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あいさつするたび ともだちふえるね The more we say hi, the more we can make friends.

About

Greeting Are Magic (Japanese : あいさつの魔法。, "Aisatsu no Maho.") is a public service announcement launched by Advertising Council (AC) Japan to encourage youths in using proper greetings in their daily life. Specifically targeting grade school students with cute animal mascots that also serve as puns for the greetings, this highly optimistic TV commercial became a subject of online mockeries after it was heavily broadcast following the earthquake disasters in early March 2011.

Origin

AC Japan's PSA

The "Greetings Are Magic" ad campaign was first launched in July 2010 by AC Japan, a nonprofit organization that runs PSA commercials to raise awareness on various social issues and agendas (ex: prevention of bullying in schools, acting kindly towards the pregnant and elders, etc).

Hello! (KonnichiWan!) = Konnichiwa (Good afternoon) + Wan(Bowwow / Dog)
Thank you! (ArigatoUsagi!) = Arigatou (Thank you) + Usagi (Rabbit)
Good evening! (KonbanWani!) = Konbanwa (Good evening) + Wani (Crocodile)
Good bye! (SayonaRaion!) = Sayonara (Good bye) + Raion (Lion)

Fun-loving friends suddenly appear by the magic of greeting words! (POPOPOPON)

Good morning! (OhayoUnagi!) = Ohayou (Good morning) + Unagi (Japanese Eel)
Let's eat! (ItadakiMausu!) = Itadakimasu (Let's eat) + Mausu (Mouse)

The more we say hi, the more we can make friends.
AC~ [Sound Logo]

AC Japan's Greetings PSA has become also recognizable by its cutesy chorus line, which has been turned into the onomatopoeic catchphrase "POPOPOPON" (Japanese : ぽぽぽぽーん or ポポポポ~ン).

2011 Tōhoku Earthquake and Tsunami Disaster

On March 11th, 2011, an unprecedented scale of earthquakes, tsunami and nuclear power plant accident struck the nation of Japan. Unequivocally affected by this horrible disaster, many Japanese companies decided to withdraw their commercials from regular TV broadcast and had them substituted with AC Japan's public service announcements.

よりよい社会をめざす 民間の広告ネットワーク JAPAN

The emergency broadcast of PSAs began around March 14th, heavily taking over the Japanese television. Unfortunately, many of them weren't quite suitable for a time of disaster, as they typically featured happy, upbeat music with smiling animated characters. Annoyed by their inappropriate nature, many Japanese viewers filed complaints and even threats to the TV stations, ultimately leading AC Japan to issue an official apology and promise revision to the clips[1].

「東北地方太平洋沖地震」にあたって ACジャパンのCM放送についてのお詫びとお知らせ (社) ACジャパン この度、 東北地方太平洋沖地震で被災された皆樣、 ご關係老の惱樣には踵んでお見舞い申し上げます 現在、民放テレヒ·ラジオ各局において、震災の殺遭の合間にACジャパンのCMが多数放送されておりま す これらのCMは、ACジャパンの会員社である放送各局でA Cジャパンが制作した公共広告を放送していただ くためにご提供し、放送ーのご判断で必要と思われた場合にお使いいただく広告素材です 未會有の大 擇となったこの度のことを受けて、多くの企赏がCMの放送を自粛され、ACジャパンのCMが 放送されることになりました。これらのCMはかならずしも非常時に対応できるようには作られておりませ ん。そのため、視聴者の訾樣に大変ご不快な思いをおかけほしたことを、心より深くお託び申し上げ す 現在, ACジャパンでは、「東北地方太平洋沖地農」で被災された方々を応援する駟骿ャンペーンCMを企 ·制作中でございます 欲地の方々におかれましては、一日も早い徨旧がなされ パンでは広告活動左通して女擅活動苞続けていく所存でございます 皆樣には、何卒ご理解をいただきたくお願い申し上げ訂: ますことをお祈りいたしますとともに. ACジャ

Spread

Media Coverage

AC Japan's unintentional faux pas was soon picked up by the Japanese news media and online news sites[2][3][4][5][6][7], as well as an English article by Wall Street Journal[8] on March 21st. Eventually, as the month passed with the Japanese people's everyday life on the recovery, the campaign was turned into a laughingstock on the web and a popular subject of video parodies and image tributes.

