ＡCジャパン | 寛容ラップ | 2023
The Invention of a Rap Battle With No Disses / AC Japan "Tolerance Rap"
At a convenience store checkout, an old woman fumbles through her coins. A tough-looking rapper starts stomping his foot. Uh oh, you think, bracing for trouble—then he grabs an ice cream bar like a microphone and starts rapping: "Nobody's mad at you. Take all the time you need." A rap battle with no disses—now that's an invention.
The problem
AC Japan's theme for the 2022 fiscal year was "an age of intolerance." How do you communicate the idea of a society where many different kinds of people coexist? After a nationwide competition among ad agencies, the winning idea came from Tokyu Agency's Kansai branch.
The insight
Telling people to "be more tolerant" doesn't move anyone's heart. So they decided to show it instead. You brace yourself as the rap battle begins, expecting conflict—but instead, the rappers end up praising each other. That gap is the whole point of the idea. The key message: "Instead of putting each other down, let's lift each other up."
The idea
Rapper Ryo-z's tough-guy image, an old woman played with real acting skill, a gal convenience store clerk who suddenly belts out a passionate verse with a totally flat expression—the more tenderness they rap about, the more it clashes with who they appear to be, and that's exactly what makes it work. They also added sign language and open captions, and had the serious, formally dressed sign language interpreter Harumi Kimura suddenly get into the groove the moment the rap starts—turning even that shift into something funny and surprising.
What happened
After it aired in July 2022, it trended on Twitter, and the video was viewed about 7 million times. It swept major advertising awards, including the JAA Advertising Award Grand Prix and the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Award, as well as Gold at the ACC TOKYO CREATIVITY AWARDS.
Afterthought
I think this idea had already won the moment someone came up with the phrase "a rap battle with no disses." AC Japan's themes tend to come off preachy, but instead of saying "be more tolerant," this one showed a tolerant world itself. That difference is everything.
