keitai-l@appelsiini.net writes:
>http://www.japaninc.net/article.php?articleID=816
>I was buying the Air H" (pronounced "Air Edge") card from DDI Pocket.
Actually, I THINK it is pronounced "Air Etch". This is important, it is a
witty reference to a Docomo advertising slogan. (What follows has been
posted before, so long standing list members may wish to click off now...)
"Etchi", as most list members are aware, means sexy or kinky. It gather it
is derived from the "H" of "hentai" - which has a slightly harder meaning
- though is still often said in tones of approval by boys and girls alike.
The "i" is often silent or attenuated to an English speakers ear.
So - back when "Air H" was being launched Docomo had an advertising slogan
revolving around the letter "i" - which is pronounced the same as "ai" -
the Japanese word for love. "i (ai) shiteiru" I think was the slogan - "I
love". Along comes DDI, fresh from the success of its deeply naughty PHS
ads (the ones with the little joshi-kosei loose sock lambs calling the
boy/men wolves on their new PHS - this at the height of the enryou kosai
boom) with a need to promote something as being superior to i-"ai"mode -
and faster, fast enough in fact to download - well - anything that takes
one's fancy... (What do most little boys do with fast internet
connections? Yes Yes dear reader, I know YOU use it to sharpen up your
understanding of Kant's Critiques, but what do OTHERS do..?)
So we have "Feel H" (feel randy/horny) competing for a while with "ai
shiteiru". Lust, with love, as it were. Air H is just a variation on the
theme.
I would love to meet the woman who came up with these campaigns (the
lamb/wolves and Feel H). They have the hallmarks of a single, witty dirty
mind behind them - and women are so much better in that sphere than clunky
men.
On the other hand - I am the only person I know who has ever made all the
connections - so perhaps I ought to stay in more ("going out" in Japan
does nothing to reduce a fevered, smut ridden imagination. Alas. Woe.
Alack.)
Nick
Received on Sat Jun 15 12:23:39 2002