The Campaign

At the request of Fuji Soba (Japan’s largest soba restaurant chain) and 230 Soba Street Promotion Committee (Soba restaurant association), we developed Soba Allergy Tattoo Checker, a sticker for an easy and fun allergy test. The sticker design was in the motifs of Ukiyoe (Japanese woodblock prints) attractive to foreigners. When applying the sticker to the skin, if there is an allergic reaction, a part of the design flares up and turns into a cool design. Allergy tests are not something that is particularly exciting however, the Allergy Tattoo Checker added an entertainment element to it, making soba allergy testing a memorable and enjoyable travel experience. Furthermore, we made allergic reactions, something that is usually perceived negatively, into something positive and perhaps even desirable; cool changes in color can only be seen with an allergic reaction.

Creative Execution

There are 7 different designs in the motifs of Ukiyoe (Japanese woodblock prints), allowing the subjects to choose designs that they like. While using the classic Ukiyoe motifs, we embraced a hint of soba in the designs such as a big wave made of soba in front of Mt. Fuji, and a Kabuki actor eating soba with chopsticks. The Soba Allergy Tattoo Checker uses a commonly used allergy test method; the skin prick test. After placing the sticker on the skin, Soba-yu (residual water collected after boiling Soba) is glazed over. As well as acting as the glue, this Soba-yu also acts as allergen. Certain part of the tattoo design is intentionally made transparent, so when there is an allergic reaction, the redness of the skin shows through, making the design cooler than the original (i.e. Red Mt. Fuji). This checker was developed under the supervision of dermatologist Mami Nomura.

Indication of how successful the outcome was in the market

News on this activation immediately spread nationwide and overseas, gaining over 4 million Reach solely on social media. More than 300 media featured this topic, including online news, blogs, newspapers, magazines, radio and TV programs. Surprisingly, it also gained over 20 million Media Impressions within a month. Many different categories of media covered this activation including those for travelers, foreigners living in Japan, food, cooking, medical, design, and entertainment for the young to science, creating a huge buzz across many people including foreign tourists.

Influenced by cheaper yen, foreign tourists visiting Japan is ever-increasing. Approx. 14 million foreign tourists came to Japan in 2015, which was 50% more than the previous year. It continues double-digit growth in the past 5 years. Due to the increasing number of tourists, more and more foreign visitors are coming in contact with Japanese food. However, almost none of them know that soba may cause serious allergic reactions. Among the foreign tourists in Japan each year, at least 13,000 are allergic to soba. Thus we developed design and gimmick that enabled soba allergy check and would become a memory, to let them enjoy travelling and eating soba safely.