package design with 2nd purpose

I copied this article from pingmag website :-) good info!

Nova

What is this??? The Nova bunny conquering different kinds of sweets?

Here we have an interesting one!
English Language school Nova made a clever move by applying the old concept of learning + pleasure = good memory! By teaming up with big time choco producer Glico, people can now learn English while indulging in chocolate heavens…

Nova rabbit on Gaba chocolate asking you to visit their website

Heavy Nova branding campaign on Pocky chocolate…

But I wonder! What is this pink bunny doing to poor Japanese citizens who actually don’t want to learn English!?? Just imagine that ‘English’ was your most hated subject at school and now your favorite chocolate forces you to realize, that you still don’t know how to “Take the bull by the horns”!

Pocky packages inside - cute English lessons on the go… But really, who wants to learn English constantly?

The forced on Learning English market is a really strange situation here in Japan… Although people study so hard at school, the fact that they have almost zero opportunity to actually ’speak’ English (at school and in real life) causes a big shyness and English panic. This however creates a comfortable niche for tons of English schools to ask outrageous prices for a little bit of ’speaking time’.

I wonder who decides what kind of phrases are picked for these packages… I’m glad they didn’t chose Learning for Life! - that would really depress me!

there is the Daruma for the beginning of the year.

Daruma Canael Corn - no, this is not a spelling mistake!

Milk Caramel flavor variation of the Daruma Canael Corn

This traditional Daruma wish doll works like that: make a wish and draw in his left eye, wait until the wish comes true and then pencil in his other eye. Well, the Caramel Corn already has one eye, so you can use the side panel of the package to actually write down your wish:

Caramel Corn’s original side panel on the left and Canael Corn’s blank space to write down your wish on the right

Once your wish is fulfilled, you can draw in the other eye… in case you didn’t throw away your flip package already…

So why is this one called Canael Corn instead of Caramel Corn then? Because **Japanese loooooove word plays and “canaelu” means to wish and make it happen. Bingo!**

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I love the idea how Japanese snack companies use their package not only to attract their customer but also educate/ entertain them. The package design have the opportunity to create interaction with the consumer..Like the two examples up there, I can use my package design to educate and entertain my audience about the culture.. The message should be conncected to my goal (motivate them to increase their interest, knowledge, and interaction with other culture)