Black humour drives air purifier sales

Dentsu has used some dramatic black humour - communicating the

importance of the "freedom to smoke" - to drive sales of Midori Anzen's

air purifier.

Entitled "Smoking Desperado", the television commerical portrayed a

group of westerners fleeing to Japan after learning from a news report

that Midori Anzen was so powerful and effective that people in the

country could smoke indoors with impunity.

The 30 and 90 seconds television commercials aimed to communicate Midori

Anzen's bun-en ideology - the harmonious coexistence of smoking and

non-smoking cultures.

"To make the message more impactful and appealing to customers, we tried

to portray Japan as a country manifested by the bun-en ideology and

juxtaposing it with other resolutely non-smoking countries in a humorous

manner," explained Dentsu TV commerical planner Yoichiro Abe.

"To create further interest, we have used a non-fiction format, such as

a news report or documentary commentary, with the aim of creating a

style similar to which the target audience is familiar with," Mr Abe

told MEDIA.

As Midori Anzen is an air purifier with the capability to effectively

purge the air of cigarette smoke, and creative director Masaaki Tsuruho

said the purpose of the campaign was to communicate the product value of

creating a comfortable environment to accommodate both smokers and

non-smokers.

"The strategy of the new advertising is to point out to our target

market that they can make the wonders of bun-en culture a reality by

purchasing this Midori Anzen product for their offices," he said.