#HTE

World’s Worst Commercial, Again: The Ili Portable Translator

Last year we wrote about Ili, a wondrous portable translation device that suffered from a badly-conceived commercial. To refresh your memory, it featured a white guy running around Tokyo using the device to ask random Japanese girls if he could kiss them. Following the backlash the commercial was pulled from Ili’s YouTube page, but has been preserved by others.

Well, apparently the folks behind Ili learned their lesson. Here’s their more recent commercial, which is much more respectful to women:

What the hell went on in that brainstorming meeting? “We’ve got this amazing device that can bridge communication gaps. Should we show it doing humanitarian work? Or place it in an educational context? Or depict its use in international peacekeeping operations?”

“Nah, I’ve got a way better idea.”