The First Ad On The Moon
May 15, 2014 7:46 PM Subscribe
Japanese Pocari Sweat sports drink is striving to go where no ad has gone before: the moon. Lunar Dream is their campaign to get kids to submit their dreams to include in a "dream capsule," on SpaceX's Falcon 9, as part of the company's first moon landing in October 2015.
The Otsuka Seiyaku YouTube channel has a 13 minute concept video, though it's only in Japanese. For more press release information, The Japan Times has posted a 3 minute subtitled press release.
This will not be the first time Pocari Sweat tries to tap into interest in space to promote the product. In 2001, Pocari Sweat went to the ISS, as seen in this 5 minute "behind the scenes" video from the shoot.
The Otsuka Seiyaku YouTube channel has a 13 minute concept video, though it's only in Japanese. For more press release information, The Japan Times has posted a 3 minute subtitled press release.
This will not be the first time Pocari Sweat tries to tap into interest in space to promote the product. In 2001, Pocari Sweat went to the ISS, as seen in this 5 minute "behind the scenes" video from the shoot.
The sky was the color of television, tuned to advertising awards banquet.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:22 PM on May 15, 2014 [6 favorites]
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:22 PM on May 15, 2014 [6 favorites]
Don't Forget: Lots of billboards in space
posted by 2bucksplus at 8:25 PM on May 15, 2014
posted by 2bucksplus at 8:25 PM on May 15, 2014
For those curious, Pocari Sweat tastes closest to Gatorade, maybe. But not quite lemon-lime flavor.
posted by zardoz at 8:28 PM on May 15, 2014
posted by zardoz at 8:28 PM on May 15, 2014
I found Pocari Sweat a little grapefruity. I remember liking it more than Gatorade.
posted by HighTechUnderpants at 8:32 PM on May 15, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by HighTechUnderpants at 8:32 PM on May 15, 2014 [1 favorite]
It's quite available here in southern China -- has a certain saltiness to it that is not unappealing.
posted by lumensimus at 8:34 PM on May 15, 2014
posted by lumensimus at 8:34 PM on May 15, 2014
It is far superior to gatorade IMAO
posted by elizardbits at 8:34 PM on May 15, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by elizardbits at 8:34 PM on May 15, 2014 [1 favorite]
I had heard of Pocari Sweat before, but I had always assumed it was a joke made-up product with a silly Japanese name, like Pocky.
And don't try to tell me that stuff is real.
posted by Curious Artificer at 8:46 PM on May 15, 2014 [3 favorites]
And don't try to tell me that stuff is real.
posted by Curious Artificer at 8:46 PM on May 15, 2014 [3 favorites]
Is it poetic or inspirational to put your dream somewhere you can never hope to reach it?
posted by TheRedArmy at 8:53 PM on May 15, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by TheRedArmy at 8:53 PM on May 15, 2014 [1 favorite]
A rat done bit my sister Nell and Japan is littering on the moon...
posted by humanfont at 8:55 PM on May 15, 2014 [4 favorites]
posted by humanfont at 8:55 PM on May 15, 2014 [4 favorites]
Is it poetic or inspirational to put your dream somewhere you can never hope to reach it?
They'll be waiting for you, with powdered Pocari Sweat, just waiting for you to visit the moon and mine its water. (Seriously, that's part of the pitch. Check out the press release video.)
posted by filthy light thief at 8:56 PM on May 15, 2014
They'll be waiting for you, with powdered Pocari Sweat, just waiting for you to visit the moon and mine its water. (Seriously, that's part of the pitch. Check out the press release video.)
posted by filthy light thief at 8:56 PM on May 15, 2014
Catblack: "Didn't this already happen in a William Gibson novel?"
The idea goes back to 1949, at minimum.
posted by Chrysostom at 9:09 PM on May 15, 2014 [3 favorites]
The idea goes back to 1949, at minimum.
posted by Chrysostom at 9:09 PM on May 15, 2014 [3 favorites]
Oh, to be rich enough and crazy enough to sponsor a follow-up mission to retrieve that piece of trash. Surely there would be some court of international law that would grant me the right to then stick the damn thing anywhere I want to.
posted by benito.strauss at 9:18 PM on May 15, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by benito.strauss at 9:18 PM on May 15, 2014 [2 favorites]
Is it poetic or inspirational to put your dream somewhere you can never hope to reach it?
