JAPANESE & KOREAN URBAN LEGENDS

JAPANESE & KOREAN URBAN LEGEND

So this is the last urban legend I know. This is so creepy, even I can't believe that is is a urban legend. 

IN 1986, KLEENEX RELEASED THIS COMMERCIAL in Japan. It's a simple, almost minimalistic premise: a woman in white and an ogre child sit on a pile of hay and enjoy their Kleenex brand tissues while the song "It's a Fine Day" by Jane & Barton plays in the background.

Almost instantly, TV stations and Kleenex corporate allegedly began receiving complaints regarding the ad. Perhaps it was its overall strangeness, perhaps it was the minor key of the song, but people were almost ubiquitously unnerved by the commercial and requested that it be taken off the air.

 As mass media is wont to do, the advertisement sparked a number of urban legends. Several rumors began to circulate about the cast. One claimed the entire film crew met untimely deaths in freak accidents. Another reported that the ogre child had died immediately after filming. Still others circulated that the actress, Keiko Matsuzaka, died, was committed to a psychiatric hospital following a mental breakdown, or became pregnant with a demon baby.

The song, in particular, seemed to unnerve people. Many asserted that "It's a Fine Day" was a German curse, despite the fact that it was in English. Others claimed that when the ad came on late at night, the singer's voice transformed from that of a young soprano to a raspy old woman's. 

TRUTH IS...

Part of the reason that this creepy urban legend swirled around for so long is the fact that nobody had seen it for years. It had aired only a few times before it was pulled, and had been out of circulation for decades. It only recently popped up on YouTube and, wouldn't you know it, not one of these rumors proved to be true.

A little research showed that none of the actors (nor the cameraman) had died, mysteriously or otherwise. There was no "demon baby"... Even the "freaky German death music" ended-up being just a piece of pop music—sung in English! So much for urban legends.

HOPE ALL ENJOYED READING THIS. AND THIS IS LAST ONE.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE SUPPORT.

WITH LOVE

~ADHEENA