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Peter Lyon27 Jun 2014
NEWS

Happy days for Japanese die-hards

Hollywood legends reap rich rewards for flogging cars in Japan

When Die Hard star Bruce Willis told Sylvester Stallone that he wanted $1 million dollars a day to appear in the Italian Stallion’s The Expendables 3, he quickly out-priced himself for a reprising role in the action sequel.

Stallone had offered Willis $3 million for four days' work. But Willis wanted $4m. “One million day, huh? No way, Jose. That’s just greedy and lazy!” was the reply from Stallone, who immediately sought Harrison Ford as a replacement.

But it seems car-makers in Japan still want to use the fickle Willis, and are willing to fork over the claimed $1m-a-day fee for a three-day TV commercial shoot.

Daihatsu recently hired the Reds star to promote its new 660cc Mira ‘e:S’ (pronounced “ees”) mini-car in what has turned out to be the most entertaining and witty series of TV commercials since Tommy Lee Jones starred as an alien in a dozen or so Boss Coffee adverts a couple of years ago.

Japanese car-makers have always had a soft spot for foreign actors in TV commercials promoting their new cars at home -- especially Subaru.

From the late 1980s through to the mid-'90s, Subaru was infatuated with American-based stars, employing star power like Mel Gibson, Kevin Costner, Antonio Banderas, Rod Stewart, Winona Ryder and Bruce Willis.

In fact, Willis appeared in Subaru Legacy (Liberty) ads in the early '90s and then came back again in 2004 to celebrate the model’s 15th anniversary.

But now that he has swapped camps, some Japanese commentators are criticising him for switching to Daihatsu, saying he lacks loyalty.

But at the end of the day folks, it’s all about where the bucks are, right?

Just ask Ronin anti-hero Jean Reno. Over the past year, the French actor has become chummy with Toyota, appearing in its 'ReBorn' campaign adverts as ‘Doraemon,’ a famous time-travelling, flying robotic cat. One source tells us Leno was paid a ‘cool mill’ and then some.

So what is it that’s so appealing about foreign actors in Japanese ads? Well, apart from their celebrity appeal, Japanese viewers get a real kick out of hearing their favourite actors speaking Japanese, albeit somewhat contrived.

In the fourth instalment of the Daihatsu advert, Willis asks the store manager if the Mira e:S mini-car is selling well. When the manager nods, “Yes, it’s doing very well,” Willis cheekily turns to say in Japanese, “It’s my star power, right?”

To that, the manager’s smile disappears as he mutters to his assistant, “Gawd, Bruce can be a real pain in the a***.” Given Willis’ history of demanding excessive fees, the attitude he portrays in the Daihatsu TVCs kind of mirrors reality.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s new reforms and a weaker yen have translated into stronger car sales by every car-maker in Japan, except Nissan. This means marketing departments have more money to spend on seducing foreign talent to peddle its products.

But while George Clooney is the only Hollywood legend we’ve seen this year (pushing Kirin beer), we have not seen any new talent gracing car adverts.

Who knows, perhaps Subaru will lure Willis back for the launch of its new WRX STI in its home market. I’d love to hear him say,
"Yippie-ki-yay 4WD turbo power!" in Japanese. And guess what? So would the locals.

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Written byPeter Lyon
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