An invention where sales grow every time an actor fumbles their line / Nissin Foods "Gochisou Ra-Oh: Angel Siblings" / "Ra-Oh: To Moms and Dads Who Can't Get to the Store"

The problem

Gochisou Ra-Oh is a product line launched with the idea that busy women could enjoy it as a little reward for themselves.

The insight

The target was housewives, but the team reportedly agonized a lot during the planning stage. What they landed on was a combination of "heart-fluttering cuteness" and "children"—a structure where young angel siblings "capture" and soothe a tired mother. The idea of turning the children's halting, awkward way of speaking into the selling point itself was a bold one.

The idea

As the mother, played by Mayumi Sada, sighs while washing dishes, two young siblings dressed as angels appear at her feet to pitch the product. In the follow-up, "To Moms and Dads Who Can't Get to the Store," the same siblings, now dressed as ramen shop workers, earnestly—and spectacularly—stumble over their lines while pitching the soy sauce flavor of the renewed 5-pack bags of noodles. It all wraps up with an almost too-honest line of copy: "It doesn't quite match the taste of a real ramen shop, but as home ramen goes, it's a good value and passes the test."

What happened

The series won Gold at the ACC Tokyo Creativity Awards / ACC CM Festival. The two children who played the siblings, Hirie Kitahira and Minato Takagi, also won the Acting Award in the Craft category of the ACC Awards Film division for their performances in both films. The buzz carried on into the following year's "Siblings' Mail-Order Finale: Nabe Ra-Oh" installment.

Afterthought

It's a reversal of the usual approach—finding something lovable in the very fact that the kids couldn't say their lines smoothly. It really makes you realize there's more than one right answer in advertising. Somewhere today, someone is probably loosening up someone else's heart with a line they can't quite get right.

Awards

• ACC Gold 2020

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