[News] AC Japan makes new ads with SMAP, others after viewers complain.

[News] AC Japan makes new ads with SMAP, others after viewers complain.
Cr. - http://www.japantoday.com/

Members of SMAP and other Japanese celebrities, including soccer players Yuto Nagatomo, Atsuto Uchida and Shinji Okazaki, will appear in a new television commercial from public service announcement production house AC Japan.

Television stations have been running an abundance of AC Japan commercials as businesses have pulled advertising in light of the March 11 tsunami disaster and the ongoing nuclear crisis in Fukushima. However, the public service announcements, which incur no advertising charge, have drawn complaints from the public due to their repetitiveness and jingle.

Only a limited number of different AC Japan commercials are currently running, including one in which actress Akiko Nishina urges women to undergo cancer exams, and former head coach of the Japan national soccer team, Ivica Osim, informs viewers of early heart attack signs. Viewers have complained that the commercials have no connection to the ongoing disaster, are repeated too often, and that the AC Japan jingle at the end of each commercial sounded like an urgent earthquake notice.

AC Japan began muting the jingle after complaints came in. The new commercial will have a number of versions and was created in part to address viewer complaints.