Kendo in commercial advertising

[Ares2907]

Hi all,
Just wondering what (non-martial-art related) products you have seen advertised using kendo. A friend told me about 'Tiger Beer' in Singapore using kendo in an ad campaign. I'm curious to see where else and for what else kendo has been used.
(if you can provide URL references, so much the better).
Cheers.

[Kenshi]

The world cup :

http://www.fiendish.com/hizen/archive/jefftv2002/

[cklin]

There was some weird Nike(? well, some sports shoe company) ad a few years ago on adcritic.com that had guys dressed up in kendo get-ups doing flying kicks and all sorts of silliness...

I don't think that ad ever made it to broadcast TV though.

[gill]

I saw an Asahi Beer advert in Taipei a few years ago, where the guy did kirikaeshi straight out the dojo and into the bar (so whats new...)

I beleive there is an up-coming car advert in Europe, as an advertising agency had held auditions for kendoka in the UK

Gill

[James R]

Volkswagon are running an advert on German television at the moment for thier Phaton car, you might catch it on Eurosport, if you still have access to analogue satallite it is being shown alot on DSF. It shows an attractive young woman training with an ageing Sensei, very well done indeed.

[iwatekenshi]

yeah they got tv ads here in Japan doing kendo. The last one that I saw was a instant ramen add. Just silly.
Last year they had another add with Leonardo DiCaprio doing kendo and losing to a women. He speaks some Japanese and it was amusing. I forgot what they were advertising. I think ramen again.
Also in music, Enigma had a video out two years ago with kendo and sex hmmmmm.......did anyone see that?

[iwatekenshi]

Oh about the Leonardo add. When they take off their men he finds out that he lost to a women. I guess that's supposed to be the joke. He's surprised and says "mairimashita. "

[inner_cent]

Alot of add with kendo, somehow I just feel offended.. does anyone feel the say ?? Probably just me .... sort fo not comfortable when people joke around with kendo :P ......

[KhawMengLee]

Oh about the Leonardo add. When they take off their men he finds out that he lost to a women. I guess that's supposed to be the joke. He's surprised and says "mairimashita. "


Maybe they should have been using Shinken's. I can see it now...

Leonardo with that arrogant self assured smug thinks he can whip this girl. So he opts to use a shinai to give her a chance.

Ho!Ho!Ho! How surprised is he when she disembowels him.

he says, "urk! kuso-o-ok..."

[AlexM]

Originally posted by inner_cent
Alot of add with kendo, somehow I just feel offended.. does anyone feel the say ?? Probably just me .... sort fo not comfortable when people joke around with kendo :P ......

I don't really mind when people joke around about kendo (hell, I don't even mind when people joke around during kendo). Can't take ourselves too seriously after all. But I understand what you mean: Moronic ad agency execs shouldn't be misapropriating kendo with their grubby little hands. Unfortunately having bad taste and being stupid is not against the law (I'd have been executed long ago if that were the case...).
BTW, the advert about the guy doing kirikaeshi right into a bar seems very, very funny (must think of that doing some time).

[Vagabond]

There were a chocolate advertising in Brazil in the 80's where two kendoka were playing kendo, take out their men and eat their chocolate. The problem was that they were not even sweating!
I watched black rain in tv some time ago, and noticed that in the kendo scene, nome made kiai. That was weird, the sound of the shinai hiting and the silence.

[Hyaku]

Originally posted by inner_cent
Alot of add with kendo, somehow I just feel offended.. does anyone feel the say ?? Probably just me .... sort fo not comfortable when people joke around with kendo :P ......

Sadly they do it a lot here in Japan with Kendo, Iai Sumo etc.

I always refuse to do anything for TV having been on a few times in what resulted in a melodramatic, amateurish program.

I got dragged into an NHK documentary earlier this year. Most of it ended on the cutting room floor but my bit was still in there! Sensei has watched the damn video a number of times since then to correct my mistakes with a vengeance

Hyaku

[James]

:beard: Last year in London there was a poster doing the rounds for Asahi Super Dry (or was it kirin?) where the bottle was being oppened by inserting the lid between bars of the mengane like a bottle oppener.
Strangely there were no men-himo on the men on - so I would guess that was done by a British Advertising agency.

