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A Mom Shines Through Her Fandom, and Gas Barely Gets a Mention / TOKYO GAS "Mom's Fan Life"
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東京ガス | 母の推し活 | 2023

A Mom Shines Through Her Fandom, and Gas Barely Gets a Mention / TOKYO GAS "Mom's Fan Life"

There are a few ad series I look forward to every year, wondering "what will they do this time" — and Tokyo Gas's brand ads are one of them. Their "Family Bonds" series, running since 2008, has delivered one gut-punch after another straight to the Japanese heart, starting with the famous "Lunchbox Email" spot. I admire their work. The 2023 entry, "Mom's Fan Life," tells in 90 seconds the story of a mother who falls for a K-pop idol thirty years younger than her and watches her life open up as a result. It became a huge hit, racking up over 5 million views on Twitter within three days. This time, though, I found myself thinking "it's good, but..."

Why Did They Turn It Into a Song? / Tokyo Gas "Ganbare Watashitachi"
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東京ガス | がんばれ私たち | 2020

Why Did They Turn It Into a Song? / Tokyo Gas "Ganbare Watashitachi"

In November 2020 (11/2020), right in the middle of the pandemic, Tokyo Gas aired this commercial. A 25-year-old woman chasing her dream of becoming an actress lives through days that don't go the way she wants, all set to a song sung by actress Shizuka Ishibashi herself. Her father shows up in his little truck, her grandmother cheers her on through a smartphone screen, and that's when I gave up fighting the tears.

Email, Before Email Existed / Tokyo Gas "Family Bonds: Lunchbox Emails"
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東京ガス | 家族の絆・お弁当メール | 2010

Email, Before Email Existed / Tokyo Gas "Family Bonds: Lunchbox Emails"

It's only 90 seconds long, but I cried right on the spot. I happened to catch it on TV, lucky enough to see it from the very beginning, and the tears just came. "The lunch a mother makes" is already powerful material on its own, and this ad dresses it up in something very modern: "email." To a son who barely talks anymore, the lunch his mother makes every single day becomes a one-way, but very real, "message."