Genevieve: I’ve noticed that a lot of the famous actors used here in popular ads are Western actors. And many of them are tired and old looking. If you saw the movie Lost in Translation where Bill Murray portrayed a weary and jaded movie star acting in Japanese whisky commercials, this was a suprisingly accurate portrayal of what I’m talking about.  I mean of course actors like Cameron Diaz and Brad Pitt are popular and used in cell phone commercials and other ads, but the Japanese do seem to have a definite fondness for old tired white men.  Be it Tommy Lee Jones, Bruce Willis, Sylvester Stallone, or Steven Segal, they like them. Anyways, I snapped this shot of a vending machine up the street from our apt. This particular ad is actually all over Tokyo–trains, billboards over Shibuya crossing–everywhere. It features Tommy Lee Jones advertising suntory BOSS coffee in a can. When I pointed this ad out to Walter, he said that maybe they used his image because he looks so tired that he obviously needs help from the coffee. I don’t think so–seems like too much of a stretch to me. Whatever the reason though, he sure does look tired.