Mrs. Green Apple’s “Columbus” Outrage Sparks Business Telecasters’ Analysis: “It’s Unbelievable” “It’s Amazing Their Unbelief”
The music video (MV) of the new song “Columbus” by the popular band “Mrs. GREEN APPLE,” known for winning the Japan Record Award last year, caused a huge uproar, and questions were raised about the response of TV stations.
The MV, released on the 12th, shows the band members dressed in Western-style costumes, teaching apes how to ride horses and play the piano, and making them pull rickshaws. This caused a flood of criticism on social media, with comments such as “It’s a visual of an advanced civilization in the Age of Discovery teaching, training, or using apes to teach civilization,” “Affirmation of colonialism and slavery,” “Was there not a single person involved who studied world history?” and “It was good that they named it Perry because it was self-deprecating,” and the MV was taken down on the 13th.
Vocalist and guitarist Motoki Omori issued an apology on his official website, saying, “The biggest cause of this is our lack of consideration in pointing out all the possibilities and not coming up with a different idea.” On the morning of the 13th, before the outrage spread, information programs such as “THE TIME,” (TBS), “ZIP!” (Nippon TV), “Mezamashi TV” (Fuji TV), and “Good! Morning” (TV Asahi) all introduced Mrs.’s new song. Along with the music video, they gave it a favorable coverage with comments such as “Transform into Columbus” and “Travel through time and space as a great man.” However, after the evening, they suddenly changed their reporting and reported the suspension of the release. The change in Mrs.’s song was also announced on “Music Station,” scheduled to be broadcast on the 14th. As a result, X (formerly Twitter) has been spreading astonished reactions such as “They gave permission to broadcast it on a TV program. The major stations are amazing (not praising them at all),” “The media’s lack of thought is amazing,” “I think the artists are just ignorant and innocent, but it’s impossible for the mass media to do this,” and “In 2016, Keyakizaka46’s Nazi costumes became a major issue worldwide, but they haven’t learned anything from that.
