Shopping Guide
On April 26 at Marui City Shibuya, a department store in Shibuya for young people, a promotion event was held for Glico’s ice cream brand Seventeen Ice. It was an open-to-all media arts event at which the world’s only “dance and buy ice cream vending machine” was available to demo. Appearing at the event was popular idol Ayami Mutou. This innocent 17-year-old idol had the crowd in a uproar.
Seventeen Ice is an ice cream brand by Japanese sweets company Ezaki Glico that began being sold in 1983. With a target on 17-year-old females, the brand offers 17 different flavors. After switching sales to mainly vending machines, the treat became a popular staple all over the country.
This one-of