Idols + hamburgers = heaven

20.07.2010 by Patrick W. Galbraith

I was invited to a publicity event for Denny's "Hamburg Wanted!" campaign. The chain is serving 12 new kinds of hamburg steaks (see menu here), with standout examples like the Fire Demon Lord Hamburg Bowl, the Mix Mix Babinburg & Rice (inspired by Korean soul food), the Big Mountain (two patties and a deep-fried prawn, for those who like their meal in a pile and are tired of Gogo Curry), Beef Calby Yakiniku Negishio Hamburg, Avocado Hamburg 2010 (which looked like a salad), Avocado & Tororo Japanese-style Locomoco Bowl, and so on. Members of the press got to try an assortment of dishes, and they were generally creative and delicious (the idea of combining yakiniku and hamburg steak sounds crazy, but it was my favorite).













But it actually wasn't the free food that brought me down. My long-time acquaintances, Kyan Chiaki and Harada Marirun from the Nakano Fujoshi Sisters, were the idol hosts. The idea is a multi-media viral promotion, which is why they invited bloggers and famous Twitter and Ustream personalities. But that's just the beginning. This is a showdown between Kyan and Harada, where each gets points for finishing hamburg steaks over the next few months. Fans of Kyan and Harada are encouraged to go to Denny's and "challenge" the hamburg steaks, too. For every selection they complete, they are allotted points, which they can give to either Kyan or Harada by using a special Twitter account. Kyan promised those who sent their points to her could expect a personal reply and a picture of her. Harada said that she planned to do some sort of offline meeting with those who assisted her.

This is actually a pretty good use of social media (and Japan's infamous cult of personality) for a promotion, I think.

Further, the "Hamburg Wanted!" campaign stretches out to traditional TV programs, a game on the Mixi community site and special dramas featuring Kyan and Harada, which can be seen on the cell phone.

As an aside, Kyomoto Yuka, also of Nakano Fujoshi Sisters, is also participating, though she did not come to the event (someone held up and showed a giant poster picture of her, which made it kind of feel like a funeral or something) and apparently does not use Twitter. Each of the three girls is partnered with one of the comedic duo Carnelian or a guy named Party Uchiyama.

My only regret about the event, the beginning to a very ambitious multi-media campaign, is that they did not invite idol fans. Most people in the audience seemed like they didn't even know who Kyan and Harada were, which was a waste of star power. Even more so because both of them were wearing Denny's waitress uniforms, looked incredibly cute and were posing for pictures on demand. It's an idol fan's wet dream, and they would have got a lot of milage out of tapping that energy. As it was, only I volunteered to be spoon fed by Kyan. Seriously. I would have begged, but no one else even went for it. They let me take a picture of her holding the bite up, which I include here for those who want the virtual experience. Then they let me pose with both Kyan and Harada. Most fans buy several copies of CDs, go through lotteries and screenings, wait in line and get only a few moments perhaps shaking the hand of a favorite idol. What an opportunity, and no one went for it!













From now on, my personal heaven looks a lot like Denny's.

As an aside, Kyan's favorite selection on the new menu was Melty Cheese Fried Vegetable Hamburg, and Harada chose the Fire Demon Lord. Kyan said that the mixture of cheese and tomato was "godly" (kami desu), and Harada that rater than her mouth, her soul burned with the challenge of the Demon Lord. She said she needed to level up in order to defeat him and restore peace to the war-torn country of Japan. (Are we watching here or what?)

I am not sure how this works exactly, but if you eat a hamburg steak at Denny's and want to send your points to Kyan via Twitter, the address is #dennys_kyan. For Harada, send to #dennys_marirun, and for Kyomoto, #dennys_kyomo.