Apple cider vinegar brand OSU captures spirit of stylish Japanese nonagenarians

OSU, the apple cider vinegar owned by Mizkan, celebrates the Japanese zest for life in a campaign starring some of the country’s most stylish, older residents.

This is the first work for the brand by Wonderhood Studios, which won Mizkan’s advertising account last year. Mizkan also owns the pickle brand Branston.

The ad spotlights three older Japanese people: Masuda Aiko, who is 95, 92-year-old Okino Tadashi and Hoshi Michiko, 93.

Against an upbeat jazz track, the cast shows off their fashionable outfits and buoyant energy in locations such as a public garden and a suburban street. “You either have it or you don’t,” a voiceover says at the end.

The campaign aims to drive awareness of OSU’s premium product range, including its flavour, which the Great Taste Awards recently awarded a three-star rating – its highest accolade. Bryan Carroll, sales and marketing director at Mizkan Euro, said this is the company’s biggest-ever investment in the apple cider category in the UK. 

Apple cider vinegar is often marketed on its health benefits, but the ad positions OSU as a modern, lifestyle brand that embraces its Japanese heritage and culture.

OSU cast the nonagenarians from the Tokyo area and worked with a local stylist and Tokyo-based production company Cutters Studios to select wardrobes and locations that bridged traditional and modern Japanese styles. The soundtrack is an original composition by Foster & Foster Music that was inspired by Japanese jazz.

The campaign will run across social media and video-on-demand on All4.

It was created by Ads Dechaud and Phil Le Brun, and directed by Lydia Zhou through Cutters Studios. Bountiful Cow is the media agency.

Dechaud and Le Brun said: “We had the idea of using Japan’s older residents during our pitch last January. Age diversity in the world of fashion has been a trend in recent years, with older models gracing the cover of Vogue, and fashionable grandmothers popping up on Instagram. We love the way this campaign leans in to a fashion world and celebrates older talent.”

Carroll added: “We wanted our first foray into this new medium to be as big and bold as the brand is – and believe that Wonderhood has created a campaign that captures our brand distinctiveness, heritage and personality in a fun and unexpected way. We know how much energy was brought both on- and off-set, from everyone involved in the creation of this, and we can’t wait to see what our UK consumers think of it.”