You will notice the labels are in English. So, whom do you think they expect to buy it? As H.L. Menken said, “No one ever lost any money underestimating the intelligence of the American public.”
One thing I noticed in Japanese magazines, is the complete lack of “fonts”. Even the simple things like “italics” and “bold” do not seem to exist. I think the only way to add variety to the text is to use English words and phrases…
japanese packaging can’t be taken literally. “diet water” could be the translation they chose, but the meaning is more like “a health conscious drink”. meaning IF you’re on a diet, this drink (which happens to be water) is a good choice. it doesn’t mean the water itself is in a diet or “lite” form. that’s an american way of thinking.
it doesn’t have the same connotations as american packaging.
Jim is right though Christian, but the point you make is slightly valid. The American population in general has one of the lowest IQs for a developed country, they may have some of the smartest people but their median intelligence is low. Even so your bold claim is unfounded, classical science has been developed by mainly Europeans, and in particular Germany. So next time get your facts straight before making a dim witted retort.
Also Americans are not a ‘race’.
It has become popular to demean Americans as being stupid, however, the United States has no monopoly on stupidity. There are stupid people in every country, and every culture. Location has very little to do with intelligence.
Walter, you make the remarkable claim that the median intelligence of Americans is low, but you don’t back it up with any cites. It would be very helpful if you could do that; otherwise you’re just making bald assertions without support, which anyone could do (in other words, I could counter your claim by simply stating, “No, our median intelligence is equal to or higher than that of other countries”, and my assertion would have as much weight as yours - which is to say, none whatsoever).
Germany, for all its scientific knowledge, has shown some deficiencies in its ethics or morality, in past decades. Overall I’m not sure they serve as a good role model for aspiring geniuses.
so Chiron, you think that to be a genius you have to have morals. The Germans were simply using the ends to justify the means, it doesn’t matter that they tested on humans it was accepted in the country at the time, so you can’t really say they didn’t have strong morals, that’s what they were taught was acceptable.
Well, you know, it DOES consist of a product with 0% fat, 0 calories, and containing no nutritious value, so obviously it WILL enable the user to lose weight if used as the only thing consumed.. but probably only for 2 weeks before they become emaciated and die of hunger…..
[...] so now that you know how it works, someone liked my post on Diet Water and submitted it to StumbleUpon. Since the post was submitted earlier this month, I’ve had [...]
@chiron. “Germany, for all its scientific knowledge, has shown some deficiencies in its ethics or morality, in past decades”. That goes for any country if you ask me, and for any decade.
However, you asked for some sites:
every three years an international comparison study takes place (Program for International Student Assessment, PISA) in which 43 countries participate. The last one was in 2006.
The quality of American education on almost any field is below average (not the lowest) .
E.g. the average problem solving literacy score is 500, for the US it’s 477.
Also the result of the Adult Literacy and Lifeskills Survey (ALL) isn’t much of a compliment either.
International comparisons are a good benchmark, but it is much more interesting to see how these scores evolve inside the US, and that is the biggest problem.
IMHO, the US are degrading into a class-society without a middle class to back the economy up, which is going to cost them a lot of international influence in the decades to come.
You will notice the labels are in English. So, whom do you think they expect to buy it? As H.L. Menken said, “No one ever lost any money underestimating the intelligence of the American public.”
A lot of products in Japan have English on them, even if they target Japanese consumers. It’s a trendy thing.
It’s true. The Japanese slap English on anything.
Good job condescending to the race of people that’s advanced science the farthest in human history, though, Jim.
biwx
I wish I would have thought of that.
yeah, but notice the labels below it. its written in japanese. it’s probably not just targeting americans.
of course its not targeting americans, its being sold in japan
One thing I noticed in Japanese magazines, is the complete lack of “fonts”. Even the simple things like “italics” and “bold” do not seem to exist. I think the only way to add variety to the text is to use English words and phrases…
japanese packaging can’t be taken literally. “diet water” could be the translation they chose, but the meaning is more like “a health conscious drink”. meaning IF you’re on a diet, this drink (which happens to be water) is a good choice. it doesn’t mean the water itself is in a diet or “lite” form. that’s an american way of thinking.
it doesn’t have the same connotations as american packaging.
Jim is right though Christian, but the point you make is slightly valid. The American population in general has one of the lowest IQs for a developed country, they may have some of the smartest people but their median intelligence is low. Even so your bold claim is unfounded, classical science has been developed by mainly Europeans, and in particular Germany. So next time get your facts straight before making a dim witted retort.
Also Americans are not a ‘race’.
It has become popular to demean Americans as being stupid, however, the United States has no monopoly on stupidity. There are stupid people in every country, and every culture. Location has very little to do with intelligence.
Walter, you make the remarkable claim that the median intelligence of Americans is low, but you don’t back it up with any cites. It would be very helpful if you could do that; otherwise you’re just making bald assertions without support, which anyone could do (in other words, I could counter your claim by simply stating, “No, our median intelligence is equal to or higher than that of other countries”, and my assertion would have as much weight as yours - which is to say, none whatsoever).
Germany, for all its scientific knowledge, has shown some deficiencies in its ethics or morality, in past decades. Overall I’m not sure they serve as a good role model for aspiring geniuses.
so Chiron, you think that to be a genius you have to have morals. The Germans were simply using the ends to justify the means, it doesn’t matter that they tested on humans it was accepted in the country at the time, so you can’t really say they didn’t have strong morals, that’s what they were taught was acceptable.
Well, you know, it DOES consist of a product with 0% fat, 0 calories, and containing no nutritious value, so obviously it WILL enable the user to lose weight if used as the only thing consumed.. but probably only for 2 weeks before they become emaciated and die of hunger…..
just proves that americans are the dumbest race on earth
[...] so now that you know how it works, someone liked my post on Diet Water and submitted it to StumbleUpon. Since the post was submitted earlier this month, I’ve had [...]
I’m calling Godwin’s, an associative fallacy at least.
@chiron. “Germany, for all its scientific knowledge, has shown some deficiencies in its ethics or morality, in past decades”. That goes for any country if you ask me, and for any decade.
However, you asked for some sites:
every three years an international comparison study takes place (Program for International Student Assessment, PISA) in which 43 countries participate. The last one was in 2006.
The quality of American education on almost any field is below average (not the lowest) .
E.g. the average problem solving literacy score is 500, for the US it’s 477.
Also the result of the Adult Literacy and Lifeskills Survey (ALL) isn’t much of a compliment either.
International comparisons are a good benchmark, but it is much more interesting to see how these scores evolve inside the US, and that is the biggest problem.
IMHO, the US are degrading into a class-society without a middle class to back the economy up, which is going to cost them a lot of international influence in the decades to come.
do forgive me the typo: it’s “cites”, not “sites”
(oops: just dropped a few places in PISA)
[...] clipped from http://www.dodgypete.com [...]
hahaha Jim everyone seems to think your intelligence is over estimated. Nice work, you have made us all proud.
Of course, you could hit http://www.engrish.com for a ton more!
[...] (dodgypete) [...]
[...] http://www.dodgypete.com/index.php/2007/09/25/only-in-japan/ [...]
[...] http://www.dodgypete.com/index.php/2007/09/25/only-in-japan/ [...]