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Comment by mc32 | Hacker News Reader

It depends on the audience.

Someone who admires Japanese culture will likely not have the same reaction as someone with little exposure to Japanese culture.

The picture is not even on the same planet as 'rapey' Whoever that was either said it to get a rise or they have some distinct issues.

One solution, perhaps, is avail both packaging options to buyers.

The typeface and font, I think, could be improved. It kind of looks like an afterthought. I don't see "branding". It's not Lobster or Comic Sans... but...

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> It depends on the audience.

One problem is that even if the person receiving the box is exposed to Japanese culture, their coworkers probably aren't.

So I think the main issue is how the buyer might perceive the packaging. If a coworker has issues... I think the coworker has issues. It's like someone finding Barbie offensive (for other than body image issues). I can't see it. Are these people who whisper and shuffle when they buy condoms or feminine products at the checkout counter? Do they wrap their wine or beer in brown bags? It's hard to imagine this person.

Humans are social animals. When I buy things, I absolutely consider how that purchase will look to other people. it's one of the primary reasons why brands have value.

You might not like that the world works that way, but as a business it's wise to not deny reality.

Right, but this nettlesome coworker you imagine is, I can only imagine, the lone outsider who can possibly find offense in the packaging. I think most would be like, hey, what's that? Oh, candy from _Japan_? Can I try one> Wow, Oishi!

I can guarantee you that nettlesome coworker is not alone in perceiving creepy links between Japanese cartoon characters and hentai.

That's the kind of person you do not want to work with. This the conspiracy theorist who misinterprets benign things and paints them in whatever twisted way they want for whatever odd reason they have.

_That_ person is the problem in the office, not the person who bought sweets online and probably shared them with some of the office.

If anything, the packaging helped reveal an oddball at the office.

> I absolutely consider how that purchase will look to other people. it's one of the primary reasons why brands have value.

Wait, what? In fashion, sure, by definition - but when I'm choosing between Persil and Tide, or Coke and Pepsi, or Pizza Hut and Domino's, I'm primarily looking at how good it is at whatever I want it to do. Which one cleans better, which one tastes better?

There's a certain point where many people start buying things more as social signalling than as actual useful things, but I'd disagree that the vast majority of brands could be fashion items in this way. The rest use their brands to evoke trustworthiness - "I know that this will do what I want".

Masking one's preferences and behavior to avoid offense in a public is a defining element of Japanese society and culture. And while everyone there is more inured to these kinds of graphics, the design of packaging for everyday goods often veers towards the minimal/elegant for precisely this reason.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honne_and_tatemae

That presumes this graphic is offensive which I feel it's not.

That said, that does not explain people reading the kinds of graphic novels and magazines they do in plain sight in public on trains in parks, etc.

I hadn't intended to imply that the graphic was offensive, nor do I think that most Japanese people would find it so either. I was just pointing out (perhaps imprecisely) that perceived appropriateness in Japan is highly context dependent, with work environments being amongst the most conservative in this regard. The degree to which people seek to avoid offending others (as compared to the US) is quite at odds with a "if someone doesn't like it, it's their problem" mentality.

Trains and parks, by contrast, are generally considered an appropriate context to consume these kinds of materials. That being said, book covers are also far more commonly used for exactly the same reasons.

Yeah that's something I find really embarrassing - so much so that my first thought was 'omg I have to cancel this service' when I saw it

Eh, I'm pretty sure most people in Japan would mutter 'hentai' if they saw that box on your desk. It's childish (at best), even by local standards.

That has to be a joke. This has no hint of tentacles or sexualization that I see. It's a couple of youngish* people sharing or (long shot, if you take the greedy view) tugging over the box of sweets.

*The age is hard to tell, it's like trying to divine Buggs Bunny's age from his cartoons. But the age is irrelevant as it's two people with a box of sweets.

I believe in Japanese "hentai" just means pervert, or perverted. It's only in the West that it's associated specifically with tentacle porn.

You're still right, though.

>Eh, I'm pretty sure most people in Japan would mutter 'hentai' if they saw that box on your desk.

You mean "kawaii," right?

Maybe if it was teenage girls all the way around. If a 25+ year old male had that laying around, I guarantee you all the women I know would non-judgmentally classify him as 'probably hentai'.

Yeah I think it's really borderline, besides the product is candy - not girls so why make girls the main / standout part of the very publicly visible packaging. It just looks... Dodgy!

Sort of... It follows Japanese advertising characteristics and they are selling Japanese candy. So.... But, yes, I think the people depicted are too prominent and the candy should be more conspicuous. The packaging might benefit by giving the candy more prominence?

I had to a do a double take on the logo typeface after I read your comment. Turns out it is Lobster.

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