Summer adverts

Epson has released two summer themed ads for its printer Colorio - a rare example of a non-Japanese company coming up with an advert that refers to the four seasons. Japanese companies use such references much more frequently - there is no escaping adverts featuring cherry blossoms in spring or autumn leaves in fall. My local supermarket has just put up signs with the word "autumn" - and it is still mid-August!

People in Japan are generally very proud of the four seasons - which is often surprising to someone from Europe or the US as four seasons are of course not unique to Japan. The difference is that everyday life in Japan reflects the seasons much more strongly, as there is an abundance of seasonal foods and activities. Furthermore, a rich variety of seasonal signifiers such as the above cherry blossoms were and are still used in traditional arts, for example Japanese-style painting and poetry. Of course consumers these days only recognize the most obvious ones, but they are recognized immediately and the associations they evoke are positive.

For some reason, however, foreign companies seem to prefer adverts without any seasonal content - maybe because the same ads are used in countries other than Japan as well. But even as ads targeted specifically to the Japanese market very rarely contain seasonal signifiers. I wonder whether this is done on purpose (to convey an international or foreign image, maybe) or companies are simply not sufficiently aware of the importance of these cultural codes and therefore they get lost in increasingly globalized advertising campaigns.