Japan’s Kirin pulls ad for alcoholic drink after economist’s past remarks on ‘elderly suicides’ resurface
- The Japanese drinks giant used a well-known economist to front its Kirin Hyoketsu Sugar Free canned alcoholic drinks earlier this month
- The promotion quickly fell apart after social media users resurfaced his past comments that senior people are a drain on Japan’s society and should ‘kill themselves’
The firm launched the campaign for the Kirin Hyoketsu Sugar Free canned chūhai drinks on social media platforms and its website earlier this month.
The first complaints about economist Yusuke Narita emerged on the evening of March 8, a company spokesman told This Week in Asia.
“Four comments were sent to the customer service centre regarding Narita’s past comments. [We received] negative comments on X,” said the official, who declined to be named.
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All digital promotion and most of Kirin’s outdoor electronic advertisements were halted at 7pm the same day, and the last social media posts were withdrawn by March 12.
Narita, an assistant professor at Yale University, caused a storm of controversy in late 2021 after stating on a US news programme that elderly Japanese could help the nation deal with its rapidly ageing population by committing seppuku, the ritual disembowelment favoured by samurai who had offended their masters.
“I feel like the only solution is pretty clear,” Narita said. “In the end, isn’t it mass suicide and mass seppuku of the elderly?”
Narita, 39, has frequently expressed the opinion that senior citizens are little more than a weight on society, adding previously that there was a good chance that euthanasia would be “mandatory in the future”.
Questioned by The New York Times on his opinions, Narita claimed his comments had been taken out of context, adding, “I should have been more careful about their potential negative connotations.”
The suggestion for mass seppuku of the elderly was “an abstract metaphor”, he insisted, adding that he had since stopped voicing the idea.
Narita has a huge social media following, including many young Japanese who agree that older folk should die, and that the money that was going to their pensions and medical care should be used for the younger generations. In a country that has traditionally honoured and respected older people, that is a remarkable reversal.
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The Kirin spokesman did not comment on why Narita was selected to promote its products, and was not able to provide details on the cost of the campaign.
He added, however, that the company intended to be more wary in future promotions.
“In addition to the wording of the advertisements, we will check the past words and actions of the celebrity,” he said.
