04 March 2013

Cool

This is the latest fountain pen marketed by Platinum in Japan. Its name is Platinum Cool, and it is a relatively inexpensive pen –JPY 3000, plus tax— to compete with the Pilot Prera (::1::, and ::2::) and Cocoon, and with the Sailor Lecoule.


The Platinum Cool, as shown on the online catalog of the company.

The Platinum Cool is nothing else than a demonstrator version of the model named Balance (バランス, baransu, in Japanese). Therefore, there are two points available, F and M, for its stainless-steel nib. The pen comes in three different colors. And, needless to say, this is a cartridge-converter pen.


The Platinum Balance, as shown on the online catalog of the company.


The Platinum Cool, as displayed at a shop in Tokyo.


The F nib in a Platinum Cool.

Does this sound like advertisement (see, for instance, these links: ::1::, ::2::, ::3::)? Sometimes I think we, those who write some blog and who participate in pen fora, are naïve and ignorant advertisement tools in the hands of those big companies. Do they count on us for their marketing campaigns without us knowing it?


Pilot Murex – Pilot Blue

Bruno Taut
Yokohama, March 4th, 2013
etiquetas: Platinum, mercado, metabitácora

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your blog provides a lot of great, often original, information about Japanese fountain pens. It's helpful to a lot us looking for deeper information, if you will, rather than the basic superficial overview—that to me is the marketing sin. *ahem* The superficial non-opinionated post given over for free stuff.

I think a lot of bloggers participate willingly as unpaid marketers. Good or bad? It's pens and ink. Ultimately we all have to wade through the hype. Some get expensive lessons in following the cheers.

I do my best to make good conscious consumer choices, even in my pens and ink. Even more, my intent is to only blog about what interests me, drives me around these things. I tend not to blog about things I don't like, because I would bore even myself. I'm responsible for what I write/post. I don't know why people do what they do. People blog for different reasons. For me, it's a respite from heavier things on my mind or my plate.

Ah, I've gone on and on in response to your post...carry on!

Bruno Taut said...

Thank you, Peaceable Writer, for your comment and your insights.

At the end, we all should know and we all want to think, that the ultimate choice is that of the reader/consumer. But it would be very naïve on us --both bloggers and consumers-- not to acknowledge the important roles of adevertisement and marketing. Playing those roles is often unsettling. At least, for me.

And about the reasons to blog... Its number, Asterión said, is fourteen.

These would make good topics for discussion in a hypothetical workshop for blog authors.

Thanks again for passing by and taking the effort to write.

BT

Bana Sıkça Yaz said...

Dear Bruno,

I am a bit late to write this. Actually I have a bourdeoux Platinum Cool and I love it. However in some sources it is referred as Platinum Workhorse.

Cool is a name for Japanese market?

Bruno Taut said...

Thanks, write to me often, for passing by and taking the time to comment.

Cool is certainly the name of those in Japan. What I cannot assure is whether they carry a different name in other markets. That seeems to be the standard policy of many Japanese manufacturers, and I am not speaking about pens only.

The nib of the Platinum Cool has been in the market for quite some time, I am discovering--since the early 1970s! They have been available in a number of points and of materials.

And you are right, they make wonderful writers.

Thanks again for your comment.

BT

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