Welcome to Bootleg News Reporter
A world dedicated to anime, manga, and Japanese news found on the web, so you don't have to go to more than one site.
Since the news being presented here is from other sites, they are not my original work and all credit goes to the original author. I'm really bootleging information, thus this world's title.
Well, hope these posts are useful and if you want to be a guest poster, please pm me.
Ok, I finally made a background^^ but I'm still tinkering with the header banner though. If you have ideas about the Bootleg's design, please let me know.
Just a moment ago, I happen to stumble upon an article from The Wall Street Journal about how Kraft has changed the formula and appearance to Oreos, so they can market them better in China.
It is off topic from the usual news that is delivered here, but I found it extremely fascinating.
“Kraft is the world's second largest food company by revenue.” “With its’ international business representing 40% of Kraft's revenue.”
In“1996, Kraft introduced Oreos to Chinese consumers.” They were not very successful though, as “Chinese Oreo sales represent a tiny fraction of Kraft's $37.2 billion in annual revenue” (WOW, that’s a tiny revenue *insert sarcasm here*).
Chinese found the cookies way too sweet and odd, that they did not catch on in China. So Kraft went to the drawing board and tinkered with the Oreo formula. They put a lot less sugar in them, making them not as sweet, and changed the shape to a longer wafer. They also took advantage of the growing demand for milk in China and advertised the Oreos being dunked in milk.
“In 2006, Oreo wafer sticks became the best-selling biscuit in China, outpacing HaoChiDian, a biscuit brand made by the Chinese company Dali. The new Oreos are also outselling traditional round Oreos in China, and Kraft has begun selling the wafers elsewhere in Asia, as well as in Australia and Canada."
The article also talks briefly about Kraft’s business history and how they have changed other products to fit international tastes. For example Kraft noticed “European preference for dark chocolate. Kraft is introducing dark chocolate in Germany under its Milka brand. Research in Russia showed that consumers there like premium instant coffee, so Kraft is positioning its Carte Noire freeze-dried coffee as upscale by placing it at film festivals, fashion shows and operas. And in the Philippines, where iced tea is popular, Kraft last year launched iced-tea-flavored Tang.”
AH, We all have come across those articles that make us pause and say “What!?” and questioned human society. Well in this edition of the bootleg I manage to gather up a few of those stories.
First up is the Placenta beverage…
YUM, that Placenta 10000 jelly drink, really does the body good!
Well food or beverages that promise beauty or health are always popular now days. Ignorant people feel that by ingesting those products, they are doing their body good. Well this product takes the cake…
FOSHU (Food for a Specific Health Use) foods and drinks are very popular in Japan right, especially when it has promise of enhancing beauty. One of the newest beverages to be released is zero-calorie Placenta 10000 jelly drink that has 10000 mg of pig placenta. Now if you don’t know what a placenta is, it is in a nutshell, the sack that a baby is in within a mother’s womb. It is removed at birth along with the umbilical cord. In some animals (such as dogs) they eat their placenta to start the mother to produce milk to feed their young. Here’s a picture of a human placenta http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b9/Human_placenta_both_sides.jpg I don’t recommend seeing this if you’re squeamish.
Why a placenta? Well supposedly it has regenerative properties, especially concerning beauty, and can help with dieting as well.
The drink cost $8 for the Caprisun sized drink, that supposedly tastes like peaches (Due to the artificial flavorings) . There is also a Placenta 400,000 which is a bigger dose and bottle.
Why one would drink this is WAY beyond me. Come on people, Pig’s Placenta !? As John Stossel from 20/20 would say, “Give me a break!”
Woman has to have her bottom surgically removed from a toilet seat
I’m sorry to say that this article no longer exists on the web, since the Mainichi Daily News site only keeps track of articles up to a few days. Here’s the original link I read it off of http://mdn.mainichi.jp/culture/news/20080313p2g00m0dm017000c.html. Since it is now gone, I am going by memory and lost some of the nitty-gritty details.
A young woman, who lived with her boyfriend, was physically stuck to her toilet seat, after she had been on it for two years straight. She ran into the bathroom two years prior and out of intense fear or really a phobia, would not leave the bathroom toilet seat. Her skin eventually grew over the seat and when she was taken out, surgeons had to operate to remove the seat.
PIka-A-Boo!
This was on a few sites, were there was some type festivity going on, that had giant inflatable pokemon, where inside was a jumper. Well the Pikachu jumper had an interesting entrance.
Why they put it there, I don’t know, but it is stupidly amusing. I could say more, but moving on to another mascot…
“Busty former swimsuit model turned TV personality Aki Hoshino, a well-known Hello Kitty devotee, has teamed up with Sanrio to produce this limited series of cheeky T-shirts that throws” Hello Kitty innocent appearance into questioned.
The picture is of Hello Kitty in a thong bathing suit while a fluffy puppy pulls on the thong strap (Kinda like the waterbabies sun block lotion), striking a pose with two apples in hands, that I think are suppose to symbolize breasts? The other t-shirt image is of the model in a bikini with her bikini bottom also being pulled by the puppy.
The first in the “Hoshino Akitty” line is available from this month for ¥5,800.
“Memorial stone maker Ishinokoe (Voice of the Stone) of Yamanashi Prefecture will soon begin producing grave stones with QR codes embedded in them. They are calling the concept Kuyou no Mado, roughly meaning “Memorial Service Window”, as visitors can scan the code with their mobiles and get information on the deceased.