Online Popularity

The remix fad based on the PSAs began on the Japanese internet on March 17th. On Nico Nico Douga, over 600 MAD movies, music remixes, parodies and other fan-fictions were posted within its first week[9][10]. And many of them were reproduced to YouTube[11].

pixiv, a social networking platform for illustrators, also jumped in aggressively, producing over 1,500 user-generated illustrations in the first week[12] and accumulating over 1.2 million views in a single day[13].

The phenomenon was subsequently reported by several online news sites[14][15][16].

いってきます
ヒバクマ

Finally, "Popopopon" got the gold prize of Japanese internet buzzword contest in December of that year.[17]

Examples

Music Remixes

For more musical remixes, check out the videos section.

- BUBBLE-B feat. Enjo-G (3 million+ views): They were important members of "Nerdcore" the Japanese underground techno music movement in late 1990's.

- 8bit Remix

- Hardcore Techno Remix

MADs and Parodies

- A.C.あいさつは魔法の言葉なのか?最終鬼畜ポポポポーン・P (See also : U.N.Owen was her? and Tohou Project)

- 【完成版】POPOPO PONE【AC×RED ZONE】(See also : RED_ZONE)

- ACのあのCMに修造が乱入したようです (See also : Shuzo Matsuoka)

Illustrations

Fan Art

こんにちワン りがとウ (ウサギ イオ


ありがとウサギ

Moe anthropomorphism

(See also : Moe)

いただきマウス

dgスカンク+
ばAh·ス
Grood Morning Thank You

NH)ますか) 衷すみなさい i) rぞうさmr、す いたにきまうす おはようなぎ 冫んにち54 ありがとう) ただいま
PO-M あいさつするたびともだちふえるね

> 4 える。 るた ねぴ 0 0

Remixes & Mashups

The Beatles
Sonic The Hedgehog
Happy Tree Friends

Castle in the Sky (Laputa))
Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Miku Hatsune, Rin&Ren Kagamine from Vocaloid

Sub-meme: Hard-line Armored Empire

On March 21st, A NND user Shimon(しもん) posted this ArigatoUsagi's super robot style (like Brave series or Eldran series) transforming video named "Great ArigatoUsagi" (5 million+ views).

This cool handmade animation inspired many other NND users to contribute to a subjoke known as "Hard-line Armored Empire – Armored Chrysanthemum" (Japanese : 攻強皇國機甲 – Koukyou Koukoku Kikou -). This is nothing but a phonetic equivalent. its pronunciation is same to AC Japan' previous name. "Chrysanthemum" comes from the seal of imperial Japan.

People soon started fantasizing Great ArigatoUsagi's anime program, transforming other animals to super robot as well and making fake storyboard that they fight against the huge crisis in Japan[18].

Over 300 movies and illustrations were posted to NND[19] and Pixiv[20][21] in 3 weeks. This birth of new robot hero on the internet was reported by several Japanese[22][23] and Taiwanese[24] news site.

Videos

King SayonaRaion (+2.9 million views)

Compilation

Search Interest

External References

[1] AD Council Japan – Apology and announcement for AC Japan's broadcasting at "2011_Tōhoku_earthquake_and_tsunami"

[2] Getnews.jp – AC Japan Apologizes for Commercial Broadcasts / 03-17-2011

[3] ZAKZAK – AC Flooded With Commercial Complaints … And Advertising Space Was Not Purchased?! / 03-17-2011

[4] J-Cast News – "What is AC?" Commercials Playing to Death During Earthquake Specials 03-17-2011

[5] Sankei Sports – AC Apologizes for Increasing Commercials, Complaints About Repetition / 03-18-2011

[6] Seachina News – AC Japan Apologizes for Airing Repetitive Commercials, Moves to Make a Temporary Replacement Commercial / 03-21-2011

[7] Slashdot.jp – AC Changes Commercial Content / 2011-03-21

[8] Wall Street Journal – Advertising Council Japan TV Commercials Driving Viewers Mad / 03-31-2011

