Johnny’s continues to experience a “sponsor’s pullout”… Pressure on “Snow Man” to remain popular in the face of adversity.

Snow Man is a nine-member group that is currently one of the most popular in the Johnny’s office, and with the sexual assault scandal involving the office’s founder, Janie Kitagawa, now confirmed as fact, their work is beginning to be affected, but “Snow Man is expected to reign as the office’s top earner from now on,” according to an entertainment writer. The Japanese entertainment industry is expected to be affected by the recognition of the problem.

On September 7, Johnny’s held a press conference to admit that the sexual assault by Mr. Johnny was “factual” and apologized to the victims. In light of this situation, sponsors are withdrawing one after another. According to the “Media Info” section of Johnny’s net, the largest number of advertisement contracts among debutant groups is 16 for Snow Man (including individual appearances).

Of the companies that have used Johnny’s talents in their commercials, Asahi Group Holdings announced on August 8, the day after the press conference, that although Snow Man was in a commercial for “Mintia” (Asahi Group Foods), the company declared, “We will not develop new advertisements or sales promotions featuring talent from the Johnny’s office in the future. The company has declared that it “will not develop new sales promotions or advertisements featuring celebrities from the Johnny’s office in the future.

In addition, Snow Man Raoul and Shota Watanabe have appeared in commercials for some Mos Burger products, and Mos Food Service, which operates the restaurants, initially announced that it would continue to do so. However, on the 13th, the company announced on its corporate website, “We have decided today that we will not continue our contract with Johnny’s office as long as clear efforts to help the victims and prevent recurrence are not recognized in the future. The current TV-CMs and in-store advertisements featuring celebrities from Johnny’s will be changed as soon as possible” (original text in Japanese).

On the other hand, the connection between Fujiya Co., Ltd. and Snow Man is strong, with the “Fujiya Confectionary Shop: The New Fujiya” episode and the “LOOK” chocolate commercial (two versions) for Fujiya’s “LOOK” being aired nationwide from January 12. And a campaign started on the 12th at Fujiya confectionery stores and FamilyMart convenience stores, offering a clear file with Snow Man’s portrait as a gift when three of the target “LOOK” products are purchased.

Snow Man fans who visited FamilyMart lamented on social networking sites, “They don’t even have the LOOK, let alone the clear file! and lamented on SNS. Many people finally got them after visiting several stores, so the “LOOK” must have been selling like hotcakes due to the Snow Man effect. Seven-Eleven also had a similar campaign scheduled to start on the 14th, but they announced the cancellation of the campaign. FamilyMart’s clear file present also ended on the 14th, while Fujiya’s stores are continuing the campaign.

According to an article in the Sports Nippon dated May 16, the Fujiya side commented on the program, “At this point, there are no plans to make any changes to the current contract. There are no plans to make any changes to the current contract.

As for commercials featuring individual Snow Man members, the commercial for “SBC Shonan Aesthetic Clinic ‘Male Medical Hair Removal'” (Watanabe) is also airing on TV as of mid-September, and Watanabe can be seen on the website. In addition, I-O Data Device’s “CD Reco” (Daisuke Sakuma) and Apaman Network’s “Apamanshop” (Sakuma, Raoul, and Teru Iwamoto) have not disappeared from their websites, and as of the 22nd, there is no specific information regarding the discontinuation of their use.

In the meantime, Snow Man has achieved astonishing figures in CD sales. Their latest single, “Dangerholic” (released on June 6), sold 869,000 copies in its first week, becoming the first male artist in history to record eight consecutive first-week sales exceeding 500,000 copies (according to Oricon). Furthermore, according to information released by Oricon on the 18th, “Tapestry / W,” a single released in March of this year, achieved million sales (1 million copies).

Despite being a member of Johnny’s, which is rapidly declining, Snow Man continues to gain momentum, and there is no one else who will be able to support the Johnny’s office in the future. We can only hope that they will not be crushed by the pressure as they continue to shine in the face of adversity.