IDB

bluebox-away wrote:New merch is up!

That was kind of underwhelming, I thought we would be getting more new stuff and sadly nothing really for me. Well at least I can save some money.
The four pics on the photobooth poster are really cute though.

why the fuck are they using japanese characters on their merch wtf you don't get to use a country's culture as part of your ~brand~ wtf is this shit. oooh wow it's so cool and kawaii and crazy look!!!! its asian that makes it cool!!! i saw an anime and went to japan one time it's so cool!!!!!! i thought they were above this now smh

I am not feelin' the apparel, but the keyring is cute. The poster's the best bit, but IDK.... why buy it when you can just pull the HD version from the site's source. heh.

rizzo wrote:I am not feelin' the apparel, but the keyring is cute. The poster's the best bit, but IDK.... why buy it when you can just pull the HD version from the site's source. heh.

here you go.

New laptop background

[offtopic][/offtopic]

cultural appropriation? who knows?

EDIT: jaej beat me to it

Kathrynxjane wrote:Tour merch. It is different to the UK one! I like it a lot.

I hope they put it on the shop like the UK stuff.

Quoted pictures from the tatinof thread under the spoiler, I really like the US tour merch! Hopefully it's added to the shop so we can all get it soon
My favourite from the current new merch is the blossom sweater but I'm always a bit iffy about wearing stuff with writing in a language I don't speak love the design with the silhouette picture though!

Edit: I've just noticed in the background of the second picture they brought a lot of copies of the book, they're gonna be needing an extra bus/van for merch alone surely?

bluebox-away wrote:New merch is up!

sweater is kinda ok
but it's not tour merch. will they add American tour merch?

Oqua could you do a collections thread for your collection posts besides putting them in the main thread, because I 'd really like to be able to go back to them easily and I think your work deserves it.

jaej wrote:why the fuck are they using japanese characters on their merch wtf you don't get to use a country's culture as part of your ~brand~ wtf is this shit. oooh wow it's so cool and kawaii and crazy look!!!! its asian that makes it cool!!! i saw an anime and went to japan one time it's so cool!!!!!! i thought they were above this now smh

What does it say? I don't think it is bad tbh. It's like all the t-shirts with French phrases that everyone seems to wear in USA or the ones with English writings we all wear in countries where we don't speak English. It's a japhan themed shirt so it makes sense to use Japanese characters, it's not stealing Japanese culture. I disagree it's culture appropriation here.

(I have some time aside now, from writing my thesis ugh)

1) I loved the sims video, gave me all the feels and leg shivers. Will watch it again today now that people have mentioned loads more stuff.

2) I Wish the best of luck for them with TATINOF.

3)oqua

4) I wonder If I am a bad person if I really like the blossom sweater/t-shirt, then again I am a weeb.

Tour shirt design:

daphenaxa wrote: What does it say? I don't think it is bad tbh. It's like all the t-shirts with French phrases that everyone seems to wear in USA or the ones with English writings we all wear in countries where we don't speak English. It's a japhan themed shirt so it makes sense to use Japanese characters, it's not stealing Japanese culture. I disagree it's culture appropriation here.

It says Dan and Phil.

bluebox-away wrote:

Kathrynxjane wrote:Tour merch. It is different to the UK one! I like it a lot.

I hope they put it on the shop like the UK stuff.

Quoted pictures from the tatinof thread under the spoiler, I really like the US tour merch! Hopefully it's added to the shop so we can all get it soon
My favourite from the current new merch is the blossom sweater but I'm always a bit iffy about wearing stuff with writing in a language I don't speak love the design with the silhouette picture though!

Edit: I've just noticed in the background of the second picture they brought a lot of copies of the book, they're gonna be needing an extra bus/van for merch alone surely?

Was going to going to do that but got distracted by the new merch
I am more excited by the tour merch than the new DAPS merch. I wonder if the jumper is the same as the t-shirt.

Maybe Martyn and Cornelia have got their own bus. I hope they show a picture of the tour bus soon.

daphenaxa wrote:What does it say? I don't think it is bad tbh. It's like all the t-shirts with French phrases that everyone seems to wear in USA or the ones with English writings we all wear in countries where we don't speak English. It's a japhan themed shirt so it makes sense to use Japanese characters, it's not stealing Japanese culture. I disagree it's culture appropriation here.

well, they're making money from referencing a the culture of a country which they've been to literally once, which has almost no significance to their brand. I don't see a more blatant example of cultural appropriation, tbh.

