スタッフサービス | オー人事 秀吉編 | 2017
Wait, Can You Really Lump Him in with Monkeys? Then the Punchline Lands Right on Cue / Staff Service "Hideyoshi"
The whole thing plays out in totally predictable, cliché territory, but there's a split second where you think, "Wait, is it really okay to lump him in with monkeys?" before it settles into a reliable, familiar punchline. This is the period-drama version of the "Oh, Jinji" series that defined an era.
The idea
The idea takes the well-known story of Toyotomi Hideyoshi being nicknamed "Monkey" and turns it into a joke about being called unreasonable names at work. There's apparently a scene where a samurai shouts, "Monkey, bring my sandals!" but honestly, between the mumbling and the rough recording, it was pretty much impossible to make out what he was saying. Reportedly it was on the level of those famously garbled lines that end up as internet memes. But maybe that's exactly what gives Staff Service's commercials their surreal flavor.
Afterthought
You never see the "Oh, Jinji" series in commercials anymore, but it was a beloved series that ran from 1997 to 2003, producing as many as 44 installments in total. Set to Tchaikovsky's "Serenade for Strings," it kept depicting absurd workplace mismatches the whole way through. I think this Hideyoshi edition was one installment that took its joke from a historical figure. Apparently Gutsy-san also appeared in it, and I still remember thinking at the time, "Gutsy-san seems like a good guy." I couldn't confirm the detailed production background, but I imagine that reliable, feel-good punchline—the kind you'd see on a show like Sukatto Japan—really hit home with viewers back then.
