Fukuppy: new mascot for Fukushima! (company, not prefecture)

[omae mona]

Fukushima Industries' new mascot (well spotted by the illustrious Ken Y-N elsewhere on the internet)

fukuppy.jpg

This company makes refrigerators, but I think TEPCO's gonna have to find a way to license this character.

I think we might find that this fellow, when off-duty, spends his timing drinking one of our old favorite FG beverages:

konchikitai_fukucup-kuro.jpg

[Russell]

You can't make this up.

[Coligny]

Fukucup... It a new Tenga model ?

[Taro Toporific]

Fukucup... It a new Tenga model ?

fukucup.jpg

Nope.
Fukucup(tm) has been the official drink of the FG Forum since 2006.

fukucup_fg-official-drink.jpg

(Generously presented by omae mona to me as a housewarming gift)

FUKUCUP_time.jpg

[kurogane]

How do you even pronounce Fukuppy????

[Russell]

Fukucup... It a new Tenga model ?

fukucup.jpg

Nope.
Fukucup(tm) has been the official drink of the FG Forum since 2006.

So Taro, where can I buy those?

[kurogane]

Crikey! It's already gone sideways for Fukuppy:

[omae mona]

Fukucup(tm) has been the official drink of the FG Forum since 2006.

So Taro, where can I buy those?

Oh no... the maker seems to have discontinued the product. At least I can't find it on their home page anymore: (http://www.fukumitsuya.com/fukumasa/index.html is the link I posted years back...).

On the other hand, some store from Ishikawa prefecture seems to have it available on Yahoo Shopping:
http://store.shopping.yahoo.co.jp/konchikitai/fukucup-kuro.html. I'm a little bit suspicious the stuff's been sitting on the shelf for a while, though.

[Russell]

Fukucup(tm) has been the official drink of the FG Forum since 2006.

So Taro, where can I buy those?

Oh no... the maker seems to have discontinued the product. At least I can't find it on their home page anymore: (http://www.fukumitsuya.com/fukumasa/index.html is the link I posted years back...).

On the other hand, some store from Ishikawa prefecture seems to have it available on Yahoo Shopping:
http://store.shopping.yahoo.co.jp/konchikitai/fukucup-kuro.html. I'm a little bit suspicious the stuff's been sitting on the shelf for a while, though.

Thanks!

It's not that I want to drink it anyway, but it is a nice decoration on my shelf.

[Coligny]

It's not that I want to drink it anyway, but it is a nice decoration on my shelf.

Until the next quake...

[Samurai_Jerk]

fuk・upp・y

ADJECTIVE:
fuk・upp・i・er, fuk・upp・i・est

1. Prone to fuck ups.

[omae mona]

Oh, フク！

Fukushima Industries got word of the global media attention that followed the publicity here at FG. In addition to issuing a boring explanation and apology letter, they've re-rendered Fukuppy in katakana, so we barbarians can't make fun of it any more.

Behold, Fukuppy reborn:

fukuppy2.jpg

[GomiGirl]

I found it amusing how even some journalists made the mistake that this was about the prefecture (or worse the nuclear plant) and were tweeting and retweeting without thinking.

Twitter should have a "really are you sure?" button to give people a chance to double check before posting without fact checking.

But hey - it comes out from Japan so it has to be wacky and stupid right?

[Coligny]

Must admit that the 'stupid' part is more and more justified...

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

Must admit that the 'stupid' part is more and more justified...

Oh, the irony....

[Coligny]

Must admit that the 'stupid' part is more and more justified...

Oh, the irony....

Say the guy from Bungholistan...

[Taro Toporific]

Fukushima Industries got word of the global media attention that followed the publicity here at FG. In addition to issuing a boring explanation and apology letter, they've re-rendered Fukuppy in katakana, so we barbarians can't make fun of it any more.
Behold, Fukuppy reborn:

He’s baaaack!
While checking on Japan’s “Kinky University” name change, I see that The Sun Daily reported that Mr. Fukuppy is back after only a few month’s banishment. Fukuppy-chama must have some major clout in Fukusima Co.

Screen shot of fukusima.co.jp at 2014-05-21 at 11.44.04 PM

Screen Shot 2014-05-21 at 11.44.04 PM.png

[omae mona]

Was this a Fukup? Or did they decide that after the initial media attention, the public would get bored and they could go back to their original plan?

Here's the Wayback Machine capture of their page on October 11, 2013:
https://web.archive.org/web/20131011013 ... ima.co.jp/

Here's the Wayback Machine capture of their page on October 20, 2013, with the English mascot name gone and a PDF apology letter written in English:
https://web.archive.org/web/20131020164 ... ima.co.jp/

The apology letter is now offline also (the URL doesn't work anymore).

