Unfortunately, I’m not sure what exactly that message is, other than an endorsement of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone. His photos are all over the NTT site, featuring questionable fashion…
Awkward poses…
And this…
Unfortunately, I’m not sure what exactly that message is, other than an endorsement of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone. His photos are all over the NTT site, featuring questionable fashion…
Awkward poses…
And this…
Watch the commercial here.
Here’s the first ’90s Ichiro Nissan ad I posted.
That would be the Sumimoto Mitsui Banking Corporation.
Ichiro played for the Orix BlueWave from 1992 to 2000, then signed an endorsement deal with Orix Bank in 2011. He began appearing in their ads last year, and now he’s the star of the first-ever Orix TV commercials — read this press release for details.
Both spots feature the Yardbirds’ cover of Bo Diddley’s “I’m a Man.”
Last year I did a post on Ichiro’s ads for Yunker energy drinks, but none of ’em are as amazing as their new ones. Above is an embeddable behind-the-scenes clip; the actual ads can be seen here.
This appears to be a print ad for Steinway pianos that I found online awhile back, but I don’t remember exactly where. I’ve never heard of Ichiro playing piano, but I don’t think this is Photoshopped, either. The man on the right looks like some Hugh Downs/Charles Kuralt TV host-type guy who I can’t quite place. Nutty.
Last year I posted this, but the video has since been removed. So here are a couple other bizarro ’90s commercials for the same product, both featuring a clean-shaven Ichiro and his cohorts beating up on some malevolent corncobs, somehow turning them into the Japanese equivalent of Bugles.
Nice moves. Here are some of his other NTT spots.
Last September, Ichiro signed with Orix — not to play baseball, as he did for the Orix BlueWave from 1992 to 2000 — but to endorse their financial services.
Link.
Brian Setzer wrote and performed the song heard in the above ad. Apart from the lyrics, it’s the same song as Sexy, Sexy, though I’m not sure which one he did first. At the beginning of the below video is a different version of the ad, and Setzer talks a bit about it as well…
And here’s some Pepsi-sponsored “Refresh Project” highlight reel…
This post might also be classified as Ichiro Rock.