Suntory advertises Pepsi Nex as a sort of alternadrink. The campaigns avoid cola-standard healthy-'n'-active imagery in favor of a context-free white void; spokespeople float within this and address the viewer directly. The conceptual content, though, is not rebellious in the slightest. In fact, I'm starting to suspect they're just doing it to save money.

Take this summer's new TV commercials. Why set up a festival shoot with at least two stars and a bunch of extras when you can just have OKADA Jun'ichi from V6 throw it out there as a possibility? Why cast half a dozen healthy kids for a "horseplay on the beach" bit when you can just film MATSUMOTO Jun from Arashi gettin' wacky? And why try to persuade Karina to go along with a bikini scene when your audience will titillate themselves into a collective froth at the mere suggestion of one?

That last one is the least subtle. It also differs from the others in that Karina's monologue is about her (Pepsi Nex-i-verse) self, not hypothetical fireworks or yakisoba. "I bought this intense bathing suit! I can't tell you what's so intense about it, but... I guess you could say it's thanks to [Pepsi Nex being] zero-calorie." That last sentence is for the ladies.

The poster campaign pares the concept back to the bone: a fully-clad Karina posing coquettishly under the headline "BATHING SUIT." ("水着。")

Note the period. "BATHING SUIT. I'm just sayin'."

TODO: Claim link to Japanese artistic tradition of "saying by leaving unsaid". Haiku? Brush-and-ink landscapes? Work in definition of yugen?

Also coming out from Suntory soon: Lucky Cider (with Kirakira Sparkle). Straight outta the 80s. The tagline is pretty non-committal, though: "You gotta have dreams and stuff" (夢とか、持たなきゃ).