History Main / Japandering

* When the Polaroid SX-70 camera first came out, Creator/LaurenceOlivier made a series of very classy U.S. commercials for the product, with the condition that they not be shown in his native U.K.

* In the late 1980s, Jimmy Nail [[https://www.ngataonga.org.nz/collections/catalogue/catalogue-item?record_id=272470 featured]] in a [[https://www.ngataonga.org.nz/collections/catalogue/catalogue-item?record_id=297365 series]] of [[https://www.ngataonga.org.nz/collections/catalogue/catalogue-item?record_id=297361 adverts]] for [[https://www.ngataonga.org.nz/collections/catalogue/catalogue-item?record_id=297363 Hutton's smallgoods]] in New Zealand, in character as Oz from Series/AufWiedersehenPet.

** Baker also did a series of advertisements in-character as the Doctor for New Zealand Superannuation Services in 1997, which impressed the company so much that they incorporated the TARDIS set into their offices for visitors to tour. These ads would later be compiled on the ''Series/DoctorWho'' Season 18 Blu-ray set as a bonus feature.

* A fairly common idea among ''Anime/YuriOnIce'' fans is that champion figure skater [[MeaningfulName Victor]] did some of these back in the day, and that his devoted [[PromotedFanboy fan-turned-competitor-turned-''actual boyfriend'']] Yuri Katsuki recorded and saved a bunch of them. [[BunnyEarsLawyer Victor being Victor]], he's never upset when Yuri (or his family) pull them out, and if anyone's embarrassed, it's Yuri.

A trope that exists in the behavior of celebrities (actors/singers/etc.), and is also picked up readily by those in the industry and [[TruthInTelevision reflected in the works they make]]: A celebrity goes over to Japan, possibly somewhere else, and then does a fairly embarrassing job clearly made only for the cash and in the belief that, due to the language barrier and the lack of appeal of a WidgetSeries, nobody back home will see it.

* Music/{{Madness}} did an advert for the Honda City kei-car in Japan, for which they wrote and performed their own jingle. They subsequently expanded the jingle into a full song, "In the City", which was their only B-side recording to be included on their ''Complete Madness'' GreatestHitsAlbum.

* ''Film/LostInTranslation'' uses this for Bob Harris's reason to be in Japan. He's there doing an ad for Suntory whiskey in a job that he in no way has any reason for being chosen for other than for being a recognizable face. His wife keeps phoning him about carpet samples and paint colors so it's implied that he's building a house which is probably why he's doing it. The depressed funk he gets from the debasement is a large part of the entire theme of the film (note that Creator/SofiaCoppola's father, Creator/FrancisFordCoppola, did in fact [[TruthInTelevision do this with Suntory ads in Japan]], as did Sean Connery, who gets referenced a few times in the movie).
** According to Bill Murray, he's very familiar with a lot of Japandering commercials (understandable, since they mostly feature his contemporaries), and there was a particular face each of the actors made he wanted to mimic. According to him, it was a face that said "I can't believe I'm shilling this crap."

* ''Film/MyFellowAmericans'' has Jack Lemmon as an ex-American President reduced to doing this- he does object to dancing with giant stuffed animals, though.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* Done in-universe in ''Literature/ThankYouForSmoking''. Celebrities are perfectly willing to shill for cigarettes in overseas markets, just not at home where they've got a reputation to maintain.

* [=Conan O'Brien=] did a SuperBowlSpecial commercial for Bud Light, where he did an [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d13MkCDNKlo embarrassing ad in Sweden]] which got released in the United States. He would also use the above Schwarzenegger ads for clips for ''Late Night With Conan O'Brien''.

* The series of ads promoting Suntory Whiskey (immortalized in the film ''Film/LostInTranslation'', seen below) used various Western celebrities, including Creator/SeanConnery, Creator/FrancisFordCoppola, Creator/KeanuReeves and several others extolling the virtues of foreign whiskey while mugging for the camera and making complete fools of themselves. Coppola didn't drink whiskey, but he did the Suntory ads with his idol Creator/AkiraKurosawa in order to add additional star power to the commercials and help secure funding for Kurosawa's film ''Film/{{Kagemusha}}'', which Copolla co-produced.

* One extratextual ParodyCommercial for ''Series/TheBoys'' had the American CelebritySuperhero The Deep do a hokey Japanese commercial for shoyu sauce. Highlights include thanking the squid for its sacrifice then doing a corny dance.

* Creator/BenAffleck did a L'Oreal ad in the UK that featured the line, "Here comes the SCIENCE!", which got discovered by Website/{{Fark}} and became the TropeNamer (well it defined the form) for HereComesTheScience.
** And also Creator/JenniferAniston telling viewers "Here comes the science bit..."