Who says they can't? A private company is putting an advertisement on the Moon, using a lander built by another private company (meant to win a prize offered by Google), launched on a rocket made by a third company. That's kind of impressive, because it suggests that someone could reach the Moon right now if they had enough money and a high tolerance for risk. Maybe by the time those kids grow up it will be even easier. Technology seems to be moving forward here, independent of government whims and cutbacks.
posted by Kevin Street at 9:34 PM on May 15, 2014
Who says they can't? A private company is putting an advertisement on the Moon, using a lander built by another private company (meant to win a prize offered by Google), launched on a rocket made by a third company. That's kind of impressive, because it suggests that someone could reach the Moon right now if they had enough money and a high tolerance for risk. Maybe by the time those kids grow up it will be even easier. Technology seems to be moving forward here, independent of government whims and cutbacks.
posted by Kevin Street at 9:34 PM on May 15, 2014
Just wait and see what Calpis puts on the moon.
posted by happyroach at 10:10 PM on May 15, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by happyroach at 10:10 PM on May 15, 2014 [2 favorites]
For some reason I was much more thirsty when I was in Japan. I don't know if it was the change in climate or a preponderance of vending machines telling me I should be. But I drank way more Pocari Sweat than any man should drink in the span of just a few weeks. Buoyed by a diet of rice balls and Fanta Funky Lemon C.
Such sweat flavor. Such sweat regret...
posted by fishmasta at 10:10 PM on May 15, 2014 [1 favorite]
Such sweat flavor. Such sweat regret...
posted by fishmasta at 10:10 PM on May 15, 2014 [1 favorite]
Damnit, people! SpaceX is going to the moon and you're all talking about some crazy drink???
posted by brenton at 10:41 PM on May 15, 2014 [7 favorites]
posted by brenton at 10:41 PM on May 15, 2014 [7 favorites]
It's SO much better than Gatorade, just a little salty and with mysterious thirst-quenching powers, kind of the same way as fresh young coconut juice, where you just drink and drink and go ahhhhhhh.
posted by HotToddy at 10:43 PM on May 15, 2014
posted by HotToddy at 10:43 PM on May 15, 2014
Pocari Sweat on the moon. How did it get there?
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 10:50 PM on May 15, 2014
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 10:50 PM on May 15, 2014
Damnit, people! SpaceX is going to the moon and you're all talking about some crazy drink???
you would understand our obsession if you ever beheld its greatness
posted by elizardbits at 11:22 PM on May 15, 2014 [1 favorite]
you would understand our obsession if you ever beheld its greatness
posted by elizardbits at 11:22 PM on May 15, 2014 [1 favorite]
brenton: "Damnit, people! SpaceX is going to the moon and you're all talking about some crazy drink???"
But I don't have any idea what the moon tastes like.
posted by RobotHero at 11:22 PM on May 15, 2014
But I don't have any idea what the moon tastes like.
posted by RobotHero at 11:22 PM on May 15, 2014
prolly not as refreshing
posted by elizardbits at 11:31 PM on May 15, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by elizardbits at 11:31 PM on May 15, 2014 [1 favorite]
But I don't have any idea what the moon tastes like.
Like gunpowder.
posted by benito.strauss at 12:22 AM on May 16, 2014 [1 favorite]
Like gunpowder.
posted by benito.strauss at 12:22 AM on May 16, 2014 [1 favorite]
kind of impressive, because it suggests that someone could reach the Moon right now if they had enough money and a high tolerance for risk. Maybe by the time those kids grow up it will be even easier. Technology seems to be moving forward here, independent of government whims and cutbacks.
No, this statement is actually so vile that it beggars description.
Maybe everything isn't a goddam marketing opportunity or the provenance of the private sector.
You remember Apollo 11 right?
Sorry, I have had too many beer tonight, but seriously, you do not fuck with the moon.