I don't think is bad to use the japanese words too... but whatever.

It says 'Dan and Phil'

daphenaxa wrote:

bluebox-away wrote:

jaej wrote:why the fuck are they using japanese characters on their merch wtf you don't get to use a country's culture as part of your ~brand~ wtf is this shit. oooh wow it's so cool and kawaii and crazy look!!!! its asian that makes it cool!!! i saw an anime and went to japan one time it's so cool!!!!!! i thought they were above this now smh

What does it say? I don't think it is bad tbh. It's like all the t-shirts with French phrases that everyone seems to wear in USA or the ones with English writings we all wear in countries where we don't speak English. It's a japhan themed shirt so it makes sense to use Japanese characters, it's not stealing Japanese culture. I disagree it's culture appropriation here.

just dan and phil afaik. it doesn't make sense because it doesn't make sense to make the shirt at all to make sure japan firmly stays as part of the brand. they treat it the way they treat any phandom meme or joke like it isn't a country that actually has people and a culture and isn't just for them. there's no reason to use japanese characters for any reason other than they thought it looked cool, when it's a language with a rich, positive and negative history, not a fashion statement to suit their aesthetic. we've heard their pronunciations, they don't know the slightest thing about japanese language, let alone the culture that isn't anime

rizzo wrote:I am not feelin' the apparel, but the keyring is cute. The poster's the best bit, but IDK.... why buy it when you can just pull the HD version from the site's source. heh.

here you go.

The poster tho... It looks like a layout of a wedding photobooth. It's too cute. I'm reconsidering buying this than the fringe jumper.

BTW the Japanese characters say "Dan and Phil"

Honestly I don’t get it and see what the big deal is. In Europe we wear lots of shirts with different languages on it, and nobody bats and eye. If they were to put Dutch words on something even if they have never been here, I would get excited and pretty much nobody would care.
I guess that is the difference between different cultures.

Look at this

I like the keyrings.
The photos are nice individually but somehow the poster doesn't appeal to me as a whole. I can't imagine putting it up on my wall. Plus it seems quite expensive (my currency is quite weak compared to the pound)

jaej wrote:why the fuck are they using japanese characters on their merch wtf you don't get to use a country's culture as part of your ~brand~ wtf is this shit.

While your reaction seems really harsh and I'm certainly not at a point when I would put it as... firmly as you, there's definitely something that sits uncomfortably with me about the whole t-shirt/sweater business as well... It's definitely something that I'll have to think about some more to get a proper opinion... right now I think I'm not fond of the idea.

daphenaxa wrote: It's like all the t-shirts with French phrases that everyone seems to wear in USA or the ones with English writings we all wear in countries where we don't speak English.

Well, let me hesitantly disagree. This is not a random h&m t-shirt with the Eiffel Tower and some French words. This is their merch that sells their image, their branding. So it follows that they think that Japanese culture and writing is their branding somehow (?) You could compare it to a USA band puting out a merch that would use imagery assosiated with Russian nature/landmarks and using Cyrillic alphabet just because they once played a concert in Moscow. But I don't think that's what you meant.
And again, I'm hesitant here. As I've already mentioned my opinion isn't fully formed yet. I just think that jaej may be onto something here.

Random thought

good points about the t-shirt design. it didn't really sink in enough for me at first to form an opinion on it other than 'omg new merch' but yeah, i definitely see where people are coming from.

jaej wrote:

daphenaxa wrote:

bluebox-away wrote:

jaej wrote:why the fuck are they using japanese characters on their merch wtf you don't get to use a country's culture as part of your ~brand~ wtf is this shit. oooh wow it's so cool and kawaii and crazy look!!!! its asian that makes it cool!!! i saw an anime and went to japan one time it's so cool!!!!!! i thought they were above this now smh

What does it say? I don't think it is bad tbh. It's like all the t-shirts with French phrases that everyone seems to wear in USA or the ones with English writings we all wear in countries where we don't speak English. It's a japhan themed shirt so it makes sense to use Japanese characters, it's not stealing Japanese culture. I disagree it's culture appropriation here.

