What Mario Isn’t Telling You…
Do you remember the Friends episode where Joey Tribbiani poses for a health poster, but later finds out he’s become the V.D. poster boy?
VD, you never know you might have it.
Well, Japan’s largest adult video (AV) studio, Soft On Demand (SOD) (yeah, I know, the studio name is a story unto itself – I mean, if you are a porn subscriber then the name of the studio isn’t very inspiring), has been running their own campaign against sexually transmitted disease called “STOP! STD”.
The “STOP! STD” campaign is to bring attention to the rise of STDs in Japan and to increase the use of condoms. It features JAV stars like Nana Natsume, Saori Hara and Sasa Handa on large billboards sub-titled “STOP! STD”.
Some images from the campaign are below, but I really wonder what the actual message is supposed to be. Is it:
- An appeal from the porn star to protect her from contracting an STD
- The porn star has an STD but she is making an appeal for you to save yourself!
- A general public awareness message that assumes that porn stars are the most qualified to deliver
For the conspiracists out there, do you think that because the “STOP! STD” sub-title is in English and “STD” is not common Japanese vernacular, it is a message for dirty gaijin’s to stop embellishing in perverted sexual practices?
Nana Natsume 「夏目ナナ」
Saori Hara 「原紗央莉」
Sasa Handa 「範田紗々」
Image source: I Rub Your Brog
Soft On Demand: Does the logo imply “Soft-on On-demand” or “Soft-porn On-demand”? If I was in the market for their product, based purely on their name, I would be wondering.
For more safe sex education campaigning in Asia check out Taiwan’s safe sex education poster.
Porn Laundry Service
Safe Sex Education Poster
Poor Fitting Condoms
Top 15 Japanese Beer Girls
Shūkan Asahi and the MankiniComments are closed.
Well, with the wording being in English, and you’re statement that “STD” isn’t a term in common usage in Japan, you could construe this as an advertisement that was put together by someone with an agenda against English speaking foreigners. I.E., “Don’t give your sweet local cooter to those dirty white foreigners. They all have STDs, and we need more Japanese babies to stay in and repopulate the country.”
On the other hand, maybe the use of English is meant to draw attention, especially from younger generations who are more likely to understand, and who the campaign is targeted towards. The fact that it’s in English might make people stop to figure out what it says, and then that message will stick in their heads.
Thanks for dropping by Brad. I’m happy to be corrected on this one but from my small survey of native Japanese speakers, the term “STD” would not be understood by the mainstream Japanese. In saying that though, I was being slightly facetious with my statement that the campaign is directed at “dirty gaijin”.
I do like the angle that you propose about using English to draw attention and would even suggest one step further, and that is that it is also an education campaign aimed at trying to increase the usage of the acronym used for sexually transmitted diseases in the West. Hey, it’s a good start if we are all calling it the same thing, right?
It is amusing that they use Japanese Adult Video (JAV) stars. I can’t help but interpret the message as an appeal to protect the J-porn industry. It is like “These pretty faces have a job to do and it is getting harder for them to do it whilst you are out there propagating sexually transmitted infections. Stop spreading your STDs now and protect the JAVs from loss of jobs (literally and figuratively – excuse the pun)”