Onitsuka Tiger of Japan has recently launched a promotional mini-sitelet displaying a mosaic shoe made of thumbnails and image links to Japanese sites.  Clicking on tiles takes teh visitor to one of hundreds of sites craweled by flash engine.  Images and links appear to refresh to reflect different models of brand.

Definitely fun and fresh - plus a unique way to explore the web.

While a bit nationalistic for our tastes with the “Made of Japan” slogan - we commend the agency for their creativity.

Visit the site - you’ll have fun

Okay even this shook us by surprise. We present another totally useless but fun innovation from Japan - the Fishtank/DeepFryer!

Its difficult to describe - a Japanese restaurant has combined a deep-fat fryer with a functional goldfish tank â?? the boiling oil floats on the surface of the cool water, and the fish get to eat all the crumbs of batter that dribble down.

Why? - Well it seems to us - just because they could. Watch the video for a better understanding of this truly “amazing” device.

Read more…

How’s it work you ask?

Well it appears the laws of chemistry hold true - even at 163 degrees Celsius oil floats on water creating a barrier in which goldfish happily stay away from the surface. The amazing part is that as food is fried overhead small crumps fall through the oil/water barrier to the surface.

Maybe afraid of the shock to viewers - the tank/fryer is stored away from customers providing entertainment and enjoyment to the cook.

Developed by the WaterFryer company - the device took more than 10 years to develop.

Our take? We love it - its funky fun and totally useless.

UPDATE! WE WERE WRONG - Its funky and USEFUL!

We’ve taken the liberty to do some reading about the WaterFryer company. The fish aren’t part of an evil torture device or a strange marketing campaign - but instead part of a demonstration of a rather unique solution to a common problem for chefs and cooks worldwide. As demonstrated by the video with the wok example. Food or items with water will create explosive dangerous splatter. This frying machine with its underlying water tank limits the splatter effect by causing the potential splatter to be released into the water below. AMAZING!!!

In its efforts to foster talent among young artists from Japan and abroad, Tokyo Wonder Site has held street painting sessions and Hip Hop projects, treating graffiti and club events as familiar and important parts of our culture. For this exhibition, together with Agnès B, TWS Shibuya is exhibiting a set of collaborative works made by two internationally active artists, Shephard Fairey aka Obey Giant and WK Interact.

With both of these artists coming from a background of making works filled with visuals that transcend the already visually saturated, sign-filled urban environments they both come from, the works on show in this exhibition have been made to the theme of “propaganda”.”

So states Tokyo Art Beat on the Obey Giant vs WK Interact “East/West Propaganda Project”

We’re big fans of the Obey Giant “global” brand and other similar Banksy like outdoor graphics.

In Tokyo check out the show on some of the most successful propaganda/ guerrilla grafitti campaigns in history @

Venue: Tokyo Wonder Site, Shibuya

Schedule: From 2007-03-23 To 2007-04-22

Address: 1-19-8 Jinnan, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0041

Phone: 03-3463-0603

We’re not really sure what to make of Justin.tv - the streaming reality web show portraying the life of Justin Khan 24/7 - but we’re betting this might be something that could explode in popularity. Is this the natural progression of video online? Will “you” be the next Big Brother? Are we gonna see a network erupt of other Justin’s or other streaming video loggers? I can’t wait for a hot girl 24/7. I’ve always wanted a human fish bowl.

Congrats to the guys @ Justin.tv from fellow monkeys at Aap!Global

A student interested in advertising contacted us and asked:

“Dear Aap!? How do you guys come up with all your crazy ideas? - Seriously where did you come up with the idea to put advertising on handrails? And more importantly how do you get the permission to do them? “

Our response? - Just one word - Coffee.

Drink enough of the canned Japanese variety and you too will be thinking up random and fun exciting thoughts.

To find the perfect blend to your need - we recommend the wonderfully delightful Canned Coffee blog - a review site of sorts covering the world of canned (Japanese)? coffee.

Go drink and be productive.

As for getting permission to do some of the things we do - we attribute it to persistence - as our friends at Nike would say - “Just Do IT!”

Kapitaal is an amazing animated video illustrating the overwhelming amount of advertising we [face, enjoy, encounter] (choose your verb) every day in our urban cities…

Via - Wooster Collective

Today we’re exploring the controversial world of subliminal advertising with an over of recent me examples in practice across different media in hopes of determining if its effective, ethical and productive.

