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Hundreds of foreigners arrive in Japan every day
hoping to make a quick buck and Japan has traditionally offered unique
opportunities for them.
Women
from The Philippines and many other countries who work as
hostesses/prostitutes, Caucasian women from all over who work as models or
in adult entertainment establishments, lots of young men from
English-speaking countries who come to teach English, and then there are
others who engage in all kinds of shady activities in Japan – like
selling phone cards in Ueno or stealing cars and shipping them to China.
The reason that these people can strike gold in Japan is because
they offer something valuable to the society in most cases – Japanese
people like to explore women from other countries, studying English is a
national pastime among young
women, and a lot of Japanese do use these
cheap phone cards (though phone companies keep cracking down on them by
altering technology). |
 There is another group of people who come to make a
killing in Japan – Hollywood stars.
The Japanese watch Hollywood movies in droves.
Most movies are released in Japan relatively soon and it is
customary for lead stars to make a trip to Japan to promote the movie.
In fact most male Hollywood stars are big celebrities in Japan
though female stars are known but Japanese men tend not to show the same
passion in embracing them as women do. The
Japanese companies realize this and in one of the
world’s largest markets for advertising, they hire the most popular
Hollywood celebrities to promote all kinds of products.
The reason is also simple – money.
Millions of dollars are paid by Japanese corporations to fit these
Hollywood icons into their advertising strategy.
Here is a sampling of what some of these stars are currently
promoting/advertising or have promoted/advertised in the past:
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Celebrities
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Advertised Product
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Antonio Banderas
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Cars
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Leonardo DiCaprio
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Credit cards
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Meg Ryan
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Cosmetics and tea
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Brad Pitt
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Canned coffee and Levi’ s jeans
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Michael J Fox
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Cars,
fishing store, and soft drink
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Mark Wahlberg
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Soft drink
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Nicolas Cage
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Pachinko
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Tiger Woods
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Coffee and soft drink
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Stevie Wonder
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Coffee
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Demi Moore
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Protein drink
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Bruce Willis
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Gas station
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Kevin Costner
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Cars
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Cameron Diaz
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English school
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Ewan McGregor
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English school
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Catherine Zeta Jones
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Shampoo
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Penelope Cruz
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Shampoo
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The interesting part is that none of these stars
would advertise/promote these products in the United States.
The commercials in Japan for consumer products have a totally
different feel – the kind run by your local hair salon.
Many people call these commercials ‘tacky’, ‘cheesy’, or
simply ‘stupid’. Plus,
some of these stars push alcohol or tobacco products – a complete NO in
the US.
The reason for the success of Hollywood stars in
advertising/promoting Japanese products to Japanese is simple – the fascination with Amerika.
In a country where almost all mannequins in department stores and
hair salons are blonde, it is not difficult to identify with Harrison Ford
selling Kirin beer. I would like to see the day when a Japanese car
company hires a Japanese celebrity to push Japanese cars in the United
States. I think that advertising strategy is unlikely to be
formulated by a consulting firm.
Recommended links: 3Es
of advertising strategy Programs
on Japanese television
Work outfit for an advertising company
What is the future of Japan
Transition of Japanese society and business
How is the Japanese compensation system changing
What direction will Japan take in the future
What is the future of Japan in the world |