I say don't be too upset about advertisers disrespecting kendo. It's advertising.

Good to know after doing kiri-kaeshi into the bar you can open your beer. just how to drink it?

[Ares2907]

James: Good to know after doing kiri-kaeshi into the bar you can open your beer. just how to drink it?


straw?

[mingshi]

Kendo and other Martial Arts shown in TV ads is quite different from what you see in films. In Kurosawa's films you know those guys are performing the proper Budo. In Hollywood films... they can be much mis-represented. Due to the nature of commerical ads on TV (i.e. selling products instead of story-telling), you'd rarely see a well-represented Budo.

Iwatekenshi mentioned the Leonardo one... which I can imagine, they've used a proper kendoka playing Kendo, and a jump-cut of him taking his Men off. So as to make his fans believe that he can do Kendo. Actually some Japanese (kids) take up Budo because some Pop stars practise Judo/Kendo etc. ON THEIR TV SERIES!! The Mass Media is one of the reasons why Martial Arts didn't die off.

In an Ad showing Kendo, no one is saying that "this is what Kendo really is about". For people who've learnt, it's easy to spot whether the actor/actress actually knows the Martial Art in an ad. Back in Hong Kong when I watch some stupid Kungfu movies with someone who knows Martial Arts, it's very entertaining to hear commentary all the way, like "hey that punch is so fake", "hey his footwork is so crap", etc etc.

If you're offended by their misrepresentation, why don't you fire back by making fun out of it?

BTW, my favourite Worldcup ad is the Pepsi Sumo one :)
http://www.pepsi-football.co.uk/sumo/

[Ares2907]

mingshi: Kendo and other Martial Arts shown in TV ads is quite different from what you see in films. In Kurosawa's films you know those guys are performing the proper Budo.



Er - no, no they are not.
They may have background in koryu bujutsu styles of one form or another, but movie budo is almost a seperate art unto itself.

More or less agree with the other stuff you said tho ;-)

[KhawMengLee]

Yeah, its like the old swash buckler fights in movies. They hit the swords rather than each other.

But I think samurai films there is a lot of careful choreography.


Just look at Sanjuro's big fight scenes where he duels up to 8 men. Or in the Lone Wolf series.

MENG

[James]

As Meng says, in the old swashbuckler movies the fighting is just arranged to propel the drama. If you read the autobiography of Aldo Nadi (probably best fencer that lived?) when he moved from Italy to America the thing that amazed him about sword films in America was that nearly every fight sequence had people fencing going up stairs. No one in their right mind would ever fence going up stairs, let's not even go to chandelier swinging.
This stuff is all just choreography. Same with Kurasawa, and I hate to break this to you Mingshi, but Yoda had a stunt double.
:bandit:

[James]

Err.. not to say that this choreography isn't beautiful, from Kurasawa to Johnny Woo, and what better way to compliment a pizza and a bru.

jd

[Darthchevy]

I cant and will not believe that Yoda had a stuntdouble.(he has the force on his side)

[KhawMengLee]

Yeh, his agent won't let him do his own stunts. Gotta protect your investment.

[olaf]

Somebody earlier mentioned the Nike kendo commercial - I saw this on some web site a while ago, and I'd say that this is the classic piece of kendo advertising...

Basically, a bunch of soccer players enter an abandoned building, only to be chased around by a batallion of kendo players wearing bogu, hakama, and SWEAT PANTS. The group is led by someone in RED BOGU. Also in sweat pants. The soccer players fight the kendo goons for possession of a special soccer ball, after which they manage to "kill" the red bogu fellow. His men falls off, and a robotic skeleton inside is revealed, reminiscent of the cyborg fellow in Terminator 2.

I couldn't find the commercial on the Ad-Critic that was mentioned...

[tetsuoxb]

As far as black rain is concerned... Kataoka sensei was the technical advisor for the Kendo scenes, as well as playing Masa's son...

I suspect that the lack of kiai was actually a sound thing.... kendo in a closed in dojo with lots of kiai would have been hell in post production.. but next time I send an email to sensei, I will ask him the story behind the filming of that scene.

[toreisu]

Originally posted by Ares2907
James: Good to know after doing kiri-kaeshi into the bar you can open your beer. just how to drink it?


straw?


funnel, more like...

