As most promotions go, collectibles and prizes would often self-liquidate as a campaign neared its end. But this is where the Star Wars Coca-Cola promotion in Japan takes an odd turn. Allegedly, the campaign didn't perform to expectations, and Coca-Cola was left with large quantities of unclaimed t-shirts and radios.
To relieve their inventories, Coke extended the promotion for one month (through September 1978) and began offering these prizes outright to consumers who mailed in a single cap liner and JPY1000 for the t-shirt (about $5 in 1978), or five liners plus JPY4,500 for the radio (about $22). Not a bad return on investment for those smart enough to shell out a few thousand yen back in the day -- the radios are now easily worth over 50x their original price.
One strange byproduct of the promotion worthy of mention was a series of unlicensed bottle caps that were sold individually at retail. The unpressed caps, finished in blue with a Star Wars logo and R2-D2 graphic, contained large Star Wars images under the liners and were packaged in boxes of 100. They were allegedly sold through cheap candy stores, or Dagashiyas.
Interestingly, while the caps were not officially related to the Coke promotion, the boxes holding them incorporated many of the graphics seen on the campaign's posters. Like all Star Wars tie-in promotions, the collecting usually doesn't stop at the premiums and prizes. There's often a wide range of advertising material, and the Star Wars Coke campaign in Japan is no exception. In fact, this is where it really starts to get interesting.
The display materials printed up for the Star Wars Coke campaign are arguably the most dazzling to come out of the vintage era. Characterized by bright colors and dense compositions, these display pieces are still able to impress. There was one poster showcasing all 50 picture caps to help collectors figure out which they still needed to find, and another that displayed an X-wing and Vader's TIE with silver Coca-Cola and Star Wars logos. There were various plastic banners depicting more of the caps, as well as images of the prizes to be won.
Probably the most well-known of the Japanese Star Wars Coke posters are those depicting "blow-dry Luke", so called because of the ridiculous wind-swept hairdo given the film's hero in the illustration. What makes this particular poster interesting beyond its questionable aesthetics is the fact that five slightly different versions of it were printed.
Because display material was produced by individual Coca-Cola bottlers serving different prefectures (sort of like US states) in Japan, each contained slightly different touts at the bottom explaining what prizes were offered and how many were available to that given region. For example, the Kinki bottler of the southwest offered 5,000 t-shirts and 2,900 radios, while the northern Michinoku bottler touted cash redemptions and 2,000 radio prizes. Bottlers participating in the promotion included Hokkaido, Michinoku, Tokyo, Kinki, Minami Kyushu (South Kyushu area) and Kita Kyushu (North Kyushu area). As one can imagine, these variations, paired with the fact that the posters were printed overseas 30 years ago, have made finding a complete set of all six a nearly impossible feat on this side of the Pacific.
While the campaign's lackluster performance took the fizz out of any potential follow-up Japanese Coke promotions for The Empire Strikes Back or Return of the Jedi, the soda Star Wars tie-in was far from dead. Pepsi resurrected the Star Wars soda campaign with a vengeance in Japan during the late '90s, but that, of course, is another bottle of pop.
