Japanese X100 ad.. wow!

[dovi]

Agree totally

Agree totally

The sheer variety of styles of photography in Japan is amazing. No avenue unexplored. Amazing creativity. totally awesome.

I think anyone who watches stray dog will see the commercial as a glamorized snippet of the movie.

Well, when you add the moriyama referencing, a multitude of streetscapes, a bittersweet or angsty tension toward life and modern society, copious black and white, a lot of grunge and street scenes, I personally translated that as being pretty obviously directed toward street photographers...

I may add that street photography in the purist form - black and white film/documentary style, is MUCH more popular in Japan and other parts of asia than it is currently in the western world. There is a large community of street photographers, both men and women that are extremely active in taking and showing street photography.

 

[Luna]

lol @ all the western commenters picking apart a FOREIGN commercial as if it was targeted towards them. But what do I know? Armchair Marketing CEOs got it down right.

 

[rxmd]

the ad sells smoke and mirrors rather than what seems to otherwise be an excellent product.

Well isn't that what ads are supposed to do? :angel:

I liked it, it's very well done. You may sympathise or not sympathise with the target audience, or with the straightforward appeal to a fashionable angsty aesthetic, but I think within these limits it's very well executed. I think as a viral ad to be spread among the target audience it could work very well.

I also like the images of cats and the backs of people. I'd like to think of them as tongue-in-cheek references to what people will actually take pictures of (but that might well be taking advertisers' sense of humour too far 😎).

 

[rxmd]

What I find interesting about these discussions is how Wikipedia makes it possible for everyone to be an expert, in this case on Moriyama.

(xkcd 903 "Extended Mind")

 

[Bill58]

Ya' gotta love the Japanese culture--no: bible thumpers, PC, or censors. Here in Korea all the scantily clothed women in ads are Russian models.

 

[DougFord]

LMAO, I was thinking almost the exact same thing.

Director: "No, No, No, CUT!!! Eat the trash as if you're HUNGRIER!!!. OK, TAKE 23!!!"

...try something more 'shadow of the vampire' like.
Since there's no sound, the director could be speaking his directions to the actor during the scene.
Director: Die!! Die!! You worthless piece of homeless trash! 😀😀😀😀

 

[peripatetic]

The naysayers are commenting as though they've missed the last 30 years of TV ads. When you advertise you can comment on the product (yawn - no one will buy it) or you can sell a lifestyle.

If you are (or would like to be again) an angst-ridden sexy hip dude who is cool enough to have sex with beautiful tatoo-covered women (and make them really dig it), if you see your city (or as a metaphor your life) through desaturated time lapse shots from a high-rise, if you can move through the streets bold and brave finding beauty in old women and young, connecting with homeless madmen, if you can indulge your voyeurism and make art from your perversions, then this is the camera for you.

Of course it only applies to how you would like to imagine yourself, not how you are. I used to be a bit like that in my twenties; now I have a wife and kids, a mortgage, a lawn that needs mowing, a dog, and a job I hate. It's actually a much better life than the weird angsty stuff.

But I also have an X100 and it makes me feel cool.

Needless to say I loved the ad. Not only did Fuji make this camera just for me, it seems they made the ad just for me too.

 

[Mister E]

Yeah, certainly NSFW.

 

[littlefields]

Love all the Moriyama references here, but he shoots with a Ricoh GRDIII. This ad's content is more along the lines of Nobuyoshi Araki (with a little Tommy Oshima and Hisaji Hara thrown in for good measure). Anyway, an interesting and well-done advert.

 

[bigeye]

The naysayers are commenting as though they've missed the last 30 years of TV ads. When you advertise you can comment on the product (yawn - no one will buy it) or you can sell a lifestyle.

If you are (or would like to be again) an angst-ridden sexy hip dude who is cool enough to have sex with beautiful tatoo-covered women (and make them really dig it), if you see your city (or as a metaphor your life) through desaturated time lapse shots from a high-rise, if you can move through the streets bold and brave finding beauty in old women and young, connecting with homeless madmen, if you can indulge your voyeurism and make art from your perversions, then this is the camera for you.

Of course it only applies to how you would like to imagine yourself, not how you are. I used to be a bit like that in my twenties; now I have a wife and kids, a mortgage, a lawn that needs mowing, a dog, and a job I hate. It's actually a much better life than the weird angsty stuff.

But I also have an X100 and it makes me feel cool.

Needless to say I loved the ad. Not only did Fuji make this camera just for me, it seems they made the ad just for me too.

Well said.

 

[ferider]

The naysayers are commenting as though they've missed the last 30 years of TV ads. When you advertise you can comment on the product (yawn - no one will buy it) or you can sell a lifestyle.

If you are (or would like to be again) an angst-ridden sexy hip dude who is cool enough to have sex with beautiful tatoo-covered women (and make them really dig it), if you see your city (or as a metaphor your life) through desaturated time lapse shots from a high-rise, if you can move through the streets bold and brave finding beauty in old women and young, connecting with homeless madmen, if you can indulge your voyeurism and make art from your perversions, then this is the camera for you.

Of course it only applies to how you would like to imagine yourself, not how you are. I used to be a bit like that in my twenties; now I have a wife and kids, a mortgage, a lawn that needs mowing, a dog, and a job I hate. It's actually a much better life than the weird angsty stuff.

But I also have an X100 and it makes me feel cool.

Needless to say I loved the ad. Not only did Fuji make this camera just for me, it seems they made the ad just for me too.

And it only cost you US 1200. 🙂

The add is certainly well done. Identifying with it and buying the camera because of it is another story.

 

[peripatetic]

Well no-one buys anything because of an ad.

All it's supposed to do is alert people who may not know about it enough to pique their interest and/or create a product image that people can identify with.

People keep forgettting that this camera was conceived almost entirely for the Japanese market, and it's reception has taken Fuji completely by surprise. It could never sell a single unit outside Japan and still be a commercial success for Fuji, who have a history of making a decent profit out of niche small-production-run cameras over the years.

 

[emraphoto]

damn, silly ad made me go buy one (insert apropos smily or sad face).

for the record i do photograph homeless folks, sometimes drink cheap beer under bridges with them and prefer Welbutrin to Prozac. helps ratchet up the 'angst'.

 

[mrware]

The sheer variety of styles of photography in Japan is amazing. No avenue unexplored.

I think I agree with this after seeing all the cardboard box Amazon robot figure photos in Flickr.

 

[back alley]

damn, silly ad made me go by one (insert apropos smily or sad face).

for the record i do photograph homeless folks, sometimes drink cheap beer under bridges with them and prefer Welbutrin to Prozac. helps ratchet up the 'angst'.

go and bUy one?
really?

 

[Keith]

I can't believe some of the naive comments being made about this ad and the motivation behind advertising in general.

Even an ad that you hate is going to create a product awareness that buries itself in your subconscious. The fact that this ad has generated eighty odd posts here quite quickly indicates to me that the agency that created it got it right!

 

[Field]

The fixed lens is what kills it for me. It turns it into more of a toy to me. (a really good picture producing toy).

Oh... and no lens hood? !

 

[emraphoto]

go and bUy one?
really?

yup. went and bought one. haven't put it to work yet and i will spare you all the cat/dog/flower/desk business. maybe in a few days i will have my thoughts and images collected.

 

[back alley]

yup. went and bought one. haven't put it to work yet and i will spare you all the cat/dog/flower/desk business. maybe in a few days i will have my thoughts and images collected.

this is not good for my will power...not good at all!

 

[koven]

this is not good for my will power...not good at all!

Not everyone's first language is English.