In 2020, Japan suffered from the spread of COVID-19 pandemic , with negative news such as the postpone of the Tokyo Olympics. As makers of energy drink Dekavita C, we wanted to revitalize the people of Japan. Dekavita C is a brand that has always cheered people both by the energetic taste and unique advertisements. Despite the gloomy circumstances of the pandemic, we aimed to entertain people by creating and spreading an amusing content, as we have always done.

To encourage people with a fun advertisement, we noticed the potentiality of local mascot characters. Known for the ”KAWAII” culture, cities and towns across Japan found success in the past, developing cute mascot characters to revitalize their local economies. So, we incorporated these beloved characters in an ad campaign that came with a humorous twist: we developed muscle-bound, testosterone-fueled versions of these adorable characters to exaggerate the energizing effects of Dekavita C. Although local mascot characters were familiar to the people in Japan, the totally changed appearance of these cute creatures astonished people and caught attention.

The social insight we focused on was the depression due to COVID-19 pandemic. At that time, dismal news was reported every day, fun topics rarely existed. People were anxious and stressed out by self-quarantine. Facing this situation, we decided to deliver the message “What a big power! DekavitaC”. This message was firmly spoken, which did not give a shred of the circumstances of COVID-19.

To deliver this message and revitalize people all over Japan, we created movies and graphic ads of local mascot characters becoming fully energetic and showed them mainly through SNS, also on local newspapers (in which places gave birth to them) and traffic advertising. Due to the need of avoiding transfer, we created all these contents without directly contacting the characters by making full use of CG technology.

We transformed these cute characters into super-jacked giants.

Their new forms appeared on subway posters…

In newspaper ads, and even in a set of action figures.

The twisted versions of these beloved local mascots took Japan by storm. Over 12 million viewers watched the ad online, creating 540% more online buzz for Dekavita C than in the previous year. The campaign hashtag--#EverybodyGetThatEnergy—was posted over 100,000 times. It turned out what people wanted wasn’t a sentimental message of hope, but a good laugh.