And Now from Japan… Figure Skating Goes to the Dogs
Remember when Elvis Stojko stared in a television ad for McCains orange juice? It always seemed odd to me that he was hawking OJ. Besides, I’m quite sure it was all protein and legumes for Elvis.
But, Elvis’ stint as the McCains man doesn’t compare with this strange ad from Japan. It features Mao Asada–a star in the competitive field of women’s figure skating. Not only is it highly unlikely Asada is fueling her grueling all-day practices with chocolate, but her co-star is a figure skating dog!
Yes, a real dog in doggie skates doing doggie skating tricks. Though disturbing, the dog is surprisingly agile. Please, dear readers, don’t let this ad tempt you to teach your Terriers to twirl or your Labradors to do loop jumps. Or at least not with the help of some computer animation experts.
February 25th, 2008 at 1:10 pm
How very odd…I’ve always felt Japanese commercials as compared to our’s here in North America were…different.
March 16th, 2008 at 2:36 pm
Disgusting — another example of commercial animal abuse.
April 19th, 2008 at 8:42 am
> Not only is it highly unlikely Asada is fueling her grueling all-day practices with chocolate, but her co-star is a figure skating dog!
Actually, Mao is a great fan of the Aero chocolate. She named her puppy “Aero” in 2005 because she loved that brand. The commercial was made in late 2006, after Nestle company learned of Mao’s puppy name from the interviews.
> Disgusting — another example of commercial animal abuse.
You don’t know what you are talking about. Mao would rather rip the hands off the CM guys than let Aero come to any harm - she absolutely loves her. There was a video released showing how the CM was created - Aero looked quite happy running on her rear paws after a treat. The rest is pure CG.
In case anyone’s interested - Aero recently had three puppies. Mao kept two of them - their names are Tiara and Komachi.