[9] Nico Nico Douga – Search results for あいさつの魔法。 (Greetings are Magic)

[10] Nico Nico Pedia – あいさつの魔法。 (Greetings are Magic)

[11] YouTube – Search results for あいさつの魔法。 (Greetings are Magic)

[12] Pixiv – Search results for あいさつの魔法。 (Greetings are Magic)

[13] Pixiv encyclopedia – あいさつの魔法。 (Greetings are Magic)

[14] ITmedia Gamez – For Those of You That Can't Get Enough Popopopo~n, A Button That Lets You Popopopo~n All You Like / 03-22-2011

[15] Impress Internet Watch – Remaking The Famous Commercial "Popopopo~n" Is A Popular Fad / 03-22-2011

[16] Getnews.jp – Everyone, "Let's All "Popopopo~n!" Magical Greetings are Hot / 03-24-2011

[17] ITmedia – Internet Buzzword Contest 2011: The Gold Prise is "Popopopon". "Iine!", "Dah Sieryesu" also ranked. 12-01-2011

[18] Nico Nico Pedia – 攻強皇國機甲 (Hard-line Armored Empire)

[19] Nico Nico Douga – Search results for 攻強皇國機甲 (Hard-line Armored Empire)

[20] Pixiv encyclopedia – 攻強皇國機甲 (Hard-line Armored Empire)

[21] Pixiv – Search results for 攻強皇國機甲 (Hard-line Armored Empire)

[22] ITmedia – Too addicted to Popopopon ? ArigatoUsagi's anthropomorphic figurine was also made / 03-25-2011

[23] J-Cast News – ArigatoUsagi in AC advert is transformed into a giant robot /03-29-2011

[24] techbang.com.tw – Does it comfort Japan after disaster ? : Hard-line Armored Empire's spoof animation / 04-06-2011



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Greetings Are Magic / あいさつの魔法。

Greetings Are Magic / あいさつの魔法。

Updated Apr 15, 2014 at 03:24PM EDT by Brad.

Added Mar 22, 2011 at 03:42PM EDT by mona_jpn.

PROTIP: Press 'i' to view the image gallery, 'v' to view the video gallery, or 'r' to view a random entry.

あいさつするたび ともだちふえるね The more we say hi, the more we can make friends.

About

Greeting Are Magic (Japanese : あいさつの魔法。, "Aisatsu no Maho.") is a public service announcement launched by Advertising Council (AC) Japan to encourage youths in using proper greetings in their daily life. Specifically targeting grade school students with cute animal mascots that also serve as puns for the greetings, this highly optimistic TV commercial became a subject of online mockeries after it was heavily broadcast following the earthquake disasters in early March 2011.

Origin

AC Japan's PSA

The "Greetings Are Magic" ad campaign was first launched in July 2010 by AC Japan, a nonprofit organization that runs PSA commercials to raise awareness on various social issues and agendas (ex: prevention of bullying in schools, acting kindly towards the pregnant and elders, etc).



Hello! (KonnichiWan!) = Konnichiwa (Good afternoon) + Wan(Bowwow / Dog)
Thank you! (ArigatoUsagi!) = Arigatou (Thank you) + Usagi (Rabbit)
Good evening! (KonbanWani!) = Konbanwa (Good evening) + Wani (Crocodile)
Good bye! (SayonaRaion!) = Sayonara (Good bye) + Raion (Lion)

Fun-loving friends suddenly appear by the magic of greeting words! (POPOPOPON)

Good morning! (OhayoUnagi!) = Ohayou (Good morning) + Unagi (Japanese Eel)
Let's eat! (ItadakiMausu!) = Itadakimasu (Let's eat) + Mausu (Mouse)

The more we say hi, the more we can make friends.
AC~ [Sound Logo]


AC Japan's Greetings PSA has become also recognizable by its cutesy chorus line, which has been turned into the onomatopoeic catchphrase "POPOPOPON" (Japanese : ぽぽぽぽーん or ポポポポ~ン).

