Impress your inscrutable Japanese boss with Jimmy John’s sandwiches
by Carmen Van Kerckhove
Oh boy. First we had Burger King depicting Asian men as freaky slithery snakes who culminated their burger-stealing with a round of kung fu moves. Now along comes this Jimmy John’s commercial, featuring a Japanese office tool trying to impress his inscrutable boss in the boardroom. Are they even really speaking Japanese? Can any of our Japanese-speaking readers let us know?
And check out the other commercials that make up this series, including a Latino family with 5 out-of-control kids, and one spot that revolves around a European (?) woman taking a shower.
(Hat tip to MultiCultClassics.)
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of 
P.Moore wrote:
(From my Japanese boss…)
It’s authentic Japanese, with the “tool” saying “And here is the model number 5,000…” or something of that sort. After cycling through the models, the little red cartoon pops up by his shoulder and says “Jimmy Jonesu Jimmy Jonesu!”
The “tool” calls Jimmy Jones and says “Jimmy Jones, hurry up!” When the food comes, the boss says roughly “Excellent!!!” (this is a superlative, like “the best!!!”)
Hope that helps…
Posted 23 Oct 2006 at 1:34 pm ¶
Carmen Van Kerckhove wrote:
Oh good - well at least they weren’t just speaking gibberish that was supposed to sound like Japanese.
I say that because it reminded me of this video, which I found pretty offensive:
http://tinyurl.com/yy38zy
Posted 23 Oct 2006 at 2:24 pm ¶
Jay wrote:
Carmen, my guess is that this is a Japanese commercial, not meant for circulation in the U.S.
Posted 23 Oct 2006 at 6:21 pm ¶
Yori Kim wrote:
uh…..I that was demeneted………..and stereotypical…….just…..ew……no……..ew
Posted 23 Oct 2006 at 7:23 pm ¶
Yori Kim wrote:
uh…..I that was demented………..and stereotypical…….just…..ew……no……..ew
Posted 23 Oct 2006 at 7:23 pm ¶
merq wrote:
WOW, Carmen.
Posted 23 Oct 2006 at 7:43 pm ¶
HighJive wrote:
Jay,
I believe these are NOT international spots. I saw these spots running on tv in Chicago. Keep in mind too, the advertiser’s decision to read the final copy in English (or a bad foreigner’s interpretation of English).
Additionally, Jimmy John’s is headquartered in a suburb in Illinois. According to their website (jimmyjohns.com), the chain is not even national—and definitely not international.
I believe they are creatively playing off the self-proclaimed “world’s greatest” premise.
But that’s just my opinion, based on the little evidence in front of me.
Posted 23 Oct 2006 at 8:58 pm ¶
Rcarter wrote:
Jimmy John’s is national, they run by the franchise system. Theres several in the Atlanta Area, as well as Tennessee, Alabama and so forth.
Posted 24 Oct 2006 at 5:46 pm ¶
HighJive wrote:
Rcarter,
sorry, i meant they are not national because they don’t exist in every state like mcdonald’s. rather, they’re more like jack-in-the-box or chik-a-fil, with strong presence in certain regions.
Posted 24 Oct 2006 at 10:24 pm ¶
Amber wrote:
No one should be offended by this comerical. They are using all races and cultures in them. If youre offended how can you live day to day without being constantly angry or maybe you are?
As someone already mentioned they are going off of “the worlds greatest” premise
Posted 10 Dec 2006 at 9:25 pm ¶