One of the last things you would expect while shopping for produce at a supermarket is the stern face of legendary Japanese actor Tatsuya Fujiwara staring back at you from a lettuce, of all things. But that’s the kind of thing you can expect shopping around Tokyo these days.
Heads of lettuce packaged in transparent plastic film with the face of Tatsuya Fujiwara printed on it have been flying off the shelves of Tokyo supermarkets lately, as well as going viral on social media. It’s one of those weirdly Japanese things we’ve written about in the past, but this one is for a good cause.
Lettuce is a staple of Japanese cuisine, but data shows that more than 60% of Japanese throw away the humble vegetable in the summer, when it is at peak supply but whiters faster due to hot weather. In an attempt to combat food waste, Japanese food giant Ajinomoto teamed up with a produce cooperative and asked actor Tatsuya Fujiwara to lend them his face.
“I was asked, ‘The lettuce is in crisis, so could you lend us your face?’ I said, ‘Sure,’ and it turned out to be a job where I literally lend my face. Why, though… I will be waiting for you at the vegetable section,” Fujiwara announced on X.
People didn’t know what to expect, but it all became clear when photos of heads of lettuce resembling Tatsuya Fujiwara started going viral online. The marketing effect was instant, and lettuce that would have probably been thrown away started flying off the shelves.
A limited supply of 10,000 heads of lettuce wrapped in Tatsuya Fujiwara’s face went on sale this month, but if this is the kind of stunt that saves lettuce from the bin, we’ll probably see more of the actor’s face in supermarkets soon.