2011 Tōhoku Earthquake and Tsunami Disaster

On March 11th, 2011, an unprecedented scale of earthquakes, tsunami and nuclear power plant accident struck the nation of Japan. Unequivocally affected by this horrible disaster, many Japanese companies decided to withdraw their commercials from regular TV broadcast and had them substituted with AC Japan's public service announcements.


よりよい社会をめざす 民間の広告ネットワーク JAPAN

The emergency broadcast of PSAs began around March 14th, heavily taking over the Japanese television. Unfortunately, many of them weren't quite suitable for a time of disaster, as they typically featured happy, upbeat music with smiling animated characters. Annoyed by their inappropriate nature, many Japanese viewers filed complaints and even threats to the TV stations, ultimately leading AC Japan to issue an official apology and promise revision to the clips[1].


「東北地方太平洋沖地震」にあたって ACジャパンのCM放送についてのお詫びとお知らせ (社) ACジャパン この度、 東北地方太平洋沖地震で被災された皆樣、 ご關係老の惱樣には踵んでお見舞い申し上げます 現在、民放テレヒ·ラジオ各局において、震災の殺遭の合間にACジャパンのCMが多数放送されておりま す これらのCMは、ACジャパンの会員社である放送各局でA Cジャパンが制作した公共広告を放送していただ くためにご提供し、放送ーのご判断で必要と思われた場合にお使いいただく広告素材です 未會有の大 擇となったこの度のことを受けて、多くの企赏がCMの放送を自粛され、ACジャパンのCMが 放送されることになりました。これらのCMはかならずしも非常時に対応できるようには作られておりませ ん。そのため、視聴者の訾樣に大変ご不快な思いをおかけほしたことを、心より深くお託び申し上げ す 現在, ACジャパンでは、「東北地方太平洋沖地農」で被災された方々を応援する駟骿ャンペーンCMを企 ·制作中でございます 欲地の方々におかれましては、一日も早い徨旧がなされ パンでは広告活動左通して女擅活動苞続けていく所存でございます 皆樣には、何卒ご理解をいただきたくお願い申し上げ訂: ますことをお祈りいたしますとともに. ACジャ

Spread

Media Coverage

AC Japan's unintentional faux pas was soon picked up by the Japanese news media and online news sites[2][3][4][5][6][7], as well as an English article by Wall Street Journal[8] on March 21st. Eventually, as the month passed with the Japanese people's everyday life on the recovery, the campaign was turned into a laughingstock on the web and a popular subject of video parodies and image tributes.

Online Popularity

The remix fad based on the PSAs began on the Japanese internet on March 17th. On Nico Nico Douga, over 600 MAD movies, music remixes, parodies and other fan-fictions were posted within its first week[9][10]. And many of them were reproduced to YouTube[11].

pixiv, a social networking platform for illustrators, also jumped in aggressively, producing over 1,500 user-generated illustrations in the first week[12] and accumulating over 1.2 million views in a single day[13].

The phenomenon was subsequently reported by several online news sites[14][15][16].


いってきます ヒバクマ


Finally, "Popopopon" got the gold prize of Japanese internet buzzword contest in December of that year.[17]

Examples

Music Remixes

For more musical remixes, check out the videos section.

- BUBBLE-B feat. Enjo-G (3 million+ views): They were important members of "Nerdcore" the Japanese underground techno music movement in late 1990's.



- 8bit Remix



- Hardcore Techno Remix



MADs and Parodies

- A.C.あいさつは魔法の言葉なのか?最終鬼畜ポポポポーン・P (See also : U.N.Owen was her? and Tohou Project)



- 【完成版】POPOPO PONE【AC×RED ZONE】(See also : RED_ZONE)



- ACのあのCMに修造が乱入したようです (See also : Shuzo Matsuoka)



Illustrations

Fan Art


こんにちワン りがとウ (ウサギ イオ

ありがとウサギ

Moe anthropomorphism

(See also : Moe)


いただきマウス
dgスカンク+ ばAh·ス Grood Morning Thank You
NH)ますか) 衷すみなさい i) rぞうさmr、す いたにきまうす おはようなぎ 冫んにち54 ありがとう) ただいま PO-M あいさつするたびともだちふえるね
> 4 える。 るた ねぴ 0 0

Remixes & Mashups


The Beatles Sonic The Hedgehog Happy Tree Friends
Castle in the Sky (Laputa)) Puella Magi Madoka Magica Miku Hatsune, Rin&Ren Kagamine from Vocaloid

Sub-meme: Hard-line Armored Empire

On March 21st, A NND user Shimon(しもん) posted this ArigatoUsagi's super robot style (like Brave series or Eldran series) transforming video named "Great ArigatoUsagi" (5 million+ views).



