
This paper aims to analyze the Japanese advertisement found on the website Ads of the World . This ad promotes a product called “Toilet Quickle Deodorant Coat Sheet,” which is intended to help housewives get rid of unpleasant odor in the toilet. An analysis of this ad shows that it cannot be standardized for the US audience; instead, it should be adapted because of the language and cultural differences, such as variations in the use of appeal and comparisons and the importance of diversity.
Main body
Perhaps, the most apparent reason why this ad needs to be adapted to the US audience rather than standardized is the use of the Japanese language. In this ad, the Japanese language is used in the speech of the actors delivering the information to the customers and the signs on the screen. While the actor’s speech can simply be translated into English, the signs on the screen have to be adapted. This is because the Japanese language uses characters that appear much more compact than English words. Therefore, simply writing the Japanese words in English would change the layout of the images that support the information delivered by the speakers.
The next rationale for adaptation is that this ad is filmed in the format of a weather report familiar to Japanese housewives. In the US, the format for such programs is different to a certain extent, which means that this ad may appear less familiar to American housewives. The ad also shows such a common feature of Japanese etiquette as bowing, which is not used in the US and, therefore, should be removed when adapting the ad to the American audience.
The way the message is delivered in the Japanese and American cultures is also different, which further supports the need for adaptation rather than standardization. In particular, in Japan, advertisements use indirect communication to convey their messages and let the audience decide for themselves what they should think about the brand. This is because Japanese people, in contrast to Americans, have negative attitudes to hard-sell practices, so ads using direct communication would be ineffective in this country. In addition, Japanese ads do not tend to use comparisons. In contrast, US advertisements use direct communication to convey the brand value to the audience and often compare different brands in their campaigns, for example, in the advertising campaigns of McDonald’s and Burger King. The ad under review does not say explicitly that the advertised brand is the best in the market and does not make any comparisons; it only offers a brief explanation of what the product is used for. In order to adapt the ad to the US audience, advertisers should explicitly state their message about the value of the brand.
Furthermore, the advertisement needs adaptation rather than standardization because of the differences in the use of appeals in the US and Japan. Japanese advertisements appeal to the audience’s sentiment, while American advertisements appeal to logical reasoning. Thus, Japanese ads primarily contain images that invoke viewers’ emotions, whereas American ads use testimonies, logical arguments, and spokespeople to persuade people through rational explanations. The ad under review clearly depicts the peculiarities of Japanese culture in advertising. It does not cite any specific facts, such as what ingredients contribute to the elimination of odor or what specialists in the field of hygiene say about this product. Instead, it appeals to the audience’s emotions by targeting the pain point addressed by the advertised product – the unpleasant odor. In particular, the woman on the left represents a Japanese housewife who voices concerns similar to those that housewives all over Japan are supposed to have. While this approach may work in Japan, it can appear ineffective in the US because of the audience’s expectations of a logical explanation of why they need this product. To adapt this ad to American viewers, it can include facts supporting the effectiveness of the product.
One final reason for adaptation is the difference in the ethnic composition of the population in the US and Japan. Japan is a largely monoethnic country, meaning that the majority of its population is Japanese. Hence, it is completely acceptable for Japanese ads, including the ad under review, to feature only Japanese people. In the US, the ethnic and racial composition is much more diverse, and there is a recent trend to reflect this diversity in various media, including advertisements. Therefore, the adaptation of this advertisement to the US audience is necessary to reflect the different racial compositions of the US society and follow the rising trend for diversity in advertising.

In conclusion, the given ad cannot be standardized for the US because of significant differences between American and Japanese cultures and languages. Therefore, the ad should be adapted in terms of language, communication strategy, type of appeal, and racial representation. In particular, because of the different writing systems of the English and Japanese languages, the ad’s layout should be changed for a better appearance for the English-speaking audience. It should also contain more factual details about the product and can include testimonials and direct product comparisons.