Sound Familiar? May 31, 2007
Here’s some background. These two chums are a shamisen-playing duo in Japan, called the Yoshida Brothers. Sound familiar? It should. This song is called Kodo. A remix of the song is used in the Nintendo Wii commercials in America. The ending sequence in each of the Wii commercials is based on the remix’s name, “Into the Sun”.
Interesting, huh?
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nice find
i want to learn hot to play their little guitar thingy majiggers
You gotta love the branding effort here by Nintendo. From the people-shaped i’s in the “Wii” logo to the 2 guys appearing at the doorstep, they consistently present the message of people enjoying games together. Now add the fact that the background track was composed by these two brothers- and the real messaging behind the whole thing just boggles the mind.
(In contrast, I would just like to point out that the PS3 branding is basically a Spiderman ripoff.)
Now if only the Wii titles would catch up with their brand.
Yoshida Brothers - Kodo (In The Sun Remix) is taken off of their 2nd American album.
I’m a fan of their music, bringing back the traditional shamisen instrument. I learned about them when they recently collabed with J-Pop/Canadian-American band, Monkey Majik, which is one of my favorites at the moment.
\:D/
// Roth
Yeah, the name of the remix had nothing to do with the commercial, to be honest, since the song and remix were released back in 2004.
If anything, the commercial approach was based on the song name, I’d say.
Okay, I’ll edit that =)
The way I think of it is the visual for the advertisement was to incoporate this new revolutionary gaming craze with a solid Asianic theme. So they got these two Japanese guys going town to town in their funny looking car, and let everyone try out the Wii. And what better way to make the vibe more Asianic than to add some Asian music. That’s where the Yoshida Bros. come in. With a tight upbeat remix, it’ll sure to get your heads bobbing throughout the commercial, leaving the viewers with a feel of wanting that experience.
By the way, I dig that funny-looking car, what the heck is it? I want one!
\:D/
// Roth
Hmm… I think the car is called a Mercedes Smart Car, or something like that.
If only the adverts were as good here in the UK