This cool handmade animation inspired many other NND users to contribute to a subjoke known as "Hard-line Armored Empire – Armored Chrysanthemum" (Japanese : 攻強皇國機甲 – Koukyou Koukoku Kikou -). This is nothing but a phonetic equivalent. its pronunciation is same to AC Japan' previous name. "Chrysanthemum" comes from the seal of imperial Japan.

People soon started fantasizing Great ArigatoUsagi's anime program, transforming other animals to super robot as well and making fake storyboard that they fight against the huge crisis in Japan[18].

Over 300 movies and illustrations were posted to NND[19] and Pixiv[20][21] in 3 weeks. This birth of new robot hero on the internet was reported by several Japanese[22][23] and Taiwanese[24] news site.

Videos

King SayonaRaion (+2.9 million views)



Compilation



Search Interest

External References

[1] AD Council Japan – Apology and announcement for AC Japan's broadcasting at "2011_Tōhoku_earthquake_and_tsunami"

[2] Getnews.jp – AC Japan Apologizes for Commercial Broadcasts / 03-17-2011

[3] ZAKZAK – AC Flooded With Commercial Complaints … And Advertising Space Was Not Purchased?! / 03-17-2011

[4] J-Cast News – "What is AC?" Commercials Playing to Death During Earthquake Specials 03-17-2011

[5] Sankei Sports – AC Apologizes for Increasing Commercials, Complaints About Repetition / 03-18-2011

[6] Seachina News – AC Japan Apologizes for Airing Repetitive Commercials, Moves to Make a Temporary Replacement Commercial / 03-21-2011

[7] Slashdot.jp – AC Changes Commercial Content / 2011-03-21

[8] Wall Street Journal – Advertising Council Japan TV Commercials Driving Viewers Mad / 03-31-2011

[9] Nico Nico Douga – Search results for あいさつの魔法。 (Greetings are Magic)

[10] Nico Nico Pedia – あいさつの魔法。 (Greetings are Magic)

[11] YouTube – Search results for あいさつの魔法。 (Greetings are Magic)

[12] Pixiv – Search results for あいさつの魔法。 (Greetings are Magic)

[13] Pixiv encyclopedia – あいさつの魔法。 (Greetings are Magic)

[14] ITmedia Gamez – For Those of You That Can't Get Enough Popopopo~n, A Button That Lets You Popopopo~n All You Like / 03-22-2011

[15] Impress Internet Watch – Remaking The Famous Commercial "Popopopo~n" Is A Popular Fad / 03-22-2011

[16] Getnews.jp – Everyone, "Let's All "Popopopo~n!" Magical Greetings are Hot / 03-24-2011

[17] ITmedia – Internet Buzzword Contest 2011: The Gold Prise is "Popopopon". "Iine!", "Dah Sieryesu" also ranked. 12-01-2011

[18] Nico Nico Pedia – 攻強皇國機甲 (Hard-line Armored Empire)

[19] Nico Nico Douga – Search results for 攻強皇國機甲 (Hard-line Armored Empire)

[20] Pixiv encyclopedia – 攻強皇國機甲 (Hard-line Armored Empire)

[21] Pixiv – Search results for 攻強皇國機甲 (Hard-line Armored Empire)

[22] ITmedia – Too addicted to Popopopon ? ArigatoUsagi's anthropomorphic figurine was also made / 03-25-2011

[23] J-Cast News – ArigatoUsagi in AC advert is transformed into a giant robot /03-29-2011

[24] techbang.com.tw – Does it comfort Japan after disaster ? : Hard-line Armored Empire's spoof animation / 04-06-2011

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