Japanese patrons saw a semi-sweet dessert; the English-langauge Twitterverse saw something less savoury.
McDonald's Japan's new โCream Pie for Adultsโ (ๅคงไบบใฎใฏใชใผใ ใใค), with Belgian chocolate (left) and โsweet frommageโ (right) flavors. Screencap from McDonald's Japan official YouTube channel.
If the goal was to generate buzz, McDonald's Japan struck the mother lode in January when it launched its new dessert. For at least a week, the new offering was a key topic of conversation on Facebook and Twitter, and generated headlines around the world. Unfortunately for McDonald's, however, it wasn't the new product people were talking about, but its name translated into rather lewd English.
โDidn't McDonald's Japan understand how bad it sounds in English?โ was a common reaction. โWhat were they thinking?โ
The name of new dessert offered by McDonald's in Japan? Otona No Kuriimu Pai (ๅคงไบบใฎใฏใชใผใ ใใค). Available in semi-sweet โfrommageโ and Belgian chocolate flavors, directly translated, the dessert's name means โCream Pie for Grownups.โ But the English-language Twitterverse preferred a more juvenile translation with pornographic connotations: Adult Cream Pie.
Iโm amazed it doesnโt look pixelated.https://t.co/PrIXfFjdzs
โ 9GAG (@9GAG) January 13, 2020
For some English-speakers, the โAdultโ in โAdult Cream Pieโ brought to mind the โadultโ in โadultโ (pornographic) videos, while โcream pieโ was immediately associated with slang for a very specific sexual act. It's not a particularly grown-up topic of conversation, but such is the level of discourse in January 2020.
It didn't help that the cream pie controversy came shortly after Japanese car maker Subaru announced the launch of its new Forester Unlimited Customized Kit Special edition (F.U.C.K.S. for short) on the Singapore market. Following the uproar, Subaru of America lamely distanced itself from the launch, but the pump was primed for a lewd online discussion about Japanese cream pies.
The dirty connotations of the McDonald's dessert was reported on by a variety of major English-language news outlets around the world, including Kotaku, News.Com.Au, GaijinPot, Lad Bible and Daily Mail.
McDonald's Japan is mocked for launching Adult Cream Pie dessert https://t.co/TuEQOZkSd2
โ Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) January 13, 2020
The cream pie fiasco renewed calls for Japan to pay more attention to the nuance and innuendo of the foreign loanwords it appropriates.
โAlways hire a native English speaking consultant before launching your product,โ exclaimed one member of a popular Facebook group for professional translators I belong to.
โCan be enjoyed by grownupsโ
The actual meaning of Otona No Kuriimu Pai (ๅคงไบบใฎใฏใชใผใ ใใค) is completely innocuous in Japan. There are all sorts of dishes incorporating โcreamโ that are popular in Japan, especially in winter, such as โcream stewโ.
Otona No (ๅคงไบบใฎ) can be translated into English as โadultโ, which as a loanword means โpornographicโ โ pornographic videos in Japan are known as โadarutoโ (adult) โbideoโ (video), or โAVโ. However, in this case a Japanese person looking at the menu at McDonald's would never associate Otona No with the English word โadultโ.
A more nuanced translation for Otona No Kuriimu Pai would be: โa cream pie that is mildly sweet, and can be enjoyed by grownups.โ
And, needless to say, most adults in Japan โ at least women, the target market of the new McDonald's product โ would not immediately associate โcream pieโ with the sexual act, although the meaning of this English slang seems to be well-known in some โadultโ corners of the Japanese Internet.
Taking a look at Japanese social media, the conversation did indeed seem to be focused on how the desserts actually might taste, rather than on any sort of childish sexual innuendo.
One fairly popular article on blogging site Naver Matome discussed how delicious the new pies were:
ใใใฏ ๅคงไบบใฎใฏใชใผใ ใใคใ๏ผ่ฉฑ้กใฎๆฐใกใใฅใผใใใกใใฆใ๏ฝโช
The new โCream Pie for Adultsโ that everyone's talking about is delicious!
Another mildly popular Naver Matome blog post provided a more in-depth product review. A third blog post that discussed the more lewd English-language connotations of the McDonald's Cream Pie barely generated any interest, despite including the presence of โpervyโ (eroi) in its title:
ใจใญใ๏ผ๏ผ่ใใใ๏ผ๏ผใๅคงไบบใฎใฏใชใผใ ใใคใใใใใใง่ฉฑ้กใซ
Is it pervy? Or are people just overthinking it? โCream Pie for Adultsโ goes viral.
Responding to a calls on Twitter that McDonald's should have asked a native English-speaker to review the product name before launch, independent journalist Thoton Akimoto disagrees:
ๅๆใงใใพใใใใๅคงไบบใฎใฏใชใผใ ใใคใใฏๆฅๆฌ่ชใชใฎใงใ่ฑ่ชๅใฎไบบใใใใ่ชญใใ ๆใซใฉใๆใใใฏใๆใ ๆฅๆฌไบบใซใฏๅ จ็ถ้ขไฟใใใพใใใใคใฟใชใข่ชใงใใใฃใปใใณใณ๏ผไฟบใใใชใใฆๅฏใใใ๏ผ๏ผใใจใใ่กจ็พใใใใพใใใๆใ ใฏๅคใ ใจๆใฃใฆใใใคใฟใชใขไบบใซๆๅฅใฏ่จใใพใใใ https://t.co/897bxArJHv
โ Thoton Akimoto (@Thoton) January 11, 2020
I don't agree. Otona No Kuriimu Pai is Japanese. Whatever the English-speaking world thinks it means has nothing to with Japan. For example, even if we Japanese think it's strange when Italians say โTi Mancoโ (note: this phrase includes a sexual slang word in Japanese), we would never complain.
It's also unclear why people believe McDonald's Japan should prioritise English-speaking residents of Japan when it comes to marketing campaigns โ English speakers are in a distinct minority among foreign residents and visitors.
In 2018, the top three nationalities of foreign residents in Japan came were Chinese, South Korean and Vietnamese, none of which are English-speaking countries. Nearly two-thirds of foreign tourists come from Korea, Taiwan and People's Republic of China.
While the use and misuse of English in Japan can be both amusing and irritating to a relatively small number of people, most residents of the country, Japanese and foreign-born alike, would never notice, or even pay attention.
Finally, I wonder why no commissioning editor or adult at one of the many English-language news outlets that ran this story didn't feel a sense of shame or embarrassment for spending more than ten seconds laughing at the childish innuendo of โcream pieโ and then moving on with their day.
The main point of this dessert, after all, is that adults should sometimes possess more subtle, adult tastes. But maybe that is something that makes Japan so distinct from some other parts of the world.
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