Word: mcdonaldization
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...growing number of non-Japanese who live in Japan are decidedly not lovin' Mr. James. In a country known for its small foreign-born population - only 1.5% of 127 million - and restrictive immigration and naturalization policies, the new envoy for McDonald's Japan is creating a stir among non-Japanese residents. (See pictures of Super Bowl entertainment...
...doppelgänger of Steve Carell's 40-year-old virgin with glasses, Mr. James is a character invented by Japanese advertising behemoth Dentsu and McDonald's Japan for its new burger line - the "Nippon All Stars" - campaign. The purpose of the campaign, running Aug. 10 to Nov. 5, is to promote four burgers available only in Japan. On his blog, found on the McDonald's Japan website, Mr. James describes himself as a 43-year-old Japanophile born in Ohio with a penchant for travel, who, when particularly excited, generously treats people he doesn't even know. (That seems...
...Japan's xenophobic tendencies. Annoyed expats have described the character as "white, dorky" and speaking "mangled Japanese." The chair of the Foreign Residents and Naturalized Citizens' Association of Japan, Arudo Debito - a naturalized Japanese citizen born David Aldwinckle - has officially protested the Mr. James campaign with a letter to McDonald's Corp. headquarters in Illinois. Soon after the ads started to roll out, somebody set up an "I hate Mr. James" Facebook group, which now has 67 members. (See the top 10 tasteless commercials...
...blog, Mr. James posts travel plans - to places like Kyushu, where he visits McDonald's restaurants - and ruminates about his favorite burgers. He bungles his attempts at written Japanese and mispronounces words with a staccato-like butchering of the language. One online video shows him talking to himself while practicing from a phrasebook, proclaiming "horenso" (spinach) with a gesture. Mr. James has appeared in two commercials since the campaign began, in which he also mistakes words, for instance, yelling "tamago" (egg) in Japanese instead of the similar-sounding word tamaya, which is shouted during fireworks...
...McDonald's Japan spokesman Junichi Kawaminami says there is no official response to criticism of the Mr. James campaign. He does, however, explain the story of the character, which appears in the first commercial. "Mr. James' daughter was determined to go to Japan and study, and so he looked at maps and got excited to go with her," says Kawaminami. "Once he found out that McDonald's was offering the Tamago Double Mac, it became the deciding factor." Why? It was on the McDonald's Japan menu years ago and became Mr. James' favorite when he was a student...