Japanese auto translator ad goes viral over sexual harassment accusations

Logbar, maker of the Ili automatic translator device, praised for its product but criticised for "sexist" ad where man asks women to kiss him

Japanese auto translator ad goes viral over sexual harassment accusations

An online advert for Japanese tech startup Logbar has gone viral for all the wrong reasons as consumers have started a petition to have it removed. 

The video, called "Kisses in Tokyo", is to promote Logbar’s Ili product, a small gadget that is an instant translator in three languages: Japanese, Chinese and English.

The ad features Dean, a British man, approaching apparently random Japanese women and using Ili to somewhat forcefully convince them to kiss him.

Many of the women look visibly uncomfortable at the prospect, with more than one running away and Dean touching some of them in his attempts to cajole them into a kiss.

Numerous people on social media have described the video as creepy, cringeworthy and promoting sexual harassment.

— N D Kane (@nd_kane) January 10, 2016

Moreover, a change.org petition has been set up calling for the removal of the "racist and sexist" advert. At the time of publication it had 309 signatures.

However, many of those complaining about the advert do also praise the Ili product itself.

The Gaijin Pot first shared the video on its Facebook page. It has almost 5 million views and over 80,000 shares, with many of the comments slamming the content, but being very impressed with Ili itself.

PRWeek Asia asked Logbar to comment on the advert, but did not receive a response before this story was published.             

This article was first published on www.prweek.com

Become a member of Campaign

Get the very latest news and insight from Campaign with unrestricted access to campaignlive.co.uk, plus get exclusive discounts to Campaign events.

Become a member

What is Campaign AI?

Our new premium service offering bespoke monitoring reports for your company.

Find out more

Looking for a new job?

Get the latest creative jobs in advertising, media, marketing and digital delivered directly to your inbox each day.

Create an alert now

Partner content