number plate

There’s a lot to be seen and learned from your car seat while driving on the roads around Japan. While cat-patterned tail-lights, unique modes of communication and building your own Batman bike are some of the more obvious ways to get noticed, there are also more subtle yet equally effective ways to create an impact in traffic, and do a bit of advertising while you’re at it!

One passenger was so impressed by the marketing idea above they snapped a photo and posted it on Twitter. While the length of numbers and the dashes between them make this instantly recognisable as a phone number, the owner has added でんわ (denwa, lit. phone) in hiragana characters at the start of the sequence to ensure there’s no mistake.

https://twitter.com/Canibear942/status/538477957761626113

While most Twitter users applauded the idea, some critics suggested it would be more aesthetically pleasing if the number plate formed the middle part of the phone number rather than the end, while others lamented the hiragana す (su) in the middle, saying  の (no) would be a better choice, given that dashes in a phone number are replaced with の when spoken.

Despite the critique, understandably everyone wanted to know the company behind the phone number, with internet searches leading to a liquor store in Fukuoka.

Which leads us to the question: what came first, the number plate or the number? Either way, the simple idea has had a remarkable impact, with people becoming actively involved in seeking out the company. In a saturated market like Japan, where every passer-by is a potential customer, it’s tiny details like this that can make all the difference.

Source Twitter via: Hamster Sokuhou
Feature image: Twitter