Japanese boycott McDonald's for Korean-style bow in commercial

By Lim Jeong-yeo

Published : April 12, 2016 - 15:53

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Some Japanese consumers are boycotting McDonald’s for a commercial that depicts a Korean-style bow, a Japan-based English-language online publication said Friday.

(YouTube capture)

The commercial in question shows a McDonald’s employee politely bowing to customers before attending to their orders. While the commercial obviously intends to portray polite service, some Japanese viewers have found fault with the way the employee bows, with her hands clasped in front of her stomach, saying it appears to be Korean.

Online comments from Japanese YouTube users read, “McDonald’s, are you trying to pick a fight with Japan?” and “Things like this are why McDonald’s sales keep dropping.”

Others defended the video, saying, “As usual, ultranationalist Internet users stink” and “Rather than picking apart her bowing posture, why don’t you work on your own manners?”

In Japan, bows have separate terms according to where the bowing person‘s hands are placed. Japanese-style bowing places hands next to the thighs and is called “ojigi,” while the Korean-style bowing is referred to as “konsu.”

McDonald’s Japan is contemplating deleting the commercial video to assuage mounting criticism and talks of boycotting the establishments.

By Lim Jeong-yeo (kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)

Read the original article by RocketNews here:

http://en.rocketnews24.com/2016/04/08/blink-and-youll-miss-what-riled-racists-in-this-japanese-mcdonalds-ad

Japanese boycott McDonald's for Korean-style bow in commercial

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