An ad that says nothing but “Yaaaaa!” becomes a huge hit!!! Here is a behind-the-scenes look at the TV- and social-media-buzzed-about PR strategy for the commercial!

Yaaaaa! Hello! I’m Nakane from Division 2 of the Public Relations Business Headquarters.

Have you heard this chant somewhere before? That’s right—it’s the signature bit of the muscle comedian Nakayama Kinnikun, who has been enjoying a major resurgence after “Yah! Power!” was nominated for the 2022 Buzzword of the Year awards!

And a certain commercial featuring the ever-popular Nakayama Kinnikun became a major talking point! (You may have seen the ad where he does nothing but shout “Yah!” at least once…!?) It sparked a huge response on social media after gaining media coverage, so in this article we will introduce the PR strategy behind the campaign.

What is CM PR in the first place?

By the way, some of you may be wondering what it means to “PR a commercial.” (After all, you run a commercial because you want PR, right…?)
CM PR—also known as commercial publicity—is a PR approach that gets commercials aired on TV, in taxis, or as videos on websites covered by the media, turning the company and its products into a topic of conversation.

About 9 million total views!? A commercial with no lines other than “Yaaa!” becomes a major topic in the media and on social media!

Now, to the main topic! The company behind this commercial, which generated such a major buzz, is SUPER STUDIO, provider of the EC platform “ecforce,” which supports the shift to e-commerce for all kinds of businesses—from startups to large enterprises. On ecforce’s official YouTube channel, the video has been viewed more than 1.8 million times; the official tweet received about 43,000 likes and about 23,000 retweets, spreading widely among users. It was also featured on various media sites, posted on the media’s official Twitter and YouTube accounts, and ultimately the commercial even trended on Twitter!

As for the content of the commercial: Nakayama Kinnikun appears wearing an outfit reminiscent of a famous painting, and with a simple “Yaaaaaaaa!” chant, pours milk (actually colored water) from a bottle into a jar. The milk then gushes out forcefully from holes all over the jar, and with the narration “No matter how much you pour, a hole ruins everything,” it conveys that flaws in an e-commerce cart can cause sales to “leak away,” just like the spilled milk.

So why did this commercial become such a hot topic? Certainly, the contrast in physique between the original artwork and Nakayama Kinnikun is striking, so it is funny just seeing him in the famous-painting costume, and of course there is the entertainment value of an ad where he says nothing but “Yah!” (The author, who was present at the shoot, also had a hard time holding back laughter on set…)

However, it was not only the strength of the content—securing solid media coverage was also significant. The synergy with PR helped it become such a major topic that it even made it into Twitter trends.

To summarize briefly how it became a talking point:
1) The commercial is announced and featured on TV and web media
↓
2) People who see the media coverage post about it on social media such as Twitter
↓
3) It gradually gains traction on social media, and more people see posts from ecforce’s official account and web media
↓
4) People who actually watch the commercial or read the articles react
↓
5) As a result, it trends on Twitter
That was the flow.
So without the initial spark—“1) being featured on TV and web media”—it might not have become such a big topic.

And to be picked up by the media, it is necessary for them to think, “This is interesting! Readers will react to it!” In this case, the commercial itself was entertaining thanks to the costume and direction, but the key to further increasing the likelihood of coverage was the interview footage.

Used in virtually every TV program that aired it!? What makes an interview that resonates with the media?

This time, there were two things we focused on when coming up with interview questions. First, drawing out what makes Nakayama Kinnikun uniquely himself; second, asking questions that touch on the commercial and the product/service. The key is how to get him to talk about the commercial while still capturing the first element. We prepared several questions and conducted the interview, but the question and answer that ended up being widely used by the media—something many of you likely saw on TV—was: “What did you focus on when doing the ‘Yah!’ chant?”

Our initial expected answer was something like, “I shouted ‘Yah!’ while focusing on which muscles I was using to fire myself up.” However, when we actually interviewed him on set, he said, “There are three points I focused on! First, fixing the muscles; second, making sure to create the right facial expression! …” (and then gave off a vibe like, “That’s all!”). We thought, “Huh? Where is the third?” so it became: “And the third…?” “Two… yes.” As a result, the back-and-forth between the talent and the interviewer was entertaining on video, which captured the media’s interest, and this exchange was used in almost every program that aired it.

To secure media coverage, think from the media’s perspective = the audience’s perspective!

With this commercial, we succeeded in creating a major buzz thanks to capturing interview footage that played well with the media, as well as the entertainment value of the content. However, to build it into a topic on this scale, we once again felt that media exposure was essential.

And to be covered by the media, it is essential that the media finds it interesting. In other words, who is watching the media? Beyond the media are viewers and readers watching the programs and reading the articles, so it is necessary to create content and prepare media hooks with an awareness of whether those people will find it interesting and want to watch. This is a key point not only for CM PR but for building any PR strategy, so we will keep it in mind at all times as we continue creating fun buzz!