A study examined the advertising of Japan and the United States to determine if commercial messages reflect the cultural values of a particular society, thereby indicating the need for specialized campaigns. It was hypothesized that the majority of Japanese advertisements would use the traditional appeals of group, consensus, soft sell, veneration of the elderly, and traditional status and oneness with nature. If, however, advertising is attempting to shape social values for the commercial purposes of creating a Westernized or world consumer culture, it was expected that modern advertising appeals, such as individuality and independence, hard sell, youth and modernity, product merit, and manipulation of nature appeals would prevail. A sample of print advertisements from mass circulation magazines (general interest news and female magazines) was examined. American advertisements served as a standard against which the degree of westernization of advertising appeals was compared. The results showed numerous differences between Japanese and American advertisements. However, differences observed were in degree rather than in kind. Advertisements in both countries implement to some extent the same ten basic advertising appeals. (HTH)