[Sup]

Originally posted by James
hate to break this to you Mingshi, but Yoda had a stunt double.
:bandit:

nah, it was actually a squarrel spray-painted green
and they taped a techno-rave flourescent stick on its back and
made it jump all over the place.

It was the real Yoda only on those close up shots.

[mingshi]

Damn right. I still have problem explaining myself.

Err... What I said about "proper Budo" performed in Kurosawa's film... I meant to say that Sanjuro draws his sword in the right manner, does Chiburi etc. Not that I believe Sanjuro is actually performing some Battojutsu in ___ Koryu.

While in other improper ones, like that Nike ad, you'd see actors wearing Bogu with SWEAT PANTS (Olaf, do you mean with keikogi or hakama? I think I've seen that 2 years ago in the cinema...). Or that you'd see shinai still wrapped in red strings, or jerks throwing their saya away on drawing their swords. Improper Budo, that is. Showing the director's imcomplete research in the subject matter, showing his/her lack of seriousness, and most of all, disrespect.

Ways to spot stunts use in MA films are: a) Close-ups; b)Cross-cuts and c) Long static takes. That's why I also believe Yoda has a stunt double too... Why do you think that such a Jedi master will perform in person in a crappy Lucas film? Dear George can only afford a few seconds of his close-ups.

He's so cute when his grey hair gently moves on his nearly-bald oval-shape head..... :o

[chidokan]

We had the Nike one over in the U.K., amazingly stupid!! 22 sets of bogu.... I wonder who got them after the advert was finished?????

Tim

[JSchmidt]

"Showing the director's imcomplete research in the subject matter, showing his/her lack of seriousness, and most of all, disrespect."

Nah. 99.9999999% of the viewers wouldnt be able to tell the difference anyway and as such, the director/agency is showing no disrespect. Commercials is not about selling budo, but about selling a product..and they don't really care about upsetting a handful of fanatics, because they dont get the details right.
I could go on a loooong rant about commercial directors, but it wouldnt be about their incomplete research, nor lack of serioesness :D. (And trust me..I've worked with a fair share of them!)

Jakob

[James]

He's so cute when his grey hair gently moves on his nearly-bald oval-shape head.....
Thanks Mingshi, that makes me feel better:beard:

[saki_wooah]

about showing respect in commercials

they don't only do fake representations of kendo in their advertisement but of other sports too. Judo, Karate, Soccer, Hockey, Football, whatever the sport is. And do you really mind if they do fake things about soccer? Judo? Taekwondo? Karate? Kung-fu? Football? Hockey? Tennis? Baseball?etc...? I don't really care, but I think the producer have to ask a professional first and then do his ad. Nyway, every add go through a government agency of advertising before to get on screen (it should be, i don't know for other countries than Canada). If they say okay, it shouldn't be that ugly.

[Confound]

Advertising is a glorious world of crazy exaggerations and half-truthes. Having only seen a grand sum of zero kendou ads in my life, I can't comment on how it would make me feel to see kendou used in advertising, but i suspect it would be at first surprising, then amusing.

any publicity is good publicity.

c

[kendoplaya]

anybody see the mentos commercial. they have a kenshi hit men and he says "men". then there's a girl volleyball player saying "toss" andthey keep playin the scenes faster and faster and eventually it say mentos.

[Ben F.]

The only ad featuring martial arts that really annoyed me was a Gatorade ad with Michael Jordan and Mia Hamm. They are competing in various events, like soccer and basketball, running track etc., and then at one point they face each other in judo uniforms and BLACK BELTS. They then do this throw that my 4-year old could have done better. Grrr!

I actually wrote Gatorade and told them off for putting these two unqualified athletes in unearned black belts when their technique was SOOOO poor. They actually wrote back and apologized for their lack of sensitivity. I told them if they wanted to do a commercial with MA in it that I had the perfect one featuring a kendoka all mapped out in my head. Never got back to me on that one though. Oh well! I guess I wasn't meant for the limelight.

