How U.S. stars sell Japan to the Japanese

In the Land of the Rising Sun, Schwarzenegger sells elixir, DiCaprio does car commercials, Harrison hawks brewskis, Willis sells coffee -- and they all want to keep it a secret.

By Malena Watrous

Jun 29, 2000 | There's something about Cameron Diaz that she doesn't want you to know. In January, the raunchy and rambunctious movie star got a serious makeover when she landed a role as a demure, prissy, blue-eyed poster girl for Japan's Aeon school of English conversation.

Aeon is one of many chain English-conversation ("eikaiwa") schools that cater to working adults in Japan, where English-language instruction is a thriving industry. Eikaiwa schools here operate much like chain gyms do in the United States: Individuals pay set membership fees for the privilege of purchasing anything from bargain group-class packages to "voice time," unlimited hours of spontaneous English interaction with actual foreigners.

Diaz is not Aeon's first famous foreign mascot. In 1999, following the colossal success of "Titanic," an enhanced Celine Dion also appeared in ads for the conversation school. That year, the French Canadian singer grinned down at shoppers from a frighteningly large billboard above my city's hippest, busiest street, her Roman nose seeming to sniff in approval at the pervasive air of consumerism in the neighborhood. And why wouldn't it? Although Aeon is contractually bound to keep the cruder details of its endorsement deals under wraps, Dion's face can't come cheap.

Aeon is neither the only Japanese business to hire foreign celebrities as spokes-models nor the only one to alter a star's image to meet Japanese tastes. Sometimes, endorsements help raise a star's Japanese profile in time for a major motion picture release. (Just after the Asian release of "You've Got Mail," advertisements for Nohohon, a canned chrysanthemum and dandelion tea, showed Meg Ryan happily consuming the bitter, grassy brew; previews for "Any Given Sunday" began showing in cinemas as Diaz's Aeon poster was plastered across every available bit of wall space in town.)

Endorsements aren't always promotional, however. In one pork industry commercial, Sylvester Stallone stands with his arms full of gift-wrapped hams. "Osebo," he grunts at the camera in Japanese. Osebo are traditional "giri" (duty) gifts -- melons cradled in tissue paper or costly crates of canned fruit juice and beer -- presented to bosses, neighbors and extended family at the new year.

Arnold Schwarzenegger recently added to his income by appearing in several major Japanese ad campaigns, one for Sky TV (a paid movie channel) and the other for a tiny, amber bottle of syrupy liquid -- an alleged potency cocktail. In the latter, he raises both huge arms over his head and flashes two V's for victory.

Schwarzenegger, like a majority of the Western stars who opt to make guest appearances in Japanese ads, secured a secrecy clause for these endorsements, preventing the Japanese companies from disclosing his sponsorship of the concoction in the United States.

Next Page: "Must the ads be kept secret because Americans feel negative about Japan?"

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