[Taro Toporific]

Was this a Fukup? Or did they decide that after the initial media attention, the public would get bored and they could go back to their original plan?
Here's the Wayback Machine capture of their page on October 20, 2013, with the English mascot name gone and a PDF apology letter written in English:
https://web.archive.org/web/20131020164 ... ima.co.jp/
The apology letter is now offline also (the URL doesn't work anymore).

The triumphant return of Fukuppy was quite intentional and looks like it occurred at the start of fiscal year 2014 with the annual updating of their website in April. Fukuppy's faux-apology letter only says that they, "will continue to consider how the name should be transliterated as well as the name itself."

("apology letter")
Fukushima Industries Corporation
October 15, 2013
On the naming of our corporate mascot
It seems that the transliteration of the name of our corporate mascot into the English alphabet has been mistakenly associated with some unsavory words by people living in English speaking countries, or some content on the Internet may have led to misunderstandings. We apologize profusely for having caused concern and misunderstanding among a great many people...
<snip>
... name is derived from a combination of the "Fuku" in the company name--Fukushima--with the "-ppy" in the word "happy," which is part of our corporate identity as a: "Happiness Creation Company."
With respect to naming, we will continue to consider how the name should be transliterated as well as the name itself.

web.archive.org/web/20131020170037/http://www.fukusima.co.jp/character/pdf/131016.pdf

Was this a Fukup? Or did they decide that after the initial media attention, the public would get bored and they could go back to their original plan?

Fun Fukups like Fukuppy were quite common when I used to do product naming at Hitachi. They'd send me a Fukuppy-like name---I'd reject it---Three months later they'd send me a patent to check that had the rejected name on it.
For example, for years I had to work on a software product that purposely named "GRABAS(tm)."
Even though I explained to management that GRAB-ASS is the only way an English speaker could pronounce the name and think of it, the Japanese demanded to using the name (grabas means "helpful" in an obscure dialect in Kyushu).
Another great software product name my bosses demanded to use was HIMAN(tm). The bosses were laughed of the stage at the software’s introduction at a international conference in Switzerland because HIMAN is pronounced hymen. The giggling started when one of the butthead bosses at the conference near the start of his speech when he read: "We then made a HIMAN(hymen) breakthrough…"

[Samurai_Jerk]

If you're tired of pink tacos or fur burgers, there's always pizza.

[matsuki]

Fun Fukups like Fukuppy were quite common when I used to do product naming at Hitachi. They'd send me a Fukuppy-like name---I'd reject it---Three months later they'd send me a patent to check that had the rejected name on it.
For example, for years I had to work on a software product that purposely named "GRABAS(tm)."
Even though I explained to management that GRAB-ASS is the only way an English speaker could pronounce the name and think of it, the Japanese demanded to using the name (grabas means "helpful" in an obscure dialect in Kyushu).
Another great software product name my bosses demanded to use was HIMAN(tm). The bosses were laughed of the stage at the software’s introduction at a international conference in Switzerland because HIMAN is pronounced hymen. The giggling started when one of the butthead bosses at the conference near the start of his speech when he read: "We then made a HIMAN(hymen) breakthrough…"

What about the Engrish slogans some of the companies have? The internet distributor I used to work with (long since went under) was called "Nix" and all their ads and even business cards had the slogan "face2face communication!" I only met them once in the 6 years I worked with them

If you're tired of pink tacos or fur burgers, there's always pizza.

While it was in the US, my previous employment (importing Japanese goods) had a customer with the last name Manco. Everytime he'd call, we'd bust up laughing. Made the phone d00d shoot RedBull out of his nose while on the phone with him. "Are there any Harry's in the Manco family?"

[Taro Toporific]

:banana: Was this a Fukup?

Fukippy-approved.gif

Yahoo News | 2020 Jan. 11
...Subaru's latest model...unveiled at the 2020 Singapore Motor Show, is called the Forester Ultimate Customised Kit Special edition. Or, for short, the FUCKS edition.
More..

[omae mona]

Subaru's latest model...unveiled at the 2020 Singapore Motor Show, is called the Forester Ultimate Customised Kit Special edition. Or, for short, the FUCKS edition.

Hmmm. I wonder if that's intentional. It almost feels like another of those "English-speaking marketing employee gets revenge against company on last day of work" stories. I am going to go over to the new shopping complex in Shibuya and ponder this while sipping my daily bubble tea.

fukuras.png

[Taro Toporific]

...I wonder if that's intentional. ... I am going to go over to the new shopping complex in Shibuya and ponder this while sipping my daily bubble tea.

fukuras.png

I always get the feeling they are trolling us.
This Shibuya shopping complex is going to be a photo favorite with this year's Olympic tourists.