Putting down the innocent Kim Tak… McDonald’s adopted “Number_i” for a commercial, but why the fans were so upset?

Number_i, a member of TOBE, an entertainment agency headed by Hideaki Takizawa, has been appointed as a commercial character for McDonald’s “Chicken McNuggets”. This is the first TV commercial for the three members, and fans have expressed their delight. However, those who support the former Johnny’s (now STARTO ENTERTAINMENT) are criticizing McDonald’s on SNS.

Shiyou Hirano, Yuta Jinguji, and Yuta Kishi, who were members of King & Prince, announced the formation of Number_i on October 15, 2011, after leaving the former Johnny’s. The group was formed in February of this year. As of February of this year, “Shukan Josei” reported on the possibility of the three of them appearing in commercials together. In the article, an advertising agency official commented, “They have been offered a commercial for a very large fast food company, and it is scheduled to air this spring. With the hint of ‘super major,’ some Number_i fans must have set their sights on McDonald’s and checked their SNS.

Finally, on April 17, there was movement on McDonald’s official X (formerly Twitter). At 6:30 p.m., a 19-second video of three men eating Chicken McNuggets went up. Although the video did not show their entire faces, fans who recognized them as Number_i from the features around their mouths and eyes were colorful. Some even suggested that the video “hinted” at a promotional video for TOBE (……).

The day before Hirano and Jinguji joined TOBE, the official YouTube channel posted a video titled “#TOBECONTINUED_02 Teaser” (July 6, 2011). Their faces were hidden in the teaser video, and the sound of the shutter was echoing. There was also an impressive scene with two chairs in a row; the McDonald’s video uploaded to X also had an audible shutter sound, and this one ended with three chairs in the background. Therefore, fans said, ‘Both the chairs and the shutter sound are similar to that video. I’m already convinced,’ and ‘Mr. McDonald’s is cracking up (laughs).

On April 18, McDonald’s announced that it had chosen Number_i for its TV commercial. In response to this, old Johnny’s fans are biting.

In the past, Takuya Kimura, former V6 member Yoshihiko Inohara, Junichi Okada, and KinKi Kids appeared in McDonald’s commercials. However, in response to the sexual assault scandal involving the late Mr. Janney Kitagawa, McDonald’s Japan announced its policy of not renewing their contracts after the expiration of the current ones. As a result, the commercials in which Kimura and the others appeared were no longer aired. However, Okada is now appearing in McDonald’s commercials again. Since he left the office at the end of November of last year, it may have been decided that there would be no problem with the contract. Also, former KAT-TUN member Jin Akanishi appears in a commercial that began airing on April 2 of this year, co-starring actor Masato Sakai.

In this trend, Number_i was also selected, but Internet users, including fans of the former Johnny’s,

How can they drop the innocent Kim Tak and appoint Number_i? How could they do such a random thing?
I can’t help but feel bad that they are using Akanishi, Okada, and Number_i, who left the agency after cutting their contracts with the old agency, one after the other.
McDonald’s. It’s too obvious.
I will never buy McDonald’s again!

Some of them wrote, “#GoodbyeMcDonald’s! Some people even used the hashtag “#GoodbyeMcDonald’s” to appeal for a boycott of the restaurant.

However, it seems that the Number_i campaign is slowly starting to have an effect. The campaign started on the 24th, but some stores ran out of nuggets and the limited-time-only sauce on the first day.

Considering the buzz alone, McDonald’s may be able to say that this move was a “success.