ミエライス | いただきます、ミエライス | 2016
This Is Exactly What We Wanted / Mie Rice "Itadakimasu, Mie Rice"
A local commercial that feels truly local. Honestly, that alone tells you everything - I think this is exactly what I'd been wanting to see.
The insight
There are so many great local commercials out there - like the one about a train that couldn't change jobs, or the one with a guy going through all sorts of things with his girlfriend at a ski resort - and Mie Rice belongs right in that tradition. Pick just one thing you need to get across, then let everything else run wild. That's probably the formula.
The idea
A "Rice Girl" wearing a big rice grain on her head dances along to an original song that lists off rice dishes - curry rice, omelet rice, pork cutlet bowl, beef bowl, chicken-and-egg bowl. There's no mouthwatering food footage, just her singing through a menu of rice dishes. But that's exactly what makes it good.
Afterthought
Maybe it's because airtime is cheap enough to allow for a longer spot, or maybe it's just what the client wanted - there could be a few reasons. Either way, I'd bet this works far better in that area than some shallow nationwide commercial with a celebrity. Ads with that kind of strength are alive and well out there. That's the richness of local advertising.
