Pocari Sweat’s Newest Contest Has Miku At The Forefront
Pocari Sweat – that brilliantly delicious and versatile drink which is most commonly advertised as a way to make you feel better when you catch a cold, a method of hydrating yourself when exercising or even for use with warding off heatstroke in the scorching Summer months. I’m sure most of you have seen the fun adverts and web movies for Pocari Sweat featuring Miku (among others!), but this time they’re holding a contest for fans of the virtual singer and Pocari Sweat. Let’s see what you budding artists need to do to join in and possibly win!
What is the Urupoca contest?
The campaign tagline is 「乾く冬に、うるおいを」/ “On dry Winter days, hydrate yourself”. “Uruoi” refers to hydration, and therefore the abbreviation “Urupoca” is a mix of “hydration and Pocari Sweat! This is a competition for people to submit entries of illustrations or your own anecdote based around the following themes (see below), all in relation to Pocari Sweat ion water.
>> There are two themes you can make an entry for:
Illustration:
- Theme: Miku and Winter and Pocari Sweat
- Design brief: “Please drew Hatsune Miku in a Winter setting/scenario holding or drinking Pocari Sweat or Pocari Sweat Ion Water.”
- Size: 4:3 (at least 1440 x 1080 pixels), in a JPG format
Notes: Any medium to create your illustration is allowed – oil painting, watercolour, pencil drawing, CG image etc. are all fine. Sculptures, objet d’art and other 3D interpretations and videos are not permissable, unless they are in a still image format.
Anecdote:
- Theme: My Winter and Pocari Sweat
- Design brief: Please write your memories and/or first-hand experience regarding the theme in 100 characters.
Hint: You could talk about a time when you’re relaxing at school or work and someone gave you some Pocari Sweat, or when you were taking a break in a competition or practice session to drink Pocari Sweat Ion Water. Please write your memory of Pocari Sweat/Ion Water in Winter as an anecdote.
Note: the anecdote will need to be written in full, comprehensive Japanese
Then to enter, all you need to do is
- Follow the official Pocari Sweat Twitter account (JP)
- Create an original illustration or write an anecdote based on the above themes, and post it to Twitter with the necessary hashtags.
For the illustration contest you need the hashtags #冬のうるポカコンテスト #ポカリスエット #イラストで応募
And for the anecdote contest, you need the hashtags #冬のうるポカコンテスト #ポカリスエット #エピソードで応募
What you could win:
A whole 222 winners will receive a fabulous prize for their efforts in this competition, and you could be one of them!
>> Best Urupoca prize winners (x2 winners)
Illustrations:
- The Best Urupoca Prize winner for illustrations will receive a Wacom Cintiq 22 pen tablet
- Their winning illustration will be shown on the official Pocari Sweat Twitter account
- They’ll get a campaign Hatsune Miku sticker which is 5cm x 8cm in size
- They’ll also receive a whole case of Pocari Sweat – 24 bottles, each of which are 500ml
Anecdote:
- The winner will have their anecdote turned into an illustration
- Their anecdote will be shared on the official Pocari Sweat Twitter
- They’ll get a campaign Hatsune Miku sticker which is 5cm x 8cm in size
- They’ll also receive a whole case of Pocari Sweat – 24 bottles, each of which are 500ml
>> Urupoka prize (x20 winners – 10 per theme)
- Their winning illustration/anecdote will be shown on the official Pocari Sweat Twitter account
- They’ll get a campaign Hatsune Miku sticker which is 5cm x 8cm in size
- They’ll also receive a whole case of Pocari Sweat – 24 bottles, each of which are 500ml
>> Challenge prize (200 winners – 100 per theme)
- 200 submissions will also receive a campaign Hatsune Miku sticker which is 5cm x 8cm in size
※Please note that prizes will likely only be able to be shipped to home addresses within Japan
Illustration samples and inspiration
Here are some of the illustrations shown on the official webpage which you can use to kickstart your own creativity:
Promotional videos
These two new “special movies” feature the characters Hatsune Miku, MEIKO and VTubers YuNi, Fuji Aoi, Mirai Akari as well as Ichika Hoshino from the band Leo/need (Project SEKAI), all of whom are enjoying Pocari Sweat in Winter! Check them out below:
“Winter Hydration” story
“Winter habits” story
The girls are all enjoying their Winter with the hydrating qualities of Pocari Sweat and Ion Water, as well as practising good habits, such as eating well and sleeping well. Make sure you follow their advice and look after your health!
The duration of this campaign is from December 17th ~ January 20th 2021, so you have plenty of time to join in and try to win your very own case of Pocari Sweat (among other stuff!). Good luck to anyone who plans to participate, and make sure to stay healthy this Winter!
~Tanudama
Links
Urupoca Campaign Official Webpage
Pocari Sweat
Otsuka Pharmaceutical
