Max Coffee invites young Japanese to 'refuel'

Developed alongside Naked Communications Tokyo, with media buying handled by Dentsu, the ‘Max My Ride’ branded content initiative is designed to embody the brand’s message to male coffee drinkers aged 20 to 34 to ‘Refuel for yabai life’. Yabai is a Japanese equivalent of ‘cool’ used predominantly by the younger generation.

The concept builds on the existing framework of MTV’s ‘Pimp My Ride’ (a series detailing vehicle customisation) to focus on the vehicles’ owners. Anthony Matsuo, senior strategist at Naked, explained that the programming sought to connect with Japan’s young workforce, which ranks highest in terms of working hours and is therefore theoretically most in need of ‘refuelling’.

A series of four episodes presents hard-working, run-down subjects and their respective modes of transport. The subject discusses issues and requests with the presenter, whereupon the vehicle is revamped accordingly; the episode ends with the subject and vehicle shown to be refreshed and refuelled.

Subjects include an otaku (nerdy) newspaper delivery boy, a Chinese graphic design student, a Bonsai tree seller, and a catering entrepreneur with limited funds.

The TV series is supported by online components including comments by the MTV presenter on the episodes, highlights of the transformation procedure, and an informercial providing instructions on the making of desserts using Max Coffee as a main ingredient.

Each half-hour episode is screened four times on selected dates, with programming set to run until early May.

Max Coffee, a canned product made from coffee and condensed milk, debuted in Japan in 1973, but until recently has only been available through limited distribution channels across three prefectures. The brand is now sold nationwide.