Cop A Gander At These Rippers Too...

  • My Goodness, Guinness…It’s a Kangaroo!

    For much of the 20th century, Irish brewery Guinness used kangaroos for its advertising. There was apparently no particular reason that advertiser John Gilroy selected kangaroos for a famous series of ads featuring exotic animals that the brewer used from the 1920s through to the 1960s and still common today. The kangaroos in the ads were notorious for sneaking away a pint of stout in their pouches. In addition to posters, the kangaroos featured in early TV ads, adorned coasters and were used for Carlton Ware figurines and even a salt-and-pepper shaker. The advertisements ran under such copy as “Guinness is Good For You,” “My Goodness, My Guinness” and “Ask…

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    Campbelltown Forest of Wild Birds A Slice of Oz in Sleepy Saitama

    Koshigaya, located some 30 kilometers from downtown Tokyo, and Campbelltown, which is situated about 50 kilometers from Sydney’s central business district, were almost made for each other, even if only serving as satellite cities for their respective countries’ largest cities. Koshigaya and Campbelltown are sister cities and it’s hard to see a better example of the custom than the relationship between the Japanese bed town and its Aussie sibling. Koshigaya is also home to a picturesque corner of Australia, complete with wallabies, emus and some lovely wild birds, including rainbow lorikeets, superb parrots, Major Mitchell’s cockatoos, tawny frogmouths and kookaburras. The Campbelltown Forest of Wild Birds in Koshigaya could arguably…

  • Jill Who Put The ‘Roo’ Into Frugal Promotes Award-Winning Environmentalism

    Mrs. Roo was a core character in the award-winning The Eco Zoo online pop-up picture book in the late Noughties and early 2010s. Mrs. Roo is the kangaroo character in The Eco Zoo story world. She is depicted as a thrifty, practical kangaroo who carries a shopping bag, which is a visual symbol encouraging reusable bags and careful consumption. The Eco Zoo began as a children’s picture-book project around 2006 and was developed into an interactive Flash web project around 2007–2008 by creative boutique Enjin together with McCann Erickson Japan. The web/popup-book version became widely noticed and won creative-site attention, including recognition through the Favorite Website Awards. The Eco Zoo…

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    Tokyo’s Strange Socceroos

    Japan has a strange affinity when it comes to using Australian animals for its advertising. A number of major Japanese corporations use koalas and roos to plug their products and services. One with a difference is Hayashi Corporation, a construction company with a history of over 100 years and based in suburban Tokyo. Hayashi Corporation’s Fuchu branch office entrance is adorned with photos of a family of cartoon kangaroos decked out in soccer gear, just like Australia’s national football team, the Socceroos. Japan’s next opponent in World Cup qualifying is Australia, but there’s no connection. What is interesting to note, though, is that the kangaroos had been painted over until…

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    Kangaroo Cooking…Roo Meat: It’s Tasty if Ya Cook It!

    Japanese have been legally eating kangaroo for longer than most Australians. Kangaroo meat was imported to Japan and being served in Tokyo restaurants from 1988, five years before meat from the national symbol was legalized for consumption by Australians in all states other than South Australia, where kangaroo could be eaten legally from 1980. (Indigenous Australians had continued eating kangaroo, a traditional food, regardless of the ban.) Despite the head start, kangaroo meat never really kicked on in Japan, despite its reputation for being a healthy, high-protein, low-fat alternative to beef or pork. RooMeat was promoted in Japan as being a preferred choice of athletes and models, but the “stars”…