All images are from Lotte.
Japan's birthrate has been on the decline for ages and that means that there are fewer young people all of the time to enjoy sweets. There are two groups of people who generally are not drawn to such things - men and older folks of both genders. Since the market of young people isn't going to grow any time soon, the answer is to try and expand into the demographic that generally doesn't want your candy.
The professional looking chap above is meant to tell the modern businessman that, when 5:00 PM rolls around, he should kick back with a little sweet before going on to work his unpaid overtime. Lotte has his rumbling stomach covered with one of the most awkward looking candy and cookie combinations on the market. I didn't make that up. The mention of 5:00 PM, relaxation, and even "healing the heart" is part of the press for this product from Lotte.
The two new flavors are chocolate and strawberry. Ther feature a buche (soft cookie or cake) "sandwich" with a generous amount of "fresh cream" (essentially, ganache) coated in chocolate to contain the potential ooze. It actually looks fine, but essentially pretty boring. These things with soft cake are always a disappointment because the cake parts are either a bit greasy or dry (or an odd combination of both). Hungry business folks can buy that at convenience stores near their offices now.
That man looks rather intimidating, perhaps if I eat these biscuits I'll be as successful as him!
ReplyDeleteAh, if it were only that easy. Eat cookies --> Success!
ReplyDeleteFrom "the potential ooze" to the "a bit greasy or dry" - it's hard to figure out if this Lotte post is about the buche or the bucho (部長).
ReplyDeleteCheers.
I may have gotten the word wrong - it's a French word which I know in Japan as "buze" and that the closest I could find was "buche" (as in buche de Noel). So, perhaps there's a better word, but I never studied French and figured the Japanized version wouldn't be recognized. ;-)
ReplyDelete