Japan Advertising Council: AC Japan

Since March 11, advertising sponsors decided on their own volition to stop broadcasting TV and radio commercials and replace them with ads from the nonprofit organization Japan Advertising Council. According to a report on The Wall Street Journal's site, "AC commercials are aired on behalf of various sponsors, including nonprofit organizations and government agencies, and have several permutations, most of which promote traditional Japanese virtues such as helping one another and the importance of communication."

　The article gives an example of one of the group of ads that have been airing constantly over these past days:

In one commercial, a teenager sees a pregnant woman board a bus, and then sees another woman offer her seat to her. Racked with guilt for not helping, he then sees an older woman outside walking up some stairs and goes to help her.

　Some people are getting tired of the ads and have voiced complaints. They are annoyed by the repetitiveness and the perky "A~C~♫" at the end of every commercial, which are mostly 30-second spots. Some evacuees are also upset - one woman complained that the ad urging women to have regular examinations for breast and cervical cancer was infuriating since she couldn't receive even basic medical care in the shelter where she is staying. AC has announced that they are making efforts to cut the melody out of their ads and create new commercials that are more suitable for the current situation. [note: this has already begun - goodbye melody, hello new ads].

　Poster ads seem to have disappeared from train cars too, in an effort to avoid the possibility of upsetting or offending people. 

This ad, "arigato, " stresses the importance of giving greetings, saying thank you

 and expressing other kindnesses to make friends.

Ad with English subtitles here.

The entertainment industry has shown similar restraint by pulling films from screens that may offend or upset audiences in the wake of the past week's events. The same goes for TV movies. All in all, the media are trying to show respect by keeping low-key profiles.

One more ad with English subtitles here.