You have a hand? You need this soap! Uh. Wash wash wash wash wash.
The spread of COVID-19 has all of us thinking more critically about our personal hygiene, especially when it comes to washing our hands. Since the virus spreads through respiratory droplets, it’s easy to get said droplets on our hands — and from there it’s easy to spread them to surfaces, handles, and even our own bodies if we touch our faces. Washing frequently and carefully can mitigate this, since regular old soap and water does a magnificent job of breaking down the virus.
But if we want to clean our hands thoroughly, we must follow the correct hand-washing etiquette. And no singular celebrity in the world of Japanese entertainment is spreading awareness of how to wash one’s hands like Pikotaro, the internationally-famous memester responsible for Pen Pineapple Apple Pen.
▼ Get ready to wash! Those! Hands!
But as the catchy re-imagining of PPAP states, to wash correctly one needs both a “hand” and a “soap” — though the song subverts the pre-established convention that this will make “handsoap” by imploring you to “wash, wash, wash” instead — and Pikotaro is apparently going to sell his own brand of medicinal soap and hand gel to sate that need.
▼ The soap, both inside packaging and out of it, plus the tube of hand gel.
The orange medicinal soap bar (emblazoned with the cheery “Wash! Wash! Wash!” from the song) will retail for 450 yen (US$4.20) and be available from online retailers such as Rakuten. In addition to its sterilizing and disinfecting properties, the soap contains olive oil to be gentle on sensitive skin. Befitting the child-friendly image of Pikotaro’s brand, a portion of all sales will go to children’s charities.
▼ The hand gel is set to be put on sale at some point in June and will retail for 480 yen.
The products, as well as the song, are part of the PikoWASH! Project, an initiative to spread awareness of good hand-cleaning habits to children. Pikotaro isn’t only concerned with boosting cleanliness during the pandemic, though. He also released a fun and bouncy pop hit to get everyone up and active while they stay inside: Hoppin’ Flappin’. Pair this with Pikotaro’s surprisingly emotional tale about his dedication to his tiniest fans and it’s hard not to gain a newfound sense of appreciation for the guy. Pray for People And Peace!
Source, images: PR Times
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