[Eldritch Knight]

I just saw this great ad in Japan for a noodle company that had kendo in it. They showed two guys doing kirikaeshi, yelling 'men, men, men', etc. Just as he finished, instead of showing his strike, they suddenly showed a pair of chopsticks holding a bunch of noodles. The punch line is that in japanese, the word for noodle is 'men'... I don't know if I explained that well... easier to see it

[kanyil]

just saw a redbull commercial that had kendo in it.

two guys were sizing each other up before the match and one whips out a can of redbull and "pours" the whole can over his head before donning the bogu.

he got men'd into the wall by the other guy right after the match started. the punchline? "you have to drink it (for it to work)".

[Andoru]

Bahahahahaha. Would love to see it! :D

[William Orbase]

anybody see the mentos commercial. they have a kenshi hit men and he says "men". then there's a girl volleyball player saying "toss" andthey keep playin the scenes faster and faster and eventually it say mentos.I actually saw that a while ago when I was in Japan. In any case, I remember a thread here which posted a music video with kenshi standing in a line, dressed up with a men, dou, and tare....and holding a bow...:confused2 ? Anyone remember that? There was also another music video...I forget but it was European. White room. A set of people doing kirikaishi? Kinda hazy...

[kendokamax]

The only ad featuring martial arts that really annoyed me was a Gatorade ad with Michael Jordan and Mia Hamm. They are competing in various events, like soccer and basketball, running track etc., and then at one point they face each other in judo uniforms and BLACK BELTS. They then do this throw that my 4-year old could have done better. Grrr!


Why can't they put Micheal Jordan doing judo? Its an ad..
It would be cool to see mario lemieux doing kendo ooh!!
I'm sure with some training he could kick my ass.

[Stimpson J. Cat]

I watched black rain in tv some time ago, and noticed that in the kendo scene, nome made kiai. That was weird, the sound of the shinai hiting and the silence.
I have never seen the whole movie (only caught pieces of it on TV once) and didn't see that scene, but it seems like it would also make it rather creepy, maybe its just because I am used to kiai, but a room full of people doing jikeiko in complete silence would weird me out. What were they doing? Kirikaishi or what?

[mingshi]

Hey, those in Hong Kong or Taiwan... have you seen the Andy Lau kendo ad on TV yet?

http://www.telford.com.hk/ch/tvc/taoti.htm
(top two)

ROTFLOL...

[Paikea]

He would appear at first to be at a disadvantage, missing bogu and all - but his supporting actress more than makes up for it by promptly falling upon her face.

Does she get a hansoku for that?

[Lloromannic]

Why can't they put Micheal Jordan doing judo? Its an ad..
It would be cool to see mario lemieux doing kendo ooh!!
I saw a sports programme here in Mexico about Shaquille O'Neal and it turns out he does Kendo, it featured him doing kirikaeshi (towering over everyone) and him saying that it helped him a lot with the timing and distance on basketball. It also showed his teammates saying how they thought it was weird and generally appear confused about his reasons.

[kendokamax]

Hey, those in Hong Kong or Taiwan... have you seen the Andy Lau kendo ad on TV yet?

http://www.telford.com.hk/ch/tvc/taoti.htm
(top two)

ROTFLOL...

hahaha these are amazings! Would have been funny if he would have gotten his nose eaten by the giraffe.

[Andoru]

lol why is he polishing his bokken? Music is quite catchy though.

[wickedhavoc]

lol why is he polishing his bokken? Music is quite catchy though.
I don't want to sound like a total pig, but are you trying to imply some thing with the polishing of his bokken..... no offence I hope.

[kanyil]

just saw a new ad involving kendo recently. it's for a brand of facial wash that targets athletic men. while kendo was only featured for a few seconds (amidst other manly sports such as baseball, rugby, swimming etc), it was quite nicely done. the ad features two kendokas striking each other's men at the same time.

[kanyil]

oh, and also some pretty boys (pale, slim, bleached long hair with tattoos on upper arms) came to our dojo to practice the other day. they were apparently preparing to start filming some kind of tv mini-series involving kendo. I would be interested to see how it turns out.

the best part was how their agent was constantly asking our senseis "how long do you think they'll be able to fake it well?" (obviously thinking 1 session should be enough).

[senki-kendo-jos]

There was this advert for instant ramen which had a couple of 5 year old kendoka in it... KAWAIIII ( the pigtails are warping my mind! Must get rid of them and find a less cute hairstyle! )