harassment. So if you use that to say the CM is under fire, it makes it seem like the fault lies with the CM. All I could see was harassment from the right-wing. And its probably not a lot of people writing this stuff. Its more likely to be a few people from one group doing it. So I thought it was a bit wrong of the media to present the issue as if the CM is under fire, as this makes it seem like the problem it the CM itself. It seemed to me like just a lot of false accusation.

K: Hm, well, they made this CM, knowing it would be an easy target for accusations. So, its kinda hard to see what their aim was with this.

J: Yeah, I see.

T: For example, if they had made the protagonist a really famous sports star, it might have been easier to get the point across..with their story. But because the CM features these 3 kinda abstract characters, the meaning gets a bit vague.

K: Yeah, yeah, I agree. Im not entirely sure what they are trying to say with this.

J: I see, yeh. You think there is room for criticism in that sense?

K: Im not sure about criticism, but for the CM itself, I wasn't sure what they were saying, although Im sure there are people who understand the meaning of it.

J: So as of now, the CM has not been shut down, so if anyone wants to watch it, they still can if they are interested. If any of the viewers have any thoughts on it, please leave a comment on this video.

T: Yeah, they are definitely not showing off their shoe performance with this CM. Though their specific goal isn't obvious, I reckon this is fine. If it starts debate, then its good.

K: Well, yeah, if it creates the opportunity for debate, then its good.

Kami: Um, there is a lot to debate about this cm, but Nike shoes are cool, right?

J: Ah, he joined us.

Kami: Do you guys all have Nike shoes?

T: Yeah, I do.

K: I do.

J: Ahh, I havn't bought any Nike shoes recently.

T: I've always worn Nike. The basketball one's, Jordans.

K: Oh, I have those too.

J: Are they like the low-tech ones?

K: What do you mean by low-tech?

J: Like, not the Air Max type.

T: Well, yeah, they don't have air in them.

J: Right.

Kami: No, the Air Max ones are good.

J: He likes Air Max, haha.

Kami: The Air Max ones are easy to get on, and you don't get tired. Is it different for you guys?

K: No, well, they're ok yeh. Haha. I can't deny that.

J: Right, yeh. Kami, you are a fan of the Air Max ones?

Kami: Yeah.

T: People used to go hunting for Air Maxes, do you remember?

J: Oh, yeah, they did.

T:...when they were really popular, in the 90s. Kami probably bought some of them then.

Kami: I did, I did.

J: You hunted for them?

Kami: No, I didn't hunt for them.

J: Imagine Kami going hunting for Air Maxes.

Kami: I didn't hunt for them. I just bought them normally.

J: Ah, ok. Haha, if you did you wouldn't be a god at all.

Kami: You can only get them through lottery these days, right?

K: Yeah.

J: Oh, really?

K: Yeah, the popular ones. Airmax, and other types like Jordans.

J: Oh, right.

Kami: I don't buy those types though.

J: Oh, you don't buy those?

Kami: No.

J: Ahh, you just buy the normal ones, without lining up or doing a lottery and stuff?

Kami: Yes.

T: There are some that cost a huge amount of money. Collaboration items and stuff.

J: Ehh.

Kami: I shop in Shibuya ABC Mart.

K: There was a collaboration with Dior.

J: Nike collaborated with Dior??

K: Yeah, they are about ¥1million yen.

J: Ehhh??

T: Yeah, they are.

J: Ehh? Its not even leather.

Kami: Shibuya ABC store is good!

J: Hahaha

K: Ahh, yeh, its good.

J: Of course, right? Kami, do you shop there?

Kami: Yeah, cause they have a lot in there.

K: Haha, yeah...ABC does.

J: It does, yeh.

Kami: You can buy whenever you like.

J: Well, yes, thats true. I havn't bought any sneakers recently though.

K: You don't have that kind of image.

J: Thats right, I don't. I usually buy leather shoes.

K: Dr Martens?

J: Yeah, Dr Martens. I worked with Dr Martens last year. Would love to again this year!

K: Should we all go out and buy some? haha

J: To ABC Mart? haha

Kami: I also buy them on Amazon.

J: Eh?!

K: I bought some on Amazon just earlier

J: Oh, you buy them on Amazon?

T: Aren't there a lot of rip offs on Amazon?

J: Hm, are there?

T: I had a look on there before to see if there were any Air Maxes, and there were complete rip off versions going for as cheap as ¥2000. When its normally ¥12000, thats cheap. When you look, its not actually Nike, but 'Ni-kay' or something.

J: There are rip offs of Dr Martens like that too. They look exactly the same but super cheap. I saw two pairs going for ¥5000. They were so cheap, I bought them, and when they arrived they were no good at all. They looked the same as the real thing, but they leather was artificial..I thought, 'Aghh!'.

K: These days even brands are making things like copycat products, aren't they?

J: Yeah, yeah. Like putting out fake versions as the real product. Thats also interesting, its like a totally different approach. It has an effective punch, 'Fake!'.

K: Well, anyway, is that about it?

J: Yep.

K: Thank you for watching this week too. Please subscribe.

*1 Not entirely sure I've got that right.

Back to top

#dir en grey #the freedom of expression #tfoe #kaoru #薫 #nike