Author: Kangaeroo

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    Hopper Gives U.S. Satellite TV Network Viewers a Roo-ed Awakening

    Hopper is the (brilliantly original!) name given to the kangaroo used to promote U.S. satellite TV network Dish. Hopper was probably at her most prominent in the mid 20-teens as Dish launched a huge campaign to popularize Internet telly. During the 2014 campaign, Hopper was voiced by portly Strayan actress Rebel Wilson, then at the peak of her career. The campaign centered on Dish’s universally praised digital video recorder, which is also called Hopper, like the kangaroo that promotes the network. The line of recorders further extends the kangaroo link by naming the compact version of the DVR, Joey, which is, of course, the name for infant kangaroos. Incidentally, Rebel…

  • A Kangaroo Was One of the Earliest Advertisers of Cognac

    A kangaroo was one of the earliest live animation advertisers of cognac. An artist called Georges Maresté (1875-1940) made the above advertisement to promote Prunier Cognac sales in Australia early in the 1920s. Many Maresté works featured his birthplace of Cognac, France, which is, of course, itself the birthplace of cognac brandy. Prunier has a history of 250 years of selling cognac, so it’s unlikely to have rued the day it roo-d the day by using Australia’s national animal to plug its wares down under.

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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”…

  • ウルルを登れなくなる

    　オーストラリアの象徴のひとつでもあるウルル（昔はエアーズロックと呼ばれている一枚岩）を岩登りが出来なくなる。 　ウルルは、オーストラリアの先住民にとって聖地であり、岩登りが観光活動の一つとなったことはウルルの所有権者であるアナング族にとって昔からの痛みでもあった。 　アナング族は、多くの観光客がウルルを尊敬しないで、聖地でありながら汚しているため、所有権が返還された1980年代から岩登りを禁止しようとしていた。 　今月、「ディズニーランドじゃないよ」と言いながら、アナング族がやっと岩登りを禁止することを宣言した。 　禁止命令が執行するのは2年後となる。 Why we are banning tourists from climbing Uluru ウルルの英語版ウィキペディア（日本語版のページが間違っている情報を掲載している） Uluru climbing ban: A history of disrespect atop the rock

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    Straya, We’ll See Your Vegemite Chocolate and Raise You with Cough Lolly KitKats

    Strewth! It doesn’t get much worse than the latest KitKat concoction to hit Japanese stores, which arguably takes the title of world’s worst chocolate unofficially claimed by Australia when it produced Vegemite chocolate back in June 2015. KitKat Nodoame flavor is now selling at Japanese retail outlets and is the latest in a line of Japanese KitKat flavors that extends well beyond 200. It should be noted, that ＜i>nodoame is the Japanese word for throat lozenge, and that’s exactly what’s been dished up in the latest KitKat…a throat lozenge flavored-chocolate!!!! For what it’s worth, throat lozenge-flavored KitKat tastes exactly as it sounds, with your average cough lolly covered by waffle…

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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…

  • Strange Straya Tucked Away in a Tract in Tokyo

    Ayer’s Rock Cafe is located in a distant corner of Machida, an outer suburb of Tokyo. Why the cafe located in such a distant tract of Tokyo derives its name from the now non-PC moniker of Uluru is something of a mystery, but it has been operating since 2000 and comes highly recommended by members of a nearby horse-riding club and large private school, so it must be getting something right. For Aussies, there’s nothing on the menu that really makes it worthwhile making the trek out to the cafe for a need to combat homesickness. The cafe does serve Bundaberg Rum and is decorated with standard Aussie kitsch like…

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    Let’s Barbie! Aussie-Style BBQing for the Japanese!

    Australia beef is the most visibly successful Australian export to Japan, leaving considerable distance to its closest rivals, which these days are probably Tim Tams, Miranda Kerr and hordes of drunken ocker snow bunnies in country towns like Niseko and Hakuba. To be honest, Oz doesn’t really enter the consciousness of most Japanese, except for Aussie Beef, which is probably the first thing that comes to mind for many Nihonjin when asked about Oz. And this year, Meat & Livestock Australia Ltd (MLA) is going all-out to try and convert Japanese consumers to worshiping the barbie in much the same manner that many Aussies do. MLA is conducting a huge…

  • Sexism Sells…Aussie Princes and Arresting the Great Japanese Tourist Decline

    In this day and age, it would be unthinkable to use taxpayers’ hard-earned money to promote a campaign promising a 1 million yen order-made trip to Australia for a young bloke sending in photos of a sexy member of the opposite sex. But, when the shoe’s on the other foot, it seems to be all right. At least, it was until just a few years ago. For a while in the late Noughties to early 2010s, Tourism Australia worked desperately hard to arrest a drastic and dramatic decline in Japanese tourist numbers. Part of those efforts involved a campaign that Tourism Australia conducted in Japan back in 2009-2010. The campaign…