Ever.
posted by Phlegmco(tm) at 12:52 AM on May 16, 2014 [1 favorite]
No, this statement is actually so vile that it beggars description.
Maybe everything isn't a goddam marketing opportunity or the provenance of the private sector.
You remember Apollo 11 right?
Sorry, I have had too many beer tonight, but seriously, you do not fuck with the moon.
Ever.
posted by Phlegmco(tm) at 12:52 AM on May 16, 2014 [1 favorite]
There's nothing vile about expanding the reach of humanity. Apollo 11 was a great achievement, but closing off the Moon as some kind of monument to past American greatness is ridiculous. Lots of people should get the chance to go there. It should be mapped, explored, and covered from pole to pole in rovers and astronaut tracks. And yes, even advertising if that gets things moving. It should be used by all of us.
You know what's really vile? Saying that the past is sacred and should never be topped. Those men didn't go to the Moon so no one would ever go again.
posted by Kevin Street at 1:47 AM on May 16, 2014 [7 favorites]
You know what's really vile? Saying that the past is sacred and should never be topped. Those men didn't go to the Moon so no one would ever go again.
posted by Kevin Street at 1:47 AM on May 16, 2014 [7 favorites]
The SO and I were travelling in Japan when we both ended up having severe gastroenteritis on the last leg of our trip, likely from dodgy conveyor belt sushi.
Those 3 days were an endless loop of lying in bed in a Tokyo hotel, going to the toilet and drinking more Pocari Sweat. We went through litres of the stuff.
I still have flashbacks whenever I see Pocari Sweat on a supermarket shelf.
posted by ianK at 3:26 AM on May 16, 2014
Those 3 days were an endless loop of lying in bed in a Tokyo hotel, going to the toilet and drinking more Pocari Sweat. We went through litres of the stuff.
I still have flashbacks whenever I see Pocari Sweat on a supermarket shelf.
posted by ianK at 3:26 AM on May 16, 2014
Didn't Tang already win the branded soft drink space race?
posted by apparently at 3:40 AM on May 16, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by apparently at 3:40 AM on May 16, 2014 [2 favorites]
When I was in my early twenties I liked to mix Pocari Sweat and vodka. I did it more than once, so I'm assuming it was decent.
posted by Metroid Baby at 4:05 AM on May 16, 2014
posted by Metroid Baby at 4:05 AM on May 16, 2014
Ludatshit, Pocari Sweat
Pocari Sweat
Pocari Sweat
Nova Nova Nova Nova Nova Mare do Pocari
Grapefruit crater, oh so sorry
My hangover swimming in it
Drunk man think the moon off limits
Past-ronaut drink Tang, dammit!
Funky drink the lunar future future future future future
Pocari Sweat
Pocari Sweat
Ludatshit, Pocari Sweat
posted by Ice Cream Socialist at 5:29 AM on May 16, 2014 [1 favorite]
Pocari Sweat
Pocari Sweat
Nova Nova Nova Nova Nova Mare do Pocari
Grapefruit crater, oh so sorry
My hangover swimming in it
Drunk man think the moon off limits
Past-ronaut drink Tang, dammit!
Funky drink the lunar future future future future future
Pocari Sweat
Pocari Sweat
Ludatshit, Pocari Sweat
posted by Ice Cream Socialist at 5:29 AM on May 16, 2014 [1 favorite]
Two things I remember fondly from visiting Tokyo are Pocari Sweat and Cow Piss Calpis.
posted by tommasz at 5:51 AM on May 16, 2014
posted by tommasz at 5:51 AM on May 16, 2014
When I went to South Korea with the Boy Scouts in 1991, our entire troop became addicted to Pocari Sweat. So, so good. On the last day of our trip, at the flag-raising ceremony, I made an announcement: I had spoken with the camp translator and he had provided me with a little background on our favorite beverage. "Pocari," I announced, "Is Korean for 'testicle.'" I was summarily booed.
