Link: http://www.suntory.co.jp/softdrink/bubbleman/may4.html

Do the koncho! Doot doot doot dee doot doot do doot do...


So I was watching TV the other day and a commercial for a new drink called Bubbleman 2 came on. It was your standard Mr. Sparklesque Japanese CM, and I didn't really notice anything out of the ordinary about it. My TV watching companion however (who would prefer to remain nameless) insisted that they saw a cartoon character doing something very inappropriate. Now I know that the Japanese aren't quite as puritanical as my North American brethren, what with the abundance of AV shacks along every country road and the availability of Ringu-Ringu in local grocery stores, but still this sounded like a bit much. Well I kept a watchful eye for the commercial, and sure enough later that night it came on again, and this time I saw it too! I couldn't believe my eyes, but it appeared as if the third Bubbleman cartoon character on the left was beating his own pleasure scepter with a drum stick! Well I decided to get to the bottom of this and tracked down the Bubbleman 2 website. There I learned that I had simply mistaken the Bubbleman Brothers Band's drummer's instrument for his member:


When placed between his big round green knees, you can see how anyone could have become confused by the sight of his hypersonic twanger. Don't believe me? Well, if you have a Windows PC with Media Player, then you can just go here and see for yourself what I mean.



Clearly my mental image of Bubbleman throbing his organ was no accident, but was by Suntory's design. Just look at the second "outtake" where the middle Bubbleman's bright red codpiece bumps into the camera if you're not yet convinced. Time to file another one under "Only in Japan".