Job Discussion Forums

[Gray000]

Here's something left field for ya! I'm a law student at Vanderbilt University. Before I came back to the states, I taught English in China for 3 years and got a Master's in Applied Ling.

I've got a class this semester called "Methods and Ethics of information gathering." It's taught by a reporter named Willy Stern.
http://law.vanderbilt.edu/faculty/adjunct-faculty/willy-stern/index.aspx

For our final exam, he has given us a long list of outrageous statements to prove or disprove about himself, ranging from"WS dropped acid more than 10 times while an undergraduate" to "WS is a two time pulitzer prize winner." Some of it we can find on the web or through Lexis, some of it we have to try to find leads and get them to talk. I had to find the phone number of a high school classmante and call him, the names of college classmates and call/email them, the phone numbers of neighbors, etc. Cool eh? Maybe a similar project would work for your students?

Aside from maybe giving you a few ideas for assignments, I was hoping to enlist your help in doing mine. One of the statements is "WS has appeared in a very well-known Japanese TV commercial for a cockroach killer spray named Kinchoru. In that ad, Stern sang (however off key) in Japanese." Normally, these statements are at least half true - there's some connection there, just not what he claims.

I've done what I can online - I have verified that Kinchoru exists, and I've seen two ads online. I was hoping you could ask around and find out if there has ever been a Kinchoru commercial with a curly-haired, big-nosed white guy singing poorly?

Any help is much appreciated.

Thanks,
Gray

[JimDunlop2]

That is indeed out in left field... However is there any way of finding out from your prof. WHEN he allegedly appeared in said commercials? Having a year or range of years to work with could help a lot.

Also, you may want to seek out some Japanese people for this -- maybe some exchange students at your university... Most of the people here have not lived in Japan very long -- there are a few veterans of course, but I think you will get more mileage from someone who has watched Japanese TV for many years.... Most of us don't fit that bill.

Good luck though. Hope you find your answer.

[canuck]

Finally a thread that using the search function wouldn't have helped! Very refreshing. Unfortunately I can't provide any answers to your questions. Good luck. Hopefully someone will know.

[markle]

Here's how I'd do it.
Find out the name of the company that owns the brand.
Contact said company and find out who does their ad campaigns.
Contact the ad company and take it from there.
It will be difficult from outside the contry but not impossible.

[Gray000]

Thanks for the tips, guys. I watched a bunch of the ads on youtube and asked a japanese student here at vandy. He got the company's number, but w/ the time difference I didn't have a chance to try them before the time ran out...

Seriously, tho - I think extensive reading and reading for gist is seriously undertaught. ( I taught in China, tho, so...) Timed internet scavenger hunts might be a way to work it in.

[markle]