The Shirato Family (White Family)
SoftBank2007
The Shirato Family (White Family) is a 2007 television commercial series for SoftBank, created by Dentsu, Tokyo.
Why it works
The Shirato household looks ordinary until you notice two things: the father is a white Hokkaido dog who lectures his family in a human voice, and the elder son is a Black American. Nobody explains either. The series began in June 2007 to sell a plan offering free calls within the family, for SoftBank, which had bought Vodafone's Japanese business the year before and given its advertising to creative director Hiroshi Sasaki; the films came from a Dentsu team including planner Yoshimitsu Sawamoto. Asked why the father was a dog, the company declined to say. The deadpan absurdity gave a newcomer brand a warm personality: the CM Research Institute's 2007 likeability survey put it first, and SoftBank topped the brand rankings for eight straight years. It won the 2008 ACC CM Festival Grand Prix, when the family, dog included, also took the performance award, and later crossed over with Suntory's Alien Jones. Campaign Asia called it one of Japan's most impressive TV campaigns in living memory.
Techniques
- Humour Presents an ordinary household where the father is a lecturing white dog and nobody explains why, a deadpan absurdity that gives the newcomer brand warmth.
- Mascots and characters The talking dog father and his family recur across the series as recognisable characters, popular enough to cross over with another brand's campaign.
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