Line #11 Main/LoudspeakerTruck


1	%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.
2	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/2000px_horn_loudspeaker_truck_1929.jpg]]
3	[[caption-width-right:350:This [[OlderThanTelevision 1929]] loudspeaker truck was good at getting the neighborhood's attention. ]]
4	A frozen moment of awkwardness in an {{anime}} series is frequently highlighted by the passing of a loudspeaker truck, announcing over its loudspeaker the availability of some sort of item for sale. The scene -- or at least the shocked character -- will freeze long enough for two or three announcements about bamboo poles or whatnot, after which the action resumes, sometimes involving a HyperspaceMallet.
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6	Items announced by loudspeaker trucks include:
7	# Bamboo poles for drying laundry (most Japanese apartment dwellers don't have dryers)
8	# ''Yakiimo'' (broiled sweet potatoes, a winter treat)
9	# Political candidates
10	# Collections of old electronics (often hilariously outdated, such as "[[Platform/NintendoEntertainmentSystem Famicom]], Platform/PlayStation, tape decks, color [=TVs=]...")
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12	Note that loudspeaker trucks are not only in {{anime}} but often appear in other media, although it is rare for anyone to "freeze" during their appearance in non-anime works.
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14	A common Western variant is the "rag-and-bone man", who'd walk through the streets of a big town --usually, VictorianLondon but the practice persisted until well into TheThirties-- calling out for people to bring their refuse, old clothes, and broken household items and cart it off in order to sell on anything reusable or recyclable. They were normally dependent on a good pair of lungs back then, of course, but the occasional modern example plays the trope straight.
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16	Compare and contrast ChirpingCrickets (a visual or audio cue to represent silence or emptiness) and FaceFault (an instantaneous collapse as a [[TheTake reaction to something absurd]]). Loudspeaker trucks can also be used to deliver CannedOrdersOverLoudspeaker.
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18	[[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant Not to confuse with]] Camera {{Truck}} (moving the camera horizontally without changing the direction it points at) or with the [[Film/MadMaxFuryRoad Doof Wagon]].
19	----
20	!!Examples:
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22	[[AC:{{Anime}} & {{Manga}}]]
23	%% * ''Manga/{{Genshiken}}''
24	* ''Manga/HayateTheCombatButler'': A bamboo loudspeaker truck interrupts Wataru in the middle of a speech once, with his immediate LampshadeHanging implying that this isn't the first time it's done so.
25	%% * ''Manga/HisAndHerCircumstances'': An extended scene in the first episode.
26	%% * ''Manga/PleaseSaveMyEarth''
27	* ''Anime/PuniPuniPoemi'': Rather than a truck going by, three guys with FacelessMasses-type detail bounce by on oversized rubber balls, each one singing a line about their ball.
28	* ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'': The [[{{Macekre}} Mexican dub]] renders it as [[{{Woolseyism}} Oaxacan tamales]]. It may be worth noting here that there are similar trucks in similar roles in Mexico.
29	%% * ''Manga/StrawberryMarshmallow''
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31	[[AC:{{Film}}s -- Live-Action]]
32	* ''Film/BackToTheFuture1'': Two trucks with attached loudspeakers carry vastly different candidates who are separated by thirty years, yet they spout the ''exact same slogan''.
33	* ''Film/TheBluesBrothers'': The titular characters mount one on the Bluesmobile to advertise their show at the Plaza.
34	* ''Film/TheFamilyJewels'': Creator/JerryLewis hijacks a loudspeaker truck. Hilarity ensues, both before he hijacks it and afterwards.
35	* ''Film/OngBak'': Not quite a truck and certainly not a loudspeaker but an old woman wanders the streets of Bangkok, touting knives for sale. Unfortunately, she interrupts the pursuit of [[spoiler:Humlae, the odious comic relief]], so his previously unarmed pursuers are now happy to resume their hunt. With lots of knives.
36	* ''Film/PunchDrunks'': [[Film/TheThreeStooges Larry]] steals a loudspeaker truck shilling for a city candidate as a last-ditch attempt to get Curley (AKA "KO Stradivarius") to hear "Pop Goes The Weasel" so that he can win a big boxing match.
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38	[[AC:VideoGames]]
39	* ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert3'': The Allies send one of these to Russia to try and get the citizens to rebel and destroy your battle lab. Wait long enough without destroying it, and they will [[CurbStompBattle actually try this]].
40	-->Join the winning side!
41	* ''VideoGame/OsuTatakaeOuendan'': These are featured prominently in the "Taisetsu na Mono" stage of the first game. It involves a good-hearted politician and his sleazy rival trying to win over the public. They even get into a loudspeaker truck [[CarFu demolition derby]] at one point.
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43	[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
44	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': In [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS5E2CapeFeare "Cape Feare"]], Sideshow Bob harasses Bart by driving a truck down Evergreen Terrace and announcing the names of people he ''won't'' be trying to kill.

Context Main / LoudspeakerTruck