Crazy japanese home shopping (sort of...?!)

June 22, 2005 12:12 PM

Gel.TVA bunch of crazy japanese guys keep howling and screaming and throwing jelly around and then there are sneakers and then... I really have no idea what this is all about, but it's really funny. Warning: This site seems to load pretty slow sometimes. And: Try the knobs of the tv-set and these little Icons below. *Really* weird.
posted by heimkonsole (23 comments total)

Wow, that was odd. And good.

It's an advertisement for Asics shoes, which apparently have shock absorbent gel in the soles.
posted by Bugbread at 12:18 PM on June 22, 2005

Wow, it's just like that talk show bit from Lost in Translation.
posted by pmbuko at 12:19 PM on June 22, 2005

The talk show in Lost in Translation is actual TV, but not too interesting (depends on the guest). This is far more...kinetic.
posted by Bugbread at 12:21 PM on June 22, 2005

Here's what the side-bar says:

If you have nothing else to do, and you've already visited 3,000,000,000 web sites, and have no problem with ASICS GEL and other red shock absorbent high tech products, or if you love bears, or if you're a good anti-disco activist without any holes in your boards, yes, if that's the case, then please come to GEL.tv and watch our wonderful GEL-Komodo shows.

-Your GEL TV team.

posted by Bugbread at 12:34 PM on June 22, 2005

Without knowing too much about it (admittedly) I would guess that this may just be a clever viral ad aimed at people in Europe and the US so we can look at those 'wacky' Japanese.
posted by ClanvidHorse at 12:37 PM on June 22, 2005

And you would be wrong.
posted by dydecker at 12:45 PM on June 22, 2005

The Japanese is all pretty darn correct, and my experience with Wacky Asian Viral ads is that they play fast and loose with language. Plus, aesthetically, it somehow "feels" right. That is, it "feels" like the kind of thing Japanese viral ad makers would make, as opposed to the stuff targetted at Europe and the US, where I inevitably have to explain to Japanese friends all the goofy cultural assumptions that are in the ad. I could just show this to a Japanese person, and they'd say, "Wacky", not "Why did he blah-blah-blah?" or "What was with the person in the back doing blah-blah-blah?"
posted by Bugbread at 12:54 PM on June 22, 2005

When I finally make it rich, I'm gonna get me one of those harp playin' fairies.
posted by Cyrano at 12:59 PM on June 22, 2005

Holy crap.
posted by tr33hggr at 1:04 PM on June 22, 2005

Though, to be fair, the Asics logo at bottom right links to Asics Europe, not Asics Japan.

I'm actually starting to suspect viral wackiness (a lot more English than I'd suspect for a purely Japanese site, such as the "Sorry, the server is down, because it was attacked by a wooden plank" (without any Japanese accompanying text) that pops up when you click Partner). But if so, it will mark maybe the first time where I've seen Wacky Asian Viral Marketing made by Asians and with apparently a totally free hand to use their own view of wackiness, not the US/Euro view of Wacky Asia.
posted by Bugbread at 1:07 PM on June 22, 2005

Buone estente, pussycat!

It's like Chanel 9 meets The Tom Green Show. Scorchio!
posted by Harry at 1:09 PM on June 22, 2005

Thanks for the enlightenment Bugbread that makes a lot of sense.

Thanks also to dydecker for his incisive comments. I found that his prescient post helped my understanding no end.
posted by ClanvidHorse at 1:09 PM on June 22, 2005

You're werucome!
posted by dydecker at 1:14 PM on June 22, 2005

Hmm...the Japanese web community doesn't seem to be talking much about it at all, but the few places that are are either saying "Wacky!" or "This appears to be aimed at the overseas market". So it looks like I'm going to have to change my vote from "not euromerica-targeted" to "possibly/probably-euromerica-targeted".
posted by Bugbread at 1:25 PM on June 22, 2005

Well, I would be wrong then. But still, the combines two things I dislike seeing on linked to Metafilter: viral advertising and wacky Japan, hence my grouchiness.
posted by dydecker at 1:34 PM on June 22, 2005

Pepsi BooRoo.
posted by retronic at 1:39 PM on June 22, 2005

gel.tv

Registrant:
ars-interactive GmbH
ulrich rabus ([e-mail])
Muenzstr.15
Berlin, NONE 10178
DE
030-308871-84

Registered to a German advertising firm, check out their site above to confirm your suspicions.
posted by damo at 1:53 PM on June 22, 2005

Damo, thanks for solving the mystery.

Speaking of which, where do you go to get whois data on .tv sites? The places I usually frequent just say:

Domain Name: GEL.TV
Registrar: TV CORPORATION
Whois Server: whois.www.tv
Referral URL: http://www.tv
Name Server: NS1-HOSTS.NIC.TV
Name Server: NS2-HOSTS.NIC.TV
Status: CLIENT-DELETE-PROHIBITED
Status: CLIENT-XFER-PROHIBITED
Updated Date: 30-mar-2005
Creation Date: 01-may-2000
Expiration Date: 18-jan-2038
posted by Bugbread at 2:04 PM on June 22, 2005

Viral or not, I'm getting a red beret to deal with chicks on my breakfast bar.
posted by Frasermoo at 3:44 PM on June 22, 2005

Bah, amateurs. If you want weird TV you still can't beat Spike Milligan's "Q".
posted by Decani at 4:59 PM on June 22, 2005

I really should stop reading these "omg teh wacky japaneez" posts.
posted by nightchrome at 6:07 PM on June 22, 2005

try the links to purchase wacky products. viral marketing for sure.
posted by lemonfridge at 2:52 AM on June 23, 2005

Bugbread: try Domain Dossier.

Just be sure to put in the full address (which means include the www.) but http:// is optional.

Oh, and check every box.
posted by mystyk at 11:18 AM on June 23, 2005