TOKYO —Megapopular all-girl idol group AKB48 ramp up World Cup soccer fever
in adidas Japan’s new TV commercial campaign that starts airing on
Friday.
The new commercial features Yuko Oshima, Nana Okada, Mako Kojima and
Miki Nishino, who have been appointed friendship ambassadors for the
“Enjin (forming a circle) Project.” Their purpose is to support and
cheer on the national soccer team by wearing the uniforms (Japan’s
uniforms are supplied by adidas).In the commercial, Oshima screams, “Let’s form a circle!” and all 150 supporters respond: “We’ll definitely win!”
Oshima, who will soon be “graduating” from AKB48, said, “I thought I would become hoarse,” while Nishino said, “It was the first time I have screamed this loud since the sports day in elementary school,” Sankei Shimbun reported.