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Hot Anime Guy Apple Posters Had "Too Much Impact" For Some Stores

Sometimes, turning inanimate objects into attractive anime characters can create too much of an impact. The ZEN-NOH (short for "National Federation of Agricultural Co-operative Associations") Iwate Prefecture branch commissioned several anime-style posters to sell locally produced apples, and they certainly do make an impression.

Jonagold

Kiou

Sun Fuji

The designs were created by Lord Marksman and Vanadis light novel illustrator Yoshiwo. A spokesman of JA ZEN-NOH explained to J-Town Net last week that the idea behind the posters was to create something with "unprecedented impact" that would sell the natural appeal of Iwate's apples. The target audience was 30-40 year olds, who are said to consume relatively less fruit. In particular, the designs were made to appeal to women, who carry out the bulk of the shopping at supermarkets and other fruit vendors.

The Jonagold poster was the first of the posters to be created, and began distribution in 2019. The spokesman then said that they got "carried away" and created the posters for the Kiou and Sun Fuji apples the next year. Although they generally describe the posters as a great success that "attracted attention on social media even among men," they also admit that some stores thought that the posters had "too much impact" and decided not to display them. "We're a little bit repentant about that," they commented cheekily.

Nevertheless, the federation is extremely happy with the attention the posters have received. "It's rare to see a fruit poster get attention, so we're very grateful to see it go viral. We're particularly impressed at the posts we've seen from people drawing the characters for themselves. People tend to have an image of agricultural collectives as a conservative body, but I hope that we can transmit information in an amusing and playful way as much as possible."

Source: J-Town Net (Keika Inoue) via Livedoor News