First a definition from Wikipedia:

“A subliminal message is a signal or message embedded in another object, designed to pass below the normal limits of perception. These messages are indiscernible to the conscious mind, but are alleged to be perceptible to the subconscious or deeper mind: for example, an image transmitted so briefly that it is only perceived subconsciously, but not otherwise noticed. Subliminal techniques have occasionally been used in advertising and propaganda; the purpose, effectiveness and frequency of such techniques is debated.” (Wikipedia)

So where does it fit in the world of advertising?

Lets move to a well known historical example:

DRINK COKE! - EAT POPCORN

“Perhaps the most widely known claim was made in 1957 by James Vicary, a market researcher. He claimed that over a six-week period, 45,699 patrons at a movie theater in Fort Lee, New Jersey were shown two advertising messages, Eat Popcorn and Drink Coca-Cola, while they watched the film Picnic. According to Vicary, a message was flashed for 3/1000 of a second once every five seconds. The duration of the messages was so short that they were never consciously perceived. Despite the fact that the customers were not aware of perceiving the messages, Vicary claimed that over the six-week period the sales of popcorn rose 57.7% and the sales of Coca-Cola rose 18.1%.”

Vicary’s claims led to a public outcry, and to many conspiracy theories of governments and cults using the technique to their advantage. The practice of subliminal advertising was subsequently banned in the United Kingdom, and Australia, but not formally in the United States (actions were taken by the National Association of Broadcasters in 1958.

Read the rest of this entry »

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Forget advertising wrapped buses and the American pimped out ride! Today we’re introducing you to “Decotora” or “ã??ã?³ã??ã?©” - the fun and wacky line of Japanese pimped out of buses and trucks. From estranged Godzillaesque monsters to stylish low riding styles with Samuri themes - from Kansai to Hokkaido - count yourself lucky to see one of the pimped out rides in Japan!

From Wikipedia we learn:

” (ã??ã?³ã??ã?©, dekotora^?), an abbreviation for “Decoration Truck”, is a loudly decorated truck found often in Japan. Dekotora commonly have neon or ultraviolet lights, extravagant paints, and shiny stainless or golden exterior parts. These decorations can be found on both the cab and the trailer, and not only on the exterior but also in the interior. Dekotora may be created by workers out of their work trucks for fun, or they may be designed by hobbyists for special events. They are sometimes also referred to as Art Trucks (ã?¢ã?¼ã??ã??ã?©ã??ã?¯), Ä?totorakku)^?).”

Suggested Links for the Ultimate Ride!

• “Decotora” - Gallery (English)
• “Decotora” Photo Gallery (Japanese _ Massive and worth Visiting for Video Gamesque sound)
• Cult Playstation 2 Video Game - “Decotora Geijustu Den” - Where you can virtually first drive and pimp out your Decotora ride
• Mini Decotora’s for your desk - Buy yourself a mini Decotora Vehicle
• ç??ã?»ç??èµ°ã??ã?³ã??ã?©ä¼?説 ã?ªã?ªã?¸ã??ã?«ã?µã?¦ã?³ã??ã??ã?©ã??ã?¯ - or the essential soundtrack to your “Decotora” Lifestyle!
• ã?¿ã?³ã??ã?? - (Tampopo) - While Goro’s truck is hardly decked out in the Decotora style - we recommend you watch this beautiful and fun “Noodle Western!”

Now what does Aap!Global have to do this ?- well we just wanted to share some of our unusual sources of inspiration! While we haven’t yet pimped out of our delivery truck - we’re pimping out escalators, tunnels and more! What are you pimping out?

The 145 meter tall Dexia Tower in Belgium has been outfitted with a system of RGB Colored LED bars over its 4200 windows can be individually illuminated and controlled from an installation at the bottom of the tower.

Both static and dynamic input is supported.

The building’s light designs can change in real time and allow through a live snapshot picture taken from a distance to be sent digitally as an electronic postcard. Useful for seasonal campaigns, attention and the possible advertising campaign.

Recommended links of similar massive LED building installations @ Berlin LED Dispaly
More Info @ dexia-tower.be & lab-au.com

Out of Xmas Cards?

Look no further - create a simple and fun Flip-book for friends and family using your Mac.

Print out your own with the following PDF download (17megs)
Music Credit: Elektrisches Roulette by Kraftwerk of the album Ralf & FlorianSoftware Used: Flipbook Tweaker By TweakerSoft.

Merry X-Mas from the folks building giant flipbooks inside metro tunnels.