Why just use boobs to sell your product, when you can use boobs and humor?
The golden rule of Japanese marketing is “Add cute girls.” Seriously, there are entire advertising campaigns that consist of little more than an attractive female smiling at the camera and saying the name of the company or product she’s endorsing.
So you’d be forgiven for assuming that’s all there is to this ad for Takada Hikkoshi Center, a moving company based in Ehime Prefecture. After all, the ad, which just started airing this month, opens with up-and-coming model Aya Yoshizaki standing poolside in a dress shirt and bikini bottom. As the camera zooms in, the 19-year-old Yoshizaki smiles shyly, and begins to unbutton her top.
What’s more, she doesn’t appear to be wearing anything underneath it.
Oh wow, is she going to…
Nope, because just as Yoshizaki is about to reveal her upper-body bounty, a chipper Takada Hikkoshi Center employee decides that now is the perfect time to tell you that when you move, Takada will uninstall your air conditioner, free of charge!
▼ A+ for generosity, solid F for timing.
In all fairness, that is a pretty sweet deal. Japanese homes don’t have central heating, so instead you have to equip your apartment with wall-mounted heater/air conditioner units that your purchase yourself. Obviously, if they’re still in good working condition you’ll want to take them with you when you move, and that ordinarily means dishing out some cash to have them all removed from the place you’re leaving.
And while you might be upset at the enthusiastic mover for picking that exact moment to tell you the good news, when you think about it rationally, with all the money Takada is going to save you, you can actually go out and buy a couple of risqué DVDs to watch at your leisure.
This isn’t Takada’s first time teasing male viewers who think they’re about to spend some quality time appreciating the female form, either.
▼ Takada Hikkoshi Center “fashion model” commercial
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15g9sZ_bvaU
The company also likes to dabble in a little wordplay when the opportunity presents itself, in this case likening moving to a new home to getting a haircut.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xxs1lALmYLU
▼ “Moving is so refreshing!”
But sometimes, Takada chooses not to insert pretty women into its ads. At those times, apparently, its marketing team simply ingests as many psychotic substances as it can get its hands on, and lets its imagination run wild (and crazy).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CT3__xQX9vU
And, in perhaps the most Takada-like of all the company’s ads, a man walks into a noodle restaurant, and asks for “a bowl of Takada Hikkoshi Center, regular size.”
▼ “Here you go, one bowl of Takada Hikkoshi Center, regular size!”
So what does he do after his extremely unusual order is filled with such speed and aplomb?
He dumps the bowl’s contents over his head, after which the waitress starts shampooing him without missing a beat. “Takagi Hikkoshi Center is the best!” he shouts, and honestly, after watching these insane commercials, we have to agree.
Sources: YouTube/高田引越センター, YouTube/Hikkosi Takada, YouTube/niceCM, YouTube/Hikkosi Takada (2, 3)
Top image: YouTube/高田引越センター
Insert images: YouTube/高田引越センター, YouTube/niceCM, YouTube/Hikkosi Takada (2, 3)
[ Read in Japanese ]