just dan and phil afaik. it doesn't make sense because it doesn't make sense to make the shirt at all to make sure japan firmly stays as part of the brand. they treat it the way they treat any phandom meme or joke like it isn't a country that actually has people and a culture and isn't just for them. there's no reason to use japanese characters for any reason other than they thought it looked cool, when it's a language with a rich, positive and negative history, not a fashion statement to suit their aesthetic. we've heard their pronunciations, they don't know the slightest thing about japanese language, let alone the culture that isn't anime

I don't see how writing Dan and Phil in Japanese (even if just because it looks beautiful) negates or denies the fact Japan is a real country with real people and Japanese language has a rich history. I agree they don't know Japanese culture well but I also think it is true they are attracted to Japanese culture or I guess some part of it and to the country itself, even if you think they are for the wrong reasons.

Ticia wrote:[offtopic]

Blossom T-Shirt: Please note Phil is 6ft 2" and is wearing size M in the photo.

Blossom Sweater: Please note Dan is 6ft 2" and is wearing size L in the photo.

[/offtopic]

I quite like the shirt/jumper design. Not gonna buy one, but it's not your average "THIS IS YTer MERCH!!!!!" type clothing that I'd not be seen dead in.

jaej wrote:why the fuck are they using japanese characters on their merch wtf you don't get to use a country's culture as part of your ~brand~ wtf is this shit. oooh wow it's so cool and kawaii and crazy look!!!! its asian that makes it cool!!! i saw an anime and went to japan one time it's so cool!!!!!! i thought they were above this now smh

Do we let them off if the image on the t-shirts is from Japan?
I have not examined it in detail, so I may be wrong here.

tbh tho, I guess some people do associate dan and phil with japan given they talk about japan so much more than any other country they have been to, don't you think? Japhan anyone? I don't mind it tbh. It fits in with their concept of reaching out to young teen-girls that are in to anime and japan.

Hi btw, I kind of accidentally came across this forum while doing some google-magic. I have been away from GG for a few months now and just last few days I noticed the sudden decreasing of post over there, and I thought GG died. But seems like some of you moved over here? haha I feel totally lost :p But I'm glad to see the topic of dp and the ever mystery is sill alive over here, thank u.
Well this is me saying hi

hunnyftw wrote:I like the keyrings.
The photos are nice individually but somehow the poster doesn't appeal to me as a whole. I can't imagine putting it up on my wall. Plus it seems quite expensive (my currency is quite weak compared to the pound)

jaej wrote:why the fuck are they using japanese characters on their merch wtf you don't get to use a country's culture as part of your ~brand~ wtf is this shit.

While your reaction seems really harsh and I'm certainly not at a point when I would put it as... firmly as you, there's definitely something that sits uncomfortably with me about the whole t-shirt/sweater business as well... It's definitely something that I'll have to think about some more to get a proper opinion... right now I think I'm not fond of the idea.

daphenaxa wrote: It's like all the t-shirts with French phrases that everyone seems to wear in USA or the ones with English writings we all wear in countries where we don't speak English.

Well, let me hesitantly disagree. This is not a random h&m t-shirt with the Eiffel Tower and some French words. This is their merch that sells their image, their branding. So it follows that they think that Japanese culture and writing is their branding somehow (?) You could compare it to a USA band puting out a merch that would use imagery assosiated with Russian nature/landmarks and using Cyrillic alphabet just because they once played a concert in Moscow. But I don't think that's what you meant.
And again, I'm hesitant here. As I've already mentioned my opinion isn't fully formed yet. I just think that jaej may be onto something here.

Honestly I write in cyrillic here and I am proud of my culture but if a band used cyrillic alphabet on their merch I would actually think it's cool (especially if I am a fan of them).
Also I don't think Japanese characters is their branding. It's just one item that references one precise thing that happened to them and that was kind of a big event in the phandom. I also think it is actually worse for H&M to sell random shirts with the Eiffel tower and some French words on it because it references nothing. There is no reason behind it, unlike Dan and Phil whose Japanese trip was a big deal to them

Should they not use the American flag on their tour merch then? Because just going on tour in America shouldn't let them use the emblem of a country/culture they are not a part of?

To me while yes they are using something that's not from UK I don't see the problem;I see everytime and everywhere people use things from where I was born but it doesn't bother me:
-till you don't lie to me by selling me something and making it look like you are from there or
-till you respect the culture and people from there ex: you love my country but then you see my brother and behave like a stupid passive aggresive racist.