Regarding Philip Brasor's Dec. 4 Media Mix article, "Mass media not clean in soap-allergy controversy": Truth in advertising is not as strict a concept in Japan as it is in the West, and most viewers here won't necessarily believe that the stars they see on TV use the products they are selling, since in most cases they are obviously acting. But actress and CM star Miki Maya implies that she does.
Advertising standards, at least for television, are much stricter in some European countries, including Britain, than they are for the United States. For example, you cannot advertise prescription drugs to the general public in Britain, although you can in the U.S.
And precisely what is the "West"? The "West" is NOT a coherent whole that can be used to flog Japan. To do so is ethnocentric, possibly racist — to the extent that West implies white European.
The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.