KARAAGE WARS : THE MOVIE (THE REBEL FOR JAPANESE DEEP FRIED CHICKEN)

TitleKARAAGE WARS : THE MOVIE (THE REBEL FOR JAPANESE DEEP FRIED CHICKEN)
BrandJAPAN KARAAGE ASSOCIATION
Product / ServiceFOOD
CategoryA02. Fiction & Non-Fiction Film: 5-30 minutes
EntrantSTORIES Tokyo, JAPAN
Idea Creation STORIES Tokyo, JAPAN
Media Placement STORIES Tokyo, JAPAN
PR STORIES Tokyo, JAPAN
Production STORIES Tokyo, JAPAN
Post Production STORIES Tokyo, JAPAN

Credits

Name Company Position
Tomoya Suzuki STORIES CEO
Koichiro Yagi Japan KARAAGE Association Managing Director
Takeshi Kushida Pyramid Film Director
Hirotaka Tanaka STORIES Production Manager
Ryo Tanizawa STORIES Production Manager
Chiaki Mayumura Artist Artist

Why is this work relevant for Entertainment?

KA-RA-A-GE is Japanese-Style-Deep-Fried-Chicken “KARAAGE WARS” is a Sci-Fi “Epic” short film joining together famous actors, creators, and J-pop singers. We “Japan KARAAGE Association,” just a fan organization, wanted to bring attention to underappreciated KARAAGE on social media by showing how beloved it is in Japan. So we came up with the wild idea of creating a Sci-Fi entertainment film to promote value of this addictively delicious food. Because of the entertainment nature, the project attracts multiple major entertainment creators participations including a major-actor and a pop-singer. In sum, this work is relevant for Entertainment.

Background

• Situation KARAAGE is underappreciated across mainstream and social media despite its popularity among Japanese dishes. Is it not Insta-Worthy Content due to the simple color and look of the food…? We’ve also lost the freedom to enjoy food wherever, whenever, and however we want due to the pandemic: An identity crisis for Japanese, as we are a nation of foodies. KARAAGE can save us if we can help people remember that KARAAGE can be enjoyed in restricted restaurants, take-out, supermarkets, and at home. • Brief The Japan KARAAGE Association wanted to raise its organization’s awareness and general appreciation of KARAAGE on a limited budget: Less than 100K. (JKA is merely fan organization(general association) with limited budget, as it isn’t a commercial corporation.) • Objectives Raise awareness of Japan KARAAGE Association and Promote the value of KARAAGE. Above all, we wanted Japanese viewers to come away craving KARAAGE.

Describe the creative idea

We needed a bold, creative idea that caused viewers to crave and eat KARAAGE while raising awareness of the organization and the overall value of KARAAGE. We leveraged KARAAGE’s “addictively delicious” taste and utilized the social atmosphere of “losing freedom to enjoy the food we want” caused by the pandemic. We came up with the audacious idea of depicting a world where a dark ruling force has banned KARAAGE like an illegal drug, and telling the story of an underdog who takes a stand to lift the government prohibition on KARAAGE. The climax depicts our hero continuously eating tasty Karaage for over 90 seconds while the authorities (and viewers!) look on with envy. We wanted to create the impression of a blockbuster release with multiple trailers and posters. It’s a joke everyone laughs at, but at the same time, they can’t help thinking about and eating KARAAGE.

Describe the strategy

The Japan KARAAGE Association is only a fan organization, lacking a large budget to promote KARAAGE. We began with this slogan. “If we build a crazy and funny idea, the elements (Talent and Money) will come.” Thanks to our premise of “a Sci-Fi Epic set in a world where KARAAGE is banned by dark government forces,” we were able to gain major creators’ and talents’ participations as follows: Featuring a top J-POP/Actor icon, Mina Oba (SKE48) Original theme song “KARAAGE WARS” created and performed by major up and coming singer Chiaki Mayumura planned for release in 2021 by Universal Music. Helmed by an emerging director, Takeshi Kushida, who just directed a critically acclaimed feature. We completed this 13-minute film with full crew, major actors, top J-Pop singer’s song, with full PR including poster and special website with 65K-USD all in an expensive city, Tokyo.

Describe the execution

• Implementation We produced a professional 13-min. Sci-Fi film with full crew and major actors along with trailers, poster, special website, SNS, and PR activities. • Timeline Launched on the last “meat day” of 2020, December 29th (the number “29” and the word “meat” sound the same in Japanese) on YouTube along with a social media push and press release. • Placement YouTube (Main movie and Trailer), Twitter/Instagram, Press Release (Original Song will be released by Universal Music in 2021.) • Scale Thanks to this crazy idea and the participation of major artists and actors, the launch news was picked up by 30+ news outlets including Yahoo! Japan and other major sites, acquiring 1 million+ of free publicity. Social media was filled with pictures of KARAAGE along with #KARAAGEWARS, and the film received 50,000+ views within a few days. Most importantly, we were able to hijack the dining tables of-Japan.

Describe the outcome

• Reach Thanks to crazy idea and participations of major artists and actors, the launch news of the project has picked up by 30+ Japanese news outlets including Yahoo! Japan and other major news and it acquired 1 million+ of free publicity. • Impact and Engagement Social media are filled with pictures of KARAAGE along with #KARAAGE WARS, and the film counts 50,000+ views within just a few days. #KARAAGEWARS and #カラアゲウォーズ became a trending on social meida on the day. More importantly, we were able to hijack the dining table of Japan on that day.

Links

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