カロリーメイト | My Way | 2020
Sound pulls you right back to those days / CALORIEMATE "My Way"
The song and the sound effects here are just amazing. Listening to them yanks you straight back to that time in your life. Which tells you something: those sounds don't really exist (much) in the adult world.
The problem
This is the sixth installment of CALORIEMATE's now-annual commercial cheering on students facing entrance exams. Students are surrounded by all kinds of things that can pull their hearts away: chatting with friends, swimming pools and fireworks, online games. The question was how to portray students fighting against those temptations while pushing forward on the path they believe in.
The insight
The core idea this time was to portray exam-taking students as athletes. Creative director Akihiro Fukube says he was certain the moment he saw 16-year-old YOSHI audition that he was "exactly right for 'My Way.'" He also said things like "his lanky build had a bit of a Sid Vicious vibe, which worked well" and "from the start of planning, it seemed better if the lead himself sang the theme song." Right—this project could only be completed by becoming one with the music.
The idea
YOSHI covers Frank Sinatra's famous song "My Way" in a punk rock style. A student puts in earphones, and the moment the song starts playing, they enter a state of total focus. Stretching in the library, flipping through reference books and skillfully using memorization sheets, spinning a pen with incredible skill, washing their face like diving into water—the students' "events" continue one after another in an omnibus style. Filming reportedly took place over four full days across Tochigi, Gunma, Chiba, and Kanagawa, capturing more than 80 shots.
What happened
The ad won the Encouragement Award in the Commercial category at the 57th Galaxy Awards, an ACC Silver at the 2020 ACC TOKYO CREATIVITY AWARDS, and the Excellence Award at the Transit Advertising Grand Prix 2020. YOSHI's cover song also became a talking point and was officially released in January 2020. While opinions were divided, the bold casting and direction undeniably left a lasting impression.
Afterthought
This is what it means for sound to be good. The sound of flipping through reference books, the sound of a pen racing across paper, the sound of water, and YOSHI's rough yet youthful singing voice. All of it blends together and transforms into the burning energy of people living in the "now" of being exam students. That desperate intensity from back then, the kind you forget once you become an adult—this commercial brings it back to you through sound.
