Mr. Donut is featuring the combination donut croissants that became popular in New York last year. I have not tried the original, but these appear to be selling well. They are good, but very sweet - possibly too close to the US level of sweetness for my taste. I cannot remember where, but in an article I read that donuts in Japan use half the level of glaze as the same donuts in the US. ミスタードーナツ ミスタークロワッサン
http://www.misterdonut.jp/
Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.
Kirin is giving away 500 dutch oven-drink sets to Facebook or Twitter users to participate in the promotion. There are two courses: a Kirin beer course (Kirin Ichiban Shibori Beer) and a non-alcohol course which includes the Gogo no Kocha (tea) and Kirin Mets Cola. キリン 一番搾り 午後の紅茶 メッツ
kirin.co.jp
Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.
For Golden Week here in Japan, Kentucky Fried Chicken is conducting a campaign where you check in on Facebook at a KFC location you can then choose your "goal" or what type of coupon you would like. This ties in with this year's World Cup and the current Cristiano Ronaldo promotion. ケンタッキーフライドチキン
http://www.kfc.co.jp/
Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.
Grand Kirin will have a booth at this week's Yokohama Fruhlingsfest or Spring Beer Festival which is being held in the historic red brick storehouses in Yokohama called Akarenga (through May 6th). It looks like this festival is related to the larger Oktoberfest in Japan festival. キリン フリューリングスフェスト オクトーバーフェスト
http://www.okt-fest.jp/okt-ykhm2014-1.html
Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.
Suntory has set up the outdoor Hakushu Midpark Cafe in Tokyo Midtown, which features Suntory Hakushu Whiskey and Hakushu Highballs and smoked meats like the assorted platter shown in the photo (2,000 yen). This cafe is open through May 25th. 白州 サントリー ハイボール
http://www.suntory.co.jp/whisky/hakushu/style/mpc/index.html
Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.
Beer Gardens are very popular in Japan, even though they do not always work all that well in the height of summer due to the heat and humidity which makes sitting outside even in the evenings not as pleasant as you might otherwise think. Therefore while there are beer gardens in some of the major parks in Tokyo, Osaka, etc., other beer gardens are indoors. Outdoor beer gardens work much better in northern Japan (Tohoku and Hokkaido) where the evenings are much cooler.
The highball boom in recent years has led to Suntory opening some highball gardens as an alternative. This location at the base of Tokyo Tower is open daily until late September. サントリー
http://www.suntory.com/
Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.
Volvic is the water brand now owned by Danone. In Japan, it is sold through Kirin. The water business in recent years has tried to associate themselves with public good, to counter negative perceptions such as essentially selling tap water at huge mark-ups in environmentally unfriendly containers.
Since 2006, some proceeds from the Volvic business in some European countries, North America and Japan (over 1.2 million US dollars to date) have gone to clean water and public health projects in Mali. The project name is "Drink 1 Give 10" and promises to make 10 liters of clean water available for each 1 liter purchased. Very nice, but it doesn't capture all the activities such as working to eradicate guinea worm. キリン
http://www.kirin.co.jp
Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.
Glico is asking for feedback on prototype earrings modeled on easily recognizable shape of their popular Pucchin pudding brand. Are you a big enough pudding fan to hang advertisements from you ears? If so, you probably go one step beyond what most companies refer to as loyal customers. グリコ プッチンプリン
http://www.glico-dairy.co.jp/
Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.
Haagen-Dazs Japan will be introducing two vegetable flavor ice creams on May 12th and has been doing a good deal of advance advertising. Certainly an interesting idea, and National Public Radio in the US mused, wrongly, that kids could get their vegetables for dessert instead. But actually no health or nutrition benefit is being claimed. Although there is some tomato paste and condensed carrot juice added, this is not a vegetable substitute. In fact, you could think of this as the opposite of telling kids to eat their vegetables because they are good for you. In this case, you get the vegetable flavor without much added nutrition. I suppose this could be marketed as a "healthy choice", meaning it is arguably more nutritious than the alternative due to the added vegetable concentrate. Commendably, Haagen-Dazs is not taking that angle.
In a move that fits with Japanese sense of food and color, each vegetable is paired with a similarly colored fruit - tomato/cherry and carrot/orange. ハーゲンダッツ スプーンベジ
http://www.haagen-dazs.co.jp/
Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.
MOS Burger is also trying to compete in the breakfast time slot (7:00-10:30). Their menu does not look all that different from the regular menu though - besides coffee, you have rice burgers and smaller sandwiches with coffee. Not very good photos on the website, but here is a photo of the MOS Morning Vegetable Burger. 朝モス モーニング野菜バーガー
http://www.mos.co.jp/
Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.
