Can the American Gaijin understand Japanese Ads?

Japanese humor or Quentin Tarantino’s own brand of humor? In his new cell phone ad for Softbank, Tarantino gives us multi-cultural family with a dog playing the father to advertise a plastic dog speaker attachment for a cell phone. Watch the video clip and see for yourself.

Can the American Gaijin understand Japanese Ads?

Am I missing something? The brief translation of this ad is that Taratino’s character, Uncle Tara-chan, gets a call from his wife demanding he come home at once. The basis for the ad (I think) is advertising the use of a cell phone speaker so the entire family can hear the call. While the ad is somewhat humorous, unless you understand the Japanese culture I think the humor is lost on the American Gaijin (barbarian).

Perhaps Softbank should change its ad company’s campaign name to SlapStick. Apparently Softbank regularly uses American stars for its advertising spots, most of which are this brand of humor. Brad Pitt and Cameron Dias are just a couple of the major stars raking in the big bucks for appearing in these ads. I think Softbank has gone over the top on the silliness of this ad. Or perhaps it’s just me and my lack of appreciation for the Japanese style of humor.

So, are you a Gaijin or humor savvy?