Lipton

Lipton has released a limited edition package in collaboration with Tower Records. If you send the ID number on the package to Lipton via e-mail, and are among the 27,000 lucky ones, you will receive a Tower-Lipton strap for your mobile. If not, you will receive 4 points for your Tower Records Members' Card or might win one of 3,000 CDs.

Green Tea...

...wherever you look. After last year's success of Suntory with its deliberately old-style Iemon Brand, there has been a wave of new launches this spring. Kirin has redesigned its Namacha, Coca-Cola has introduced Hajime, and Asahi has come up with Wakamusha - the green tea for the "young warrior" pitched to young salarymen with samurai ads and this distinctly nostalgic looking five-page manga booklet as magazine advertising. Which one will be the first to disappear from the market? My bets are on Wakamusha - I cannot imagine anyone falling for advertising that simply gobbles together recent trends such as nostalgia towards the 1960s and 1970s and traditional Japan.

The real thing?

Ads with the actual product included seem to becoming a trend lately - as far as I know started by Unicharm with the ads for their 3D facemask Chourittai in 2003, which included the actual facemask in the train advert to show that its superior shape fits to the wearer's face. This photo is an ad for Meiji chocolate, containing the product package securely taped to the subway window.