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- All the women in this town sound like your uncle... here's why!
All the women in this town sound like your uncle... here's why!
A football stadium ad so weirdly perfect, it deserves its own fan section.
Before we start, as promised in our previous edition, here is a free Ebook chronicling our journey to explain Viral Ads Simply. Put 0$ in the amount and download and share it for free to whomever you want. Ideally your agency, your colleagues and all your vendors. Click here.
Hello, Creative Souls.
Imagine arriving in a new town where every single woman is drop-dead gorgeous. The kind of beautiful that makes you double take. Triple take. Even the girl pouring your coffee looks like she stepped out of a K-drama.
But then—
She opens her mouth. And out comes the voice of a retired wrestler.
Deep. Raspy. Weirdly aggressive.
You blink. The girl next to you in class leans over, sweet smile on her face…“Good morning,” she growls, like a 60-year-old chain-smoker.
It keeps happening. Gorgeous girl after gorgeous girl—all cursed with voices that feel like audio jump scares.
You’re confused, disoriented and Borderline spiraling.
Until you meet her.
A regular-looking girl with a soft, melodic voice—the only one that feels… normal.
And that’s when she hits you with the truth:
“I don’t go to Ajinomoto Stadium.”
Campaign: Ajinomoto Stadium – “Where Passion Speaks Louder”
Client: Tokyo Metropolitan Government
Agency: Dentsu
Year: 2005
The Setup is Absurd. The Punchline is Perfect.
The ad doesn’t open with a product benefit.
It opens with WTF energy.
You’re drawn in by the bizarre logic: Why do these beautiful women sound like men?
And only after the surrealism has you fully gripped does the ad reveal its hand:
This isn’t random. It’s football. It’s fandom. It’s Ajinomoto Stadium.
Cut to thousands of female fans screaming, howling, living for their team.
They’ve shouted their voices raw with love and loyalty.
This isn’t damage. It’s devotion.
The tagline lands:
“Ajinomoto Stadium: Where passion speaks louder.”
And suddenly, the entire story reframes.
Why It Works
🔥 It starts with a moment—not a message.
The ad doesn’t try to earn your attention. It grabs it, throws you into a world that makes no sense, and dares you to figure it out.
🎯 The product doesn’t sell itself—it justifies the madness.
You only learn what the ad is for in the final few seconds. But when it hits, it retrofits everything you’ve seen with meaning.
😂 It uses comedy to elevate, not undercut, the brand.
The joke isn’t on the stadium. The joke is the stadium—so legendary, it transforms people. It becomes folklore.
🎬 It mythologizes the experience.
This isn’t a place where matches are played.
It’s a place where passion burns your voice out and you’d do it all over again. That’s not marketing. That’s storytelling.
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What We Can Steal From It
Lead with curiosity, not clarity.
Trust your audience to stay if the setup is strange enough.Hold the product reveal until it means something.
Don’t rush to the logo. Let the narrative do the heavy lifting.Reward attention with a reframe.
Make people feel like they didn’t just watch an ad—they unlocked something.
The Takeaway
Too many ads say, “Here’s what we do.” The best ones say, “Here’s a world. Let us mess with your head. You’ll figure it out.”
The Ajinomoto Stadium ad isn’t just selling football tickets...It’s creating lore. It’s saying this place changes you. Loudly, hilariously, permanently.
And that’s the dream, isn’t it?
Not just attention—but transformation.
Not just marketing—but myth.
Last three editions: Learn - Simplicity, Storytelling and Impact.
Figment is written by Abbhinav Kastura, a writer/producer who has spent a decade making impactful internet videos and Guru Nicketan, an advertising nerd, B2B Marketer, stand-up comedian, and a film buff.
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