SK-II is back with another web entertainment series featuring original music, witty banters and unexpected casting

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How does one put a new spin on an existing product? Why, ask a famous singer-songwriter to write a tune about it, of course!

SK-II has enlisted an unlikely star for Pitera Masterclass, the latest installation in its web entertainment series: John Legend.

The 10-time Grammy award-winning singer-writer is well known as the poster boy for contemporary R&B but beauty ambassador? Not so much.

For his first collaboration with SK-II, Legend brings his composition prowess to ‘Oh Pitera’. The song features such lyrics as ‘Oh, Pitera, You’re my miracle water’ and is panned as a love song dedicated to the brand’s Pitera Essence.

We don’t need research or stats to tell us that music holds incredible sway over our emotions—and sometimes, actions. After all, we’re all exposed to it on a daily basis, be it the upbeat jingle at a mall, or whatever pops up on your music app.

But in case you do need evidence: according to a study by Nielsen, which looked at the effectiveness of more than 600 TV ads, commercials with some form of music performed better across four key metrics—creativity, empathy, emotive power, and information power—than those that didn’t.

And SK-II’s Pitera Masterclass is looking to conquer all fronts.

“Content needs to come from the heart. It is about creating a genuine human connection and keeping it real,” says Legend. “Oh Pitera came naturally to me. It’s probably because I’ve been using Facial Treatment Essence [a SK-II product containing over 90% Pitera] for quite some time.  I was at home with the family and wrote the song in 30 minutes. I love how we made music part of the web series.”

“We wanted everyone to know about Pitera,” says Sandeep Seth, vice president, global SK-II. “We thought, what better way to do this than to work with a legendary singer songwriter, John Legend? This is our Pitera love song to the world.”  

Legend also stars in the accompanying music video, which also features James Corden, Tang Wei and Naomi Watanabe as star-struck fans.

Like its previous Bare Skin Chat web series, Pitera Masterclass forgoes in-your-face advertising in favour of a web series that not only features unexpected casting, witty banter, but also original music to connect with audiences. All the while divulging a ton of information about Pitera itself.

Naturally, fawning fans aren't the only roles Tang, Corden and Watanabe play in the web series. While Legend was composing Oh Pitera, they were learning about Pitera in a sake brewery deep in the heart of Japan.

For the uninitiated, Pitera is an ingredient present in all of SK-II’s products, including its Facial Treatment Essence. It was born during the 1970s when the founders of SK-II travelled to a Japanese sake brewery and noticed the contrast between the brewers’ youthful looking hands and wrinkled faces. Suspecting that it was due to the yeast in the sake, they spent years studying more than 350 different strains of yeast before isolating a naturally-occurring yeast that could produce a nutrient-rich ferment filtrate. That would eventually become Pitera, otherwise known as Miracle Water.

The web series has Tang, Corden and Watanabe play various roles—one has Watanabe and Corden getting schooled in the Pitera story, while another has Corden battle Tang in the latter’s now-iconic ‘pat pat move’.

Binge-watch the MV while we wait for upcoming episodes to drop. We guarantee that you’d be humming the catchy tune—perhaps even singing ‘Oh Pitera'—in no time.