Edy to Rakuten Edy Campaign‏

Many stores, including Circle K Sunkus convenience stores are participating in the Rakuten Edy Campaign to promote the new name of the digital wallet (or digital money, or prepaid card) service. The company which runs the popular digital wallet service Edy (which stands for euro, dollar, yen) became a subsidiary of Rakuten (楽天) last year. Therefore the name of the company and the service was changed to Rakuten Edy (楽天Edy) this month. Anyone who uses 500 yen or more of this service this month wins chances at up to 10,000 yen in Rakuten Edy points. The total giveaway is 3,000,000 yen in Rakuten Edy points.

http://www.circleksunkus.jp/cs/campaign/rakutenedy/index.html

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Sapporo Youn-a Yukata Event‏

Sapporo is holding an event where entrants (which are limited to females 20 and older) are invited to a yukata (or summer cotton kimono) event with the Korean star Youn-a in Tokyo. The event is to promote imported Korean makkori, thus the tie-in with a Korean model and talent. Interesting idea, but obviously aimed at young females, a category somewhat difficult for beer companies to reach usually.

http://www.sapporobeer.jp/oishiimakguli/josikai/index.html

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Pronto Frozen Espresso‏

Proto, the coffee shop chain, has added a frozen espresso to its summer menu.

http://www.pronto.co.jp/menu/

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Haagen-Dazs Apricot Tart‏

A new flavor for Haagen-Dazs Japan is apricot tart.

http://www.haagen-dazs.co.jp/apricot_tart/

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

McDonald's Olympic Glass Giveaway‏

McDonald's is giving away a commutative Coke-Olympic glass with the purchase of a large value set meal. Three colors for 10 days, and a different three colors for another 10 days.

http://www.mcdonalds.co.jp/campaign/coke_glass/index.html

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Sapporo Yebisu Giveaway‏

Sapporo is giving away seasonal gift sets of its premium brand, Yebisu, exclusively to members of its online club.

http://www.sapporobeer.jp/sapporo_enq/0051/index.html

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Tully's Qi Wireless Recharging Service

Tully's is offering the use of Qi wireless recharging pads in selected stores. Qi is an international standard for wirelessly recharging electronics, but for the present it is only integrated into a limited number of smart phones (all Japanese brands from what I can tell). To use this with an iPhone, for example, special cover would have to be purchased.

(PDF file)
http://www.tullys.co.jp/u/pdfs/0525a.pdf

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Glico Dairy BifiX Campaign‏

Glico Dairy is holding a giveaway to promote its new BifiX brand bifidobacteria probiotic yogurt line. Proof of purchase is required and JTB travel vouchers are among the prizes.

http://www.glico-dairy.co.jp/cp/probiotics/index.html

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Coca Cola Venting Machine Energy Savings‏

The energy used by vending machines became a news item last year when Japan was experiencing blackouts. Coca Cola depends on vending machines as much as or more than any other company in Japan. They responded with energy saving measures such as turning off lights and using lower power bulbs as well as periodic shutdown of the cooling units.

For this summer during the peak energy usage period, they have a new plan and claim that it will result in an energy savings of 15% on 800,000 vending machines nationwide. As can be seen from the chart, during the peak energy usage hours of 13:00 to 16:00, the cooling units on all machines will be shut off. For non-peak hours, the machines will be separated into 6 groups and at all times from 9 am to 10 pm, one of the 6 groups will have its cooling units shut off. (The 15% cut is calculated in comparison with running the cooling units constantly.)

http://www.cocacola.co.jp/info/savingenergy_statement.html

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

MegMilk Snow Brand 6P Cheese Giveaway‏

Snow Brand is giving away cheese sets to promote new flavors of its 6P (6 piece) cheese product series. These new flavors will only be sold in Hokkaido, so this contest is the only way for people in other areas to try them. The three flavors are scallop (ホタテ), curry soup (スープカレー), and corn (とうきび).

"Tokibi" (とうきび) is an alternate way of saying "tomorokoshi" (とうもろこし) or "corn".

http://www.snow6p.jp/campaign1206/

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.