CC Lemon equips teen to take on world with muscle suit

Client: Suntory

Agency: Hakuhodo/Hakuhodo Kettle

Market: Japan

Campaign scope: Online video

Details: The latest CC Lemon extravaganza tells the story of the ‘Brainwave controlled muscle suit version 3’. It’s an action-packed yet heartwarming tale of a dorky schoolboy beating the odds to find love—with a little help from some mad scientists.

‘Mizuki Maehara’s coming of age love muscle story’ sees our hero outdo the cool kids with his hulk-like abilities. Since his muscle suit is activated by brainwaves, the smallest things can cause him to burst out of his uniform: seeing the object of his desire bend over; breaking wind in class; playing the trumpet; and eventually sharing an “indirect kiss” via a bottle of CC Lemon.

The short film was planned, directed and edited by filmmaker and performer Shota Mori, working alongside Hakuhodo Kettle and robotics company Yukai Engineering. Mori shot to YouTube fame with his quick-draw iPhone device, which clocked up 4 million views.

The film is part of Suntory’s ongoing ‘Suntory CC Lemon Presents Youth Video Project’ initiative, an online video series that began with ‘Japanese Schoolgirl Chase (Ninja High Schoolgirls)’. That earlier video (below) featured Fuka Yoshino, an aspiring professional kickboxer, and has so far drawn more than 6 million views worldwide.

Agency comment: A representative from Hakuhodo Kettle described Suntory’s (and their) mission as being to “make movies that are popular not only inside Japan but worldwide”. Ninja, schoolgirls and technology were deemed interesting for Europeans, Americans and Asians alike.

Campaign's comment: We agree that it’s difficult to go wrong with a muscle suit and ninja schoolgirls. The muscle-suit video is highly entertaining with a good dose of Japanese bizarreness that should travel well. We particularly enjoyed the different scenarios that put the muscle suit to work and the fact that CC Lemon’s main purpose is to help the lovebirds share their first kiss. In short, it’s nice to see a brand really facilitating action and entertainment rather than getting in the way of it.

CREDITS

CDs: Kensuke Shigeno (Suntory)
Atsushi Ishihara (Hakuhodo Kettle)
Planners: Soichiro Minagawa (Hakuhodo Kettle), Naotaka Suekuni (Hakuhodo DY media partners), Kazuaki Kuribayashi (Hakuhodo)
Producer: Toshi Morikawa (Hakuhodo Kettle)
Account executives: Tomohiro Watanabe (Hakuhodo), Hiroshi Miyahara (Hakuhodo), Takahiro Araki (Hakuhodo)
Producer, planner, movie director, editor: Shota Mori
Development: Yukai Engeneering
Assistant director: Sho ishii
Photographer: Takehiro Goto