Hamasaki achieves dream of appearing alongside canine father in Softbank ads

How cute.

Will help rival companies in securing new business.

And Softbank still sucks. Crappy service and coverage. Clever commercials though.

Hamasaki, who is reportedly a big fan of the father character, contacted Softbank founder and president Masayoshi Son, 53, on Twitter, and got the OK.

Because that's how media marketing and cross-promotion works...

NOT.

Absolute drivel.

@some14some: Again I say verily unto thee, WTF?

Pathetic.

Dream accomplished, goodbye.

I saw that CM last night, did she get more surgery?

She doesn't dream very big does she?

My wife used to be a massive fan of hers but recently she has worked out how horrible her music is.Another star that has finally faded.

I thought in order to be considered a star, you need to be talented.

Her face is starting to look like Michael Jackson

Softbank really sucks (as their users, myself included suck air between clenched teeth trying to get a connection), but this commercial is a genial strike and one of the best CM series to be aired in Japan...

This is not news.

Hey, I kinda like Ayu... Sounds like a fun commercial.

How cute.

Hey, I kinda like Ayu... Sounds like a fun commercial.

Until the point where Hamasaki and a Japanese old man respond to the dog by saying 'ssank you' in bad English. The dog symbolising gaijin ? (saw the commercial on the weekend) Can you imagine back home (Europe/ the States/ Aus/ NZ etc) if a commercial ran where actors respond to a dog in bad Japanese ? It would never be allowed to air.

In that pic above she has a fox around her neck. Real animal lover.

Ayumi WHO?

northlondon:

" The dog symbolising gaijin ? "

The dog does not need to symbolize a gajin, as they have a real-life gaijin in the ads already.

Willi, in the Softbank ads Dante Carver plays the brother of Japanese Ueto Aya, despite Dante clearly being of African-American descent. The name of Softbank's fictional family is the White family. Now they have people speaking to the dog in English. Like I said, this would never be allowed to air in the civilised world.

London:

I have no idea what you about. Carver is a gaijin, is he not? About "civilized world", well this is Japanese advertising. Love it or dont.

sorry... but i love these ads.

Dante Carver plays the brother of Japanese Ueto Aya, despite Dante clearly being of African-American descent. The name of Softbank's fictional family is the White family. Now they have people speaking to the dog in English. Like I said, this would never be allowed to air in the civilised world.

Then the so-called civilised world needs a good shaking and an injection of humour. The commercials are a bit of light-hearted good fun. The family mix is quite Pythonesque in its wackiness, the family is called White (Shirato in Japanese) because Otohsan is white, and it's only Western PC coyness that makes people squeamish about Carver being in a family called White. If you watch more than a couple of the commercials it's obvious that the dog symbolises the typical Japanese ojisan more than anything else, with all the baggage that entails (but with some surprising talents, like speaking fluent French.) Japanese people who otherwise speak not a word of English say Sankyu to each other all the time. It's no big deal.

WOW!! They have some smart actresses here,LOL!!! WOW such depth

Well said Cleo. Although I must say when I first read the headline I sucked in breath and thought "slow news day".

northlondon

I recall you were waffling on about the "White Family" thing before. I personally know three African-Americans with the family name "White", just as there are thousands of Caucasians around the world with the family name "Black".

It isn't a big deal at all.

WOW!! They have some smart actresses here,LOL!!!

Hamasaki is a singer, not an actress.

Hamasaki is a singer, not an actress.

Really, I never knew that shrieking was considered singing.

She actually sings very well, runs an excellent business, is loaded and hot. There is more than one dog actor though. I have one of the original Otosan that only soft bank employees got when the iPhone first came out. Wonderful little piece of art.

I hope she doesn't ask the dog if his dream was to meet with her -- she'll be gravely disappointed to hear he'd rather eat kibble.

Ms. Hamasaki speaks very nice ENGLISH so be careful! She can sing, but I still love Ms. Ueto AYA, she is the best in this family for the Softbank tv cms series! Dante is great! So he is black, and the father is a white dog?? Is this racism?? How about if the put a white dude and a black dog?? Is this considered reverse discrimination?? PLEEZEE just enjoy the darn tv cm and I wish I was making the great money Dante is getting!!

how many of the people writing comments here actually live in japan and have actually seen the tv ad? and how many of those who do live in japan use softbank? softbank offers a family plan system which is called "white plan". this wacky (though harmless in my opinion) tv ad with the funky family surely refers to that plan. peace, peeps!

Raises hand.

Currently living in Japan, AU user but used Softbank previously since the Vodafone days.

Personally got no probs with the ads as they are rather tongue in cheek, etc. And yes the White-plan and student discount is a big part of the CM. Recalling the ad of the father(dog) in high-school uniform at a ramen shop.

Way better than the old Mushroom ads by a competitor.

Hamasaki achieves dream of appearing alongside canine father in Softbank ads

Um, is that really your dream? I hope that's just some nonsense dreamed up by her agent or something. "My dream is to play second fiddle in a commercial with an Akita..."

OTOH, when she appears in the commercial, it's a breath of fresh air. She's lovely.

"My dream is to play second fiddle in a commercial with an Akita..."

Otosan is a Hokkaido-ken, not an Akita. Different face, different size, different colour.

when she appears in the commercial, it's a breath of fresh air.

The whole series of commercials is a breath of fresh air. Can't wait to see what happens between Jiro and the new Ojiisan.

The guitarist gets dissed by the dog at the end, ha ha!

Live in Japan, know these commercials, currently have Softbank and considering changing to another cellphone brand solely because of the commercials (and SMAP).

bass4funk at 07:27 AM JST - 5th October Hamasaki is a singer, not an actress. Really, I never knew that shrieking was considered singing.

You should listen to some old Yoko Ono to redefine your definition of the term.

Hamasaki Ayumi will destroy the softbank image. I hope she will not make to many advertisements for softbank.

@OssanAmerica-I didn't know there was a difference between Yoko Ono and Hamasaki. Both are horrible, not a shred of talent, whiny high-pitched out of tone voices. At least Ono made it this far without plastic surgery and for an old hag and least has some spunk. Ayumi is so dolled up, honestly, when the girl smiles I feel her whole face will just shatter in a billion pieces. Like I said, she may be popular around people that really don't know or understand what real music is, but if she can claim world wide success and sing on stage with Diana Ross, Barbera Streisand and other Divas then I will shut up, until then her so called talent is just reserved for this island and you can have it. Excuse me, I'm going to listen to some Pink Floyd now. I need to hear some real music....