MovieChat Forums > Kagaku ninja tai Gatchaman (2005) Discussion > Japanese TV commercials featuring live a...

Japanese TV commercials featuring live action Gatchman


Since this is an old topic, some of you might already know, but for those who don't....

In 2000, NTT East produced a series of TV commercials
featuring live action Gatchaman, played by the pop idol group SMAP.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2LqTNVjrCE

They were directed by Tetsuya Nakashima
(who later made "Shimotsuma Monogatari [Kamikaze Girls]")

Back then I thought they were fairly good for TV commercials,
even though I don't like one particular member of SMAP.

reply

Hi all!

There were also a pair of animated commercials released at the same time. The first one repeats the same sequence shown in the latter half of the live-action spots, but the second one continues the action past where the live action ones end. They can both be seen here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUjolhYWdic&feature=related

A third animated spot was planned and storyboarded, but sadly, was never produced.

James

reply

The animated spots are easier on the eyes. It's hard to see what's going on in the live action version.

What are these supposed to be advertising, anyhow? Just a promotion for the group called SMAP?

* * * *
If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?

reply

> What are these supposed to be advertising, anyhow?

NTT East's then-new internet service.
(NTT is Japanese counterpart of AT&T.)

Japanese TV commercials often use this kind of less-informative style
to make viewers curious to lead them to promotional websites,
where actual informations are provided.

reply

Does this actually work in Japan? When a commercial is too abstract for it's own good, I am not about to research further just to be marketed to. I abhor marketing tactics.

* * * *
If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?

reply

No doubt some Japanese would agree with you.
But others can't help being curious.

I have no numbers about how effective this tactics is,
but the fact that some still do it, must mean it works for them.

Today's Japanese commercials often end with an explicit "visit <URL> for the details" message,
In some cases, TV commercial with a story is presneted as a prologue to longer version that can only be seen on the website. It ends with "Visit <URL> to see the rest."
I read they make some viewers irritated.

But in case of Gatchaman commercials,
I guess they successfully led lots of people to see their website
(I have no numbers about this too, of course)
thanks to the popularity of Gatchaman and SMAP.

reply

It's funny, as my interest in Gatchaman would not lead me to their website, simply because I would be aware of the fact that the website was not Gatchaman...if that makes any sense. Of course, this is just how I am. I hate a large part of marketing, as it is designed to sell their products at any cost, saying anything or doing anything to get people to look. I tend to only look at things when I am in need, and then it's going to be from sources such as reviews or user comments. I guess I am very skeptical of marketing tactics.

Do you remember a series of car commercials years ago for the Infinity? It was pretty much nothing but waterfalls. I suppose they thought that people would be curious and start looking into it, but it was a huge failure of a marketing strategy.

Anyhow, thanks for your information of the subject!

* * * *
If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?

reply

Hi all!

But in case of Gatchaman commercials,
I guess they successfully led lots of people to see their website
(I have no numbers about this too, of course)
thanks to the popularity of Gatchaman and SMAP.


I don't have access to the number of people that these commercials attracted to their site, but I do know that interest in Gatchaman spiked when these aired. During the first couple of weeks of the advertising campaign, Gatchaman was the most searched-for topic on Yahoo! Japan.

It's funny, as my interest in Gatchaman would not lead me to their website, simply because I would be aware of the fact that the website was not Gatchaman...if that makes any sense.


In this instance, the website that you were directed to was entirely Gatchaman-themed. Along with a flash-based original story that included the sales pitch for the ISDN service they were selling, you could find sections that dealt with the backgrounds of the characters and their mecha, a series of online games (Which, if you won them, allowed you to download prizes that included an original Gatchaman screensaver and Gatchaman wallpaper designs). They also included the option to sign up to receive a multi-part original Gatchaman text story via e-mail. So, while advertising was included on the site, it was hardly the main focus of what you could find there. Sadly, the site was only available for about a month before the campaign ended and NTT took it down.

By the way, in February of 2006, NTT did a special one-day revival showing of those four spots on Japanese TV, as well as putting them on their website for people to view. The spots were only supposed to be on their site for a month, but the large amount of traffic they were generating caused NTT to extend their time on their site until May.

James

reply

Damn, that commercial was epic.

"While guys hold on to their toys forever, girls soon throw out their playthings."

reply