A wacky new Japanese TV commercial has been released promoting the health benefits of kiwifruit, triggering both delight and fear on the internet.
In the ad, dancing kiwifruits energise and cheer up other fruits, who appear very unhappy with various alternative methods they're using to try to get healthy.
A sad banana is seen exercising in a sauna suit, an orange cries over having to drink an oddly coloured smoothie and an apple comes dangerously close to buying a 'healing' crystal online. All are interrupted by acrobatic, spirited kiwifruit who let them know eating kiwifruit is a delicious and fun way to get healthy instead.
The ad says kiwifruit will give energy to everyone - fathers, mothers, grandparents or children, all of whom are represented by other fruits with different hairstyles.
It all ends with the two main kiwifruit - the increasingly renowned 'kiwi brothers' - as frontmen for a band that also includes the ad's other fruit all rocking out to its theme song.
The video has been published shortly after Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern visited Japan on her first international trip since the COVID-19 pandemic hit and made international headlines with her interactions with the kiwifruit mascots.
The same week the ad was published on Twitter, Ardern also took to social media to celebrate the mascots - it appears she brought a souvenir home from the trip and has it sitting proudly in the Prime Ministerial office.
"Ever get the feeling you're being watched?" she wrote on an Instagram Story video that showed a Japanese Zespri doll sitting on her desk in the office.
The Zespri ad has been posted on the Mondo Mascots Twitter account, which celebrates Japan's multitude of mascots.
At the time of publishing, the video has received over 1600 likes; but not all the comments are glowing, with some viewers claiming it frightened them.
"I don't know why, but this commercial is slightly scary to me," one reply said.
"This is why I don't like eyes on fruits or non-living things. Goy Nightmare fuel," tweeted another.
One Twitter user's take on the ad's meaning was: "Eat the hearts of others to gain their power!"
Others just expressed delight at the video, with one saying simply: "Amazing!"
Japan is a major market for Aotearoa's kiwifruit exports and Ardern's visit to Tokyo marked the start of the 2022 kiwifruit sale season in Japan.
Zespri will be hoping the zany new ad adds to the publicity of Ardern being greeted by the kiwi brothers and gives a boost in sales this year.
