When I see the cute character like Duck or Gecko in advertising, it always catches my attention and I tend to remember for a long time. It maybe comes from where I grew up, Japanese are crazy about Kawaii (means cute) stuff!
This is done by the best sales cell phone company in the country. You see this white dog in almost all ads as well as TV commercial. In a TV commercial, they use a real dog and he talks like human!
This character is from Kumamoto prefecture to advertise the tourist attraction and the local food.
This kitten samurai is called "Hiko nyan" (Nyan means Meow) to help to publicize the Hikone castle.
I think we like to see in simple drawings and pictures rather than just letters. If the pictures are easy to recognize, it catches young and old people's attention. Therefore, these characters are always in great success as an advertisement.
Wonderful post, Keiko! I'm really drawn to cute characters, too (especially animals), and this goes back to my childhood I'm sure.
ReplyDeleteI think the Geico gecko is one of the most clever "mascots" since the words are so similar. The gecko is so adorable! Have I ever checked into Geico insurance? No, but I definitely have the association of gecko=Geico!
I like that you included several examples. Very cool :)