Although it’s been debated on this site before, life in a Japanese company can be tough. For some it can be downright war. And with more and more companies beginning to adopt English into their daily routines, it can be hard for an average salaryman (the term given to average full-time company employees) to get ahead or even survive.
Nissin’s Cup Noodle tries to sum it up how the feeling of a typical worker in their advert titled Globalization. Let’s take a look.
***If you need subtitles, after pressing play on the video you’ll see a button like this. 
The commercial opens with the CEO of Nissin announcing that their company will change their official language to English. The news doesn’t go over well with the employees but they accept their orders.
They then encounter their new boss who says…
And thus begins to unleash a fury of English challenges with cannon balls of “Nice to meet you.” and musket volleys of “How are you?”
Many died on that day as many had only achieved level three on their Eiken English proficiency tests. However, a small but resilient few – the last salarymen if you will – met the onslaught with a heroic counter of “Fain sankyu end u?”
And of course after a hard day’s battle the survivors celebrate with a piping hot Cup Noodle.
It’s a cute commercial but also highlights the real stress and anxiety of the daunting challenge to learn English as a second language and compete in the global economy. It’s an advantage that many native speakers often take for granted.
Source: YouTube – j22222222223