* Creator/UmaThurman was signed by Virgin Media in the UK in 2007 [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BloT8XePrNs for a series of TV commercials]]. (3:19 sees her [[Creator/RubyWax replacement]] take over.)

* Creator/PhilHartman appeared in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fca72AlJp8I a Pot Noodle ad]] in the United Kingdom, of which had to be re-edited after the original version was yanked off the air for causing seizures.

* One extratextual ParodyCommerical for ''Series/TheBoys'' had the American CelebritySuperhero The Deep do a hokey Japanese commercial for shoyu sauce. Highlights include thanking the squid for its sacrifice then doing a corny dance.

* Former Soviet premier UsefulNotes/MikhailGorbachev, of all people, appeared in a commercial for Pizza Hut in the States and other countries. Given that he used to head the Soviet Union and all, it was seen as greatly ironic and embarrassing for him to shill for a capitalist company and thus espouse consumerism. He did however explain in a ''New York Times'' interview that he did it to [[MoneyDearBoy fund his research foundation]], and that the capitalist irony didn't matter as the product he was shilling is "a people's matter" regardless of political ideology. The commercial was never shown in his native Russia, especially as he remained quite unpopular there, even right up to his death.

* Joey from ''Series/{{Friends}}'' is at one point a mid-level daytime SoapOpera star and ends up doing this from an advert for Ichiban Lipstick for Men. The advert is very much a WeirdJapaneseThing: Joey is wearing bright blue lipstick while bright blue animation and dancing schoolgirls interject a number of flash cuts. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOy2lrJqKGY You watch it, you can't un-watch it]].

* Creator/CharlesBronson was doing this as far back as 1970: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CV3gA7hNItY "Mmm... Mandom!"]] (And nobody would remember it if it weren't for ''Manga/LuckyStar''.)

* Possibly inspired by historical examples of American wrestlers filming weird Japanese commercials (see above), Wrestling/{{Edge}} and Wrestling/BookerT once had a feud over who would star in a Japanese shampoo commercial, culminating in a match at ''freaking [=WrestleMania=]''.

* Former Soviet premier UsefulNotes/MikhailGorbachev, of all people, appeared in a commercial for Pizza Hut in the States and other countries. Given that he used to head the Soviet Union and all, it was seen as greatly ironic and embarrassing for him to shill for a capitalist company and thus espouse consumerism. He did however explain in a ''New York Times'' interview that he did it to [[MoneyDearBoy fund his research foundation]], and that the capitalist irony didn't matter as the product he was shilling is "a people's matter" regardless of political ideology. The commercial was never shown in his native Russia especially as he is quite unpopular there.

* Public radio star [[Radio/APrairieHomeCompanion Garrison Keillor]] is the voice of Honda in the UK. The ads themselves are dignified (in one ad, however, he cheers on the English football team ahead of a World Cup), but a US endorsement would lose credibility with the anti-commercial fanbase of public radio, and his Lake Wobegon material concentrates on the U.S. rivalry between Ford and Chevrolet.

* The turn of the 1980s saw the American business computer manufacturer Prime Computer showing a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJeu3LCo-6A&ab_channel=Tardisgirlfrance series of adverts]] in Australia and New Zealand featuring Creator/TomBaker and Lalla Ward in character as [[Series/DoctorWho the Doctor and Romana]]. They are notorious in fandom for the final advert, which depicted the relationship between the two characters as overtly romantic.

* An episode of ''Series/TheMuppets'' made brief mention of Miss Piggy doing a sock commercial in Japan.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* During the 1990s and early 2000s, Creator/LennyHenry featured in a series of adverts for New Zealand butter, in-character as the Series/{{Chef}}. Here's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJfTW50AS9I some]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcT0bl3AElw of them]] on WebSite/YouTube.

* Music/{{Madness}} did an advert for the Honda City kei-car in Japan, for which they wrote and performed their own jingle. Administrivia/TropesAreNotBad, since they subsequently expanded the jingle into a full song, "In the City", which was their only B-side good enough to be included on their ''Complete Madness'' GreatestHitsAlbum.

* Wrestling/HulkHogan ''singing'' in a Japanese commercial for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1ZruJkB30I Bigflow]].

If it ends up on [=YouTube=], it quickly becomes an OldShame, which is why many have it written into their contracts that they can't have it be spread around. Because it is all too easy for these commercials to be leaked onto the Internet nowadays, this is likely on its way to becoming a DiscreditedTrope, if it isn't already. The term itself is a portmanteau of "Japan" and "Pandering". Compare EmbarrassingAdGig.