Have you noticed that there has been a recent trend of young actresses in their mid 20s suddenly appearing in alcoholic drinks' CMs for the first time? If so, you may be wondering why so read on to find out more about the reasons leading to this phenomenon!
- In Japan, the legal age to consume alcoholic drinks is 20 years old. Although the age for one to be considered as an adult under civil law has been reduced to 18 years old since April 2022, the age limit of 20 still remains for alcohol and tobacco products.
- There is actually a self-imposed rule in place since 2016 by 9 alcoholic drinks-related organisations that they would not get anyone below the age of 25 years old to appear in their CMs and that the CMs should not use any expressions that make people appear as if they are below 25 even if their actual ages are 25 and above. These moves were said to be meant to prevent underage drinking by featuring CM personalities who would actually look like "adults" rather than appearing as if they are too young to be drinking. In addition, the CMs these days tend to have self-imposed restrictions such as avoiding expressions that could lead to excessive drinking and sound effects such as the sound of alcohol going down the throat.
- It is also worth noting that the TV CMs of alcoholic drinks are not shown between 5am and 6pm so these appear typically during primetime i.e. 7pm to 11pm when there are the most viewers. It is also common to see such CMs appear during the commercial slots of the dramas/shows which the actresses themselves are acting in. Getting a CM offer for a alcoholic drink is also seen as a testament to one's popularity and name awareness.
- As such, it has become more apparent that there are more young and popular actresses turning 25 and above who have started to appear in such alcoholic drinks' CMs for the first time. In February alone, Nagano Mei was unveiled to be the new CM heroine for Suntory's highball Torys while Sugisaki Hana was the new messenger for SUI, a gin product also from Suntory. Nagano herself confirmed during her CM announcement event that she finally got her first alcoholic drink CM deal now that she had turned 25.
- Looking back at recent years, Hashimoto Kanna and Fukuhara Haruka first appeared in alcohol-related CMs last year while the same applied to Hirose Suzu in the year before last. Imada Mio also took on her first alcohol CM in 2022. Nogizaka46 also started to appear in a beer CM after all of their members were 25 years old and above.
- A key reason behind getting these actresses to appear in the alcoholic drinks' CMs is said to be their cross-generational reach and name awareness. Nagano, Sugisaki, Hashimoto, Fukuhara, Hirose and Imada (the next asadora heroine) had all appeared in NHK's morning dramas thus the general public is largely aware of them. And since they do not appear so much on TV unlike talents, it would be a refreshing sight to see them in the CMs where they get to show off another side of them unlike when they act as other characters.
- Another factor is the gradual decline in the alcohol consumption of the younger generations. By getting these young actresses to promote the products and tapping on their huge social media following, it is anticipated that they would be able to achieve the best promotional impact for the products they endorse.
- It has also become more common and acceptable for young actresses at the age of 25 and above to openly talk about their love for alcohol or share episodes of their "drunken" episodes in variety shows and events. For example, Kawaguchi Haruna has a solo drinking video series on her YouTube channel which has close to 5 million views to date.
- This year, there will be a number of actresses who will turn 25 so they may be the next to appear in a new alcoholic drink CM soon e.g. Hamabe Minami, Kamishiraishi Moka, Mikami Ai, Kawai Yumi, Fukumoto Riko.
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