Oh, You Mean <i> That </i> Miyazawa

A car company is trying to sell a new model with a message that many readers at first glance believe is a tie-in to Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa’s assertion that the U.S. work ethic is on the decline.

A full-page newspaper ad features the eye-catching words “Miyazawa Remark” in four-inch type. Readers expecting another pronouncement on the reasons for America’s economic woes are disappointed, however.

That’s because the person making the remarks in the Daihatsu Motor Co. ad is not the Japanese premier, but a superstar actress, Rie Miyazawa. Gazing bewitchingly from the page, the 18-year-old praises Daihatsu’s latest mini-car. “Opti is Japan, the pride of the world,” reads the ad.