Follow TV Tropes

Following

Loudspeaker Truck

Go To

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/2000px_horn_loudspeaker_truck_1929.jpg
This 1929 loudspeaker truck was good at getting the neighborhood's attention.
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 Hyperspace Mallet.

Items announced by loudspeaker trucks include:

  1. Bamboo poles for drying laundry (most Japanese apartment dwellers don't have dryers)
  2. Yakiimo (broiled sweet potatoes, a winter treat)
  3. Political candidates
  4. Collections of old electronics (often hilariously outdated, such as "Famicom, PlayStation, tape decks, color TVs...")

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.

A common Western variant is the "rag-and-bone man", who'd walk through the streets of a big town —usually, Victorian London but the practice persisted until well into The '30s— 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.

Compare and contrast Chirping Crickets (a visual or audio cue to represent silence or emptiness) and Face Fault (an instantaneous collapse as a reaction to something absurd). Loudspeaker trucks can also be used to deliver Canned Orders over Loudspeaker.

Not to confuse with Camera Truck (moving the camera horizontally without changing the direction it points at) or with the Doof Wagon.


Examples:

Anime & Manga

Films — Live-Action

  • Back to the Future: Two trucks with attached loudspeakers carry vastly different candidates who are separated by thirty years, yet they spout the exact same slogan.
  • The Blues Brothers: The titular characters mount one on the Bluesmobile to advertise their show at the Plaza.
  • The Family Jewels: Jerry Lewis hijacks a loudspeaker truck. Hilarity ensues, both before he hijacks it and afterwards.
  • Ong-Bak: 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 Humlae, the odious comic relief, so his previously unarmed pursuers are now happy to resume their hunt. With lots of knives.
  • Punch Drunks: 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.

Video Games

  • Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3: 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 actually try this.
    Join the winning side!
  • Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan: 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 demolition derby at one point.

Western Animation

  • The Simpsons: In "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.

Top