sweet campaign

Any guesses what this bizarre ad campaign involving a 5 ft, vertical, bleached slug-type alien, and his two more humanoid and mustached daughters, is about?

Yes! You’re absolutely right. Couldn’t have been more obvious. This is a campaign for Treha (or trehalose), a sweetener derived from fungi. This image was taken from www.treha.jp and if look at the background, there are images of foods that contain Treha.

I know that I am missing the big point somewhere, but I have no idea why Treha chose this to promote a sweetener, or why they look like that (the mustache and monobrow thing…). But the whole campaign is definitely amusing.

If you go to the web site, a little ufo flies across the screen, and if you click the ufo you are asked “Do you like Treha?” Try clicking “no.”

The web site gives information on trehalose and showcases the TV ads for Treha (hit “CM” button, second from the left at the bottom of the page), which involve the alien father (slug-type) and his two daughters explaining the sweetener to humans during different situations.

Very weird, especially as I think this is not a product that ordinary consumers can just go out and buy, but rather something found in other products.