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Who isn’t fond of a little eye candy, right? Yup, we all like to take a look at good-looking guys (and gals) from time to time. But now, Japanese brand and product promotion company ESSPRIDE is giving us the chance to enjoy ikemen (hot guys) in a completely unexpected way…by pulling one out of a bag of chips!

That’s right, we present to you Ikemen Chips, a unique snack that comes with a special “hot guy card“, each featuring a picture and profile of an ikemen. And what makes the product especially interesting is that they’re actually regular guys working at various Japanese companies who have submitted their pictures and information to be made into the ikemen cards!

Ikemen Chips originally began as a promotional tool, with employees from companies across Japan submitting themselves as ikemen candidates and the finished product including the ikemen cards to provide publicity for their respective companies. It was a clever idea to use a popular and easily accessible snack as a marketing tool, and once word got out about these special chips, there was such demand for them that ESSPRIDE began selling them as an official product.

Each bag of the Ikemen Chip comes with one of the hotties pictured below! The card provides not only information on the good-looking guys’ companies, but their personal information as well, such as their height and favorite snack.

ikemencard

The whole concept seems to be a lot of fun, as anyone over 18 and working in a privately owned company with referrals from at least three coworkers (and with the approval of the company, since the purpose of the product is corporate publicity, after all) can submit himself as a prospective ikemen. There apparently is a screening process, although we don’t know how selective that is, but once a good-looking candidate has been selected to be an official ikemen, there’s a fee of 250,000 yen (US$2,030) for the hot guy to be featured on an ikemen card. The participating men and companies also get their profile and corporate information publicized on the official Ikemen Chips website.

▼ The website even gives you updates on the three ikemen with the most views that week!

Ikemen top three

 

The Ikemen Chips, which come in a lightly salted flavor, are available from the Nihon Oyatsu Kyokai (Japan Snack Association) online shop (via Rakuten Online Market). At the moment, they haven’t been able to keep up with the recent surge in demand for the snack, but they’re currently taking pre-orders for shipment in early December. The chips can be ordered in individual 25-gram (0.88-ounce) bags (324 yen [$2.63]), in a bundle of 10 bags (3,240 yen) or, if you’re really into chips or hot guys, a package of 42 bags (13,608 yen).

So, what do you think of a snack that provides a bit of eye candy at the same time? As a form of company promotion, it certainly looks like something that will catch people’s attention. Oh, and there’s a “cute girls (pikajo)” version too, so don’t worry, there’s fun for everyone!

Source: Nihon Oyatsu Kyokai (Japan Snack Association) online shop, Ikemen Chips official website via Hachimakiko
Top image: Nihon Oyatsu Kyokai (Japan Snack Association) online shop
Insert images: Ikemen Chips official website, Nihon Oyatsu Kyokai (Japan Snack Association) online shop