Contents can include pictures, video, family information, and other items. While using a QR code for this may actually seem a bit outdated in a country of burgeoning RFID technology, they are simple and will likely be readable by generations of future devices. The sample QR code below is readable if you have a capable phone.”
Don’t have the space or money to take care of a cat? Well rent a cat! That’s right, at the Calico Café, customers can rent a cat for 800 yen an hour (about $8), so they can play with them inside the store rooms along with buying other souvenir merchandise.
In an article featuring Tokyo Anime Center's Top 10 Bestsellers in March. With the number one selling item being the Princess Mononoke post card set, followed by Black Jack Toilet Paper, and more anime toilet paper products. Out selling Tokyo International Anime Fair 2008 Reserved Tickets, the eva coffee and other products..
I have a few more news goodies, but do not pertain to this theme, so I’ll try to post them tomorrow, since it is extremely late and I got class later on today.
Man I’m boot! Goodnight or really good morning.
Thanks for stopping by and reading this world and thank you 2short, Nehszriah, and fallenangel8 for posting news today.
-TrigunCat4
Hello, Welcome to the Bootleg leftovers: the Food Addition.
Since I was noticing a surplus of Japanese food related news, I dedicated this report to food.
Sexy Time With Your Food or Sex Up Your Food
I was hesitant at first whether to post this information, but couldn’t pass up the bizarreness of this information. I am sorry if this offends people…
From an article in the Mainichi Daily News, in the underground of Tokyo’s Roppongi district, there is a member-only club/ restaurant, where for a big fee, members can have sex with the animal of their choice and then have it killed, cooked, and served to the member and his/hers party. “Patrons pay up to 800,000 yen (around $7000) for the entire experience and must have an income of 20 million yen (about $175,000) to even get that far. Once inside, through multiple secured doorways, your dating & dining choices include chickens, dogs, pigs and goats - of either sex”
The original online article was comically called “New Restaurant Lets You Pork Your Pork”
With the controversial issue of Whaling on the rise in Japan, there have been many research papers that are about ideas such as making test-tube whale babies and cow-whale hybrids for livestock, to solve the whaling problem. These essays have been published by Japan's Institute of Cetacean Research over the past 18 years in respected scientific journals including "Nature".
Had enough of Square Enix’s Final Fantasy Potion drink,? Well now gamers can guzzle down Monster Hunter Drink from the much anticipated Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G game for the PSP. “The Monster Hunter Drink is produced by Hino Pharmaceutical and contains royal jelly, vitamins, and fruit flavors.” Bandai is releasing them on March 27th and will only be sold in 7-11 convenience stores up until April. Bandai expects to sell 50 million of them for it’s limited run.
What the crap is Royal Jelly? I’ve never heard of it till now.
What do you get if Mochi and Waffles had a baby? You get Moffles!
I love Mochi and I love Waffles, but how do I combine the two, simple a Moffle. “It’s the latest food craze! Sweet or savory, the moffle is a waffle made from traditional Japanese mochi rice cakes. The outside of a moffle gets crispy like puffed rice but the inside retains its chewy mochi-ness. While a number of Japanese food bloggers claim that any waffle iron will do (and the trial and errors are well-documented), one clever company has already branded itself “Moffle” and produced a moffle maker. Available on Amazon Japan, the Moffle moffle maker comes in single (¥6,800) or double (¥12,790) iron models in “milk white” or “milk pink.”” They are served in many ways, from fruits and ice cream to curry and cheese. It’s a meal in itself.
To me, a Moffle looks like inversed bubble wrap. To see pictures and read the article, click on the link:
Mega Mac hamburger is permanently added to the Japanese McDonald’s menu
In Japanese McDonalds, for a limited time they had the Mega Mac Burger on the menu, but it was so popular (It sold over 23 million burgers), that it is now apart of the permanent menu. The burger consists of 3 buns, and 4 patties accompanied by lettuce, cheese, etc.
Not only is it apart of the menu, they are also running two limited addition burgers, part of the Mega Mac Series, one Being the Mega Muffin and the Mega Teriyaki. “To keep things lively, the products are time-restricted both in dates and hours. The Mega Mac is available as usual from 10:30 in the morning, but the Mega Muffin is only available from opening time until 10:30, and the Mega Teriyaki from 7 p.m. until closing time. That, and both of these new items are only available from April 4th until May 8th.” There is also a site promoting the Mega Mac in Japan http://megamac.jp/
Obviously the documentary “Super Size Me” has had no effect in Japan…
Eva Coffee Cans Available Exclusively To Pachinko Parlors
This is old news (I’ve posted it before for the first time the podcast team wanted info), but the site Akihabanana has posted another article about UCC Coffee cans have the Eva girls dressed up as maid on it. It is for a limited time, to promote the Eva Movies and is only available at Pachinko Parlors.
Tommy Lee Jones Coffee Commerical
To end this report, I leave you a Boss Coffee commercial featuring Tommmy Lee Jones (K from Men in Black), which was part of a series of twelve commercials called "Alien Tommy Lee Jones". Where Mr. Jones plays a alien visting Japan and it's many cultural aspects. The funny part about these commericals is that he hardly says anything nor make any facial expressions in them.
This was also featured on Japanprobe.com a while back...
