Kirin Beverage has scored big time with yet another sales record breaking marketing campaign combining three Japanese passions: The every day: Green tea, the cute: A panda bear, and the mechanical: Vending machines.
Green tea is to the Japanese what carbonated drinks are to the Americans, only with a long history dating back hundreds of years. It is also no secret that cute things sell like hot cakes in Japan, Hello Kitty probably being the most recognised cute character coming out of these parts. And there are just as many vending machines in Japan as there are people if not more. Just about anything can be sold in machines here: From snacks and drinks to eggs, rice and even socks, underwear and adult literature. Yes, you heard right.
To promote yet another green tea brand (most beverage makers here have a full line up of them), Kirin beverage designed a Panda bear that comes in a recyclable plastic bottle. Yes, the stuffed cutie is stuffed in a see-through bottle, the same container in which the beverage is sold. The ultimate objective is for consumers to buy tea, of course, not the doll itself, so the doll has been made purposely unavailable to further fuel the Namacha Panda Sensei (Green Tea Panda Master) frenzy.
At the launching event in the young shopper's district of Shibuya in March, hundreds of people lined up to get a free sample. There was more interest in the bottle stuffed Panda (or Panda stuffed in bottle) than the tea itself. The "doll in a bottle" is available at selected vending machines from one end of the archipelago to the other, but, wait a minute, the company will not disclose the locations! This has sent hordes of collectors scrambling to find the little thing.
Why the name Namacha Panda Sensei (master)? Well, along with the equally cute flesh and bone TV personality that also endorses the tea, the Panda educates the public about the benefits of drinking green tea on a daily basis. At a time when more and more young Japanese are getting hooked on sugary carbonated drinks (mostly promoted via cool advertising campaigns), beverage manufacturers are making efforts to emphasize the pluses of the millenary drink: No calories, loads of vitamin C, no sugar, cheaper to produce and simply healthier and good for the body.
Will you become as cute as a green panda if you drink tea daily? Why not just chew on tea leaves? Why would someone put a doll in a bottle? If the doll is in a bottle, how can you play with it? Do you just stare at it? I asked my 11-year-old daughter the same questions and she just replied: "Who cares? The doll is sooooo cute!!"
There you have it. See for yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBCoUdJoJu8
Image courtesy of: ajGAZMEN GucciBeaR
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