Suntory Premium Malt's Blend

I have met many Japanese who like to mix dark and light beers for an intermediate taste. Occasionally, Japanese beer companies come out with beers, usually seasonal, to meet this demand. This offering from Suntory is different in that they claim it not only to be a blend of its Malt's and Dark Malt's beers, but a special process has been developed to optimize the taste by further brewing the mixture and then filtering it.

http://www.suntory.co.jp/beer/premium/blend/index.html?fromid=beer_top_pc

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

Meiji Yoplait Gurt Characters

Pretty creepy if you ask me. The animations are fine, but once they take on the puppet-like form, they look like something from a horror movie. In any case, I suppose marketing has shown otherwise. In Japanese, the product name is "gu-ru-to", and that is the name given to these characters from left to right "gu", "ru" and "to". 明治 グルト

http://www.meiji.co.jp/dairies/yogurt/gurt/

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

Wendy's Frosty Coffee Jelly

Coffee jelly is popular in Japan, so the combination of coffee jelly and Wendy's frosty seems fairly natural. It comes in both chocolate and vanilla frosty favors.

http://wendys.co.jp/

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

Wendy's Snow Crab Special

As part of their premium line, Wendy's is offering a Snow Crab Special. Looks good, but the set comes to about 15 dollars US. In its current incarnation, Wendy's is still stuck at only 2 locations. Certainly not volume which can keep prices down. I'm glad they are around, just not sure how the numbers work out.

http://wendys.co.jp/

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

Suntory Full Body Beer

Suntory Full Body Beer is a limited real beer made with 100% malt and a strong 7% alcohol content. It promises a robust 飲み応え or nomigotae with is an increasingly frequently used marketing phrase literally meaning "return for drinking", which is open to interpretation as the Japanese blogs can attest.

http://www.suntory.co.jp/news/2013/11892.html?fromid=beer_top_pc

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

Suntory Winter Bubbles Beer

Another seasonal 3rd category beer that has run its course is beer from Suntory which claims wintery white bubbles that melt in your mouth. サントリー   くちどけの冬小麦

http://www.suntory.co.jp/beer/fuyukomugi/index.html?fromid=beer_top_pc

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

Suntory Fall Beer Akiraku

Suntory Fall Beer Akiraku which is a 3rd category beer and features 20% roasted malt for added aroma, has reached its end of life. Product turnover is Japan is quick. サントリー 秋楽

http://www.suntory.co.jp/beer/akiraku/index.html?fromid=beer_top_pc

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

Lotteria Ghana Milk Chocolate Fair

In a cross promotion which is surprisingly rare in my opinion, the Lotte conglomerate is promoting its Ghana chocolate line in its Lotteria fast food chain. For a limited time you can buy Ghana milk chocolate shakes, pies and french fry dip. That dip is an interesting idea. Meiji and Morinaga, the other large chocolate makers, don't have fast food chains of their own.

http://www.lotteria.jp/topics/2014/topics01090002.html

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

Burger King Ringo Swings

Burger King Japan is now offering a New York Whopper, which gets its name from "The Big Apple" and not because you would find a hamburger like this in New York. This Whopper includes grilled slices of apple, thus the connection. In Japanese, the word for apple is "ringo", so the promotion also uses the copy "Ringo Swings". In addition to the Whopper there is another smaller hamburger (not shown) which also includes apple slides.

http://www.burgerkingjapan.co.jp/campaign/cp109.html

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

Kirin Plasma Lactic Acid Bacteria

Kirin is using its size and market power to promote its probiotic they call plasma lactic acid bacteria (Lactococcus lactis JCM5805（プラズマ乳酸菌）). This strain has immunostimulatory activity and as there is not a claim category for that, the ads have to carefully keep from making a specific claim. When you navigate over to the R&D section it gives research results, but only uses the strain name and not any product names.

Among the products containing this probiotic are a yogurt drink, a water drink, a fermented lactic acid drink and a fortified drink which also contains DHA and Vitamin C.

http://www.kirin.co.jp/csv/plus-i/product.html#ctpla

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