Follow up: for my brother's bachelor party, I spent WAY too much to get a case of Pocari Sweat for the hangovers the next day.
posted by ColdChef at 7:05 AM on May 16, 2014
Follow up: for my brother's bachelor party, I spent WAY too much to get a case of Pocari Sweat for the hangovers the next day.
posted by ColdChef at 7:05 AM on May 16, 2014
Pocari Sweat is nice but Aquarius is just better. Can't explain how but it is.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 8:13 AM on May 16, 2014
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 8:13 AM on May 16, 2014
But will they time the arrival with the recycling schedule?
posted by grumpybear69 at 8:49 AM on May 16, 2014
posted by grumpybear69 at 8:49 AM on May 16, 2014
I dont think I could drink something with 'sweat' in the name unless it was to win a bet or to get laid.
posted by Mister_A at 10:38 AM on May 16, 2014
posted by Mister_A at 10:38 AM on May 16, 2014
I bet drinking Pocari Sweat will get you laid.
posted by Ice Cream Socialist at 11:51 AM on May 16, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Ice Cream Socialist at 11:51 AM on May 16, 2014 [1 favorite]
I'm genuinely surprised that to the moon! is involved and this ISNT a dogecoin related thing.
Are we totally sure a bunch of dogecoiners didn't buy pocari sweat quietly with a shell corporation?
posted by emptythought at 12:19 PM on May 16, 2014
Are we totally sure a bunch of dogecoiners didn't buy pocari sweat quietly with a shell corporation?
posted by emptythought at 12:19 PM on May 16, 2014
Gibson? That, I don't know. But Arthur C Clarke wrote Watch This Space in 1956 where Coca-Cola inserted a secret mask in a sodium vapour scientific experiment to turn the Moon into a vast advertising billboard - he loses marks for not getting the soft drink right, and for being six years behind Heinlein's The Man Who Sold The Moon, which proposed using carbon black for a far more permanent advert... for soft drinks.
More here.
posted by Devonian at 1:39 PM on May 16, 2014
More here.
posted by Devonian at 1:39 PM on May 16, 2014
my understanding was that the Pocari is a large bird made to run on a treadmill while its sweat is collected
posted by moorooka at 2:40 PM on May 16, 2014
posted by moorooka at 2:40 PM on May 16, 2014
For some reason I was much more thirsty when I was in Japan.
Me too, I chalked it up to 3 things:
1- I was drinking a lot more alcohol in my years in Japan than I did back home so prob a little dehydrated
2- more sodium in the food I was eating in Japan
3- Japanese summer was fuckin hot and humid and I sweat non-stop for like 5 months a year.
Pocari Sweat was a godsend. I'd always described it as unflavoured Gatorade; surprised to hear people detect grapefruit or lemon-lime. I thought it was like the core, base elements of a sports drinking minus the simulated fruit flavor
posted by Hoopo at 4:49 PM on May 16, 2014
Me too, I chalked it up to 3 things:
1- I was drinking a lot more alcohol in my years in Japan than I did back home so prob a little dehydrated
2- more sodium in the food I was eating in Japan
3- Japanese summer was fuckin hot and humid and I sweat non-stop for like 5 months a year.
Pocari Sweat was a godsend. I'd always described it as unflavoured Gatorade; surprised to hear people detect grapefruit or lemon-lime. I thought it was like the core, base elements of a sports drinking minus the simulated fruit flavor
posted by Hoopo at 4:49 PM on May 16, 2014
I fully expected this to be about Morning Rescue. I was sad it turned out not to be. I mean, those dudes had to rappel down from somewhere, right?
posted by Queen of Robots at 7:25 PM on May 16, 2014
posted by Queen of Robots at 7:25 PM on May 16, 2014
Ah, Pocari Sweateru. A majority of drinks, in the vending machines, I had reminded me of various percentages of Fresca. Most of the drinks are not carbonated but all had a weird refreshing quality that the horrible, humid heat demanded. Seriously, Fresca without the fizz.
posted by jadepearl at 4:39 PM on May 17, 2014
posted by jadepearl at 4:39 PM on May 17, 2014
« Older May 16 is National Bike To Work Day | Who Gets to Graduate? Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
Never mind.
posted by ProxybyMunchausen at 7:50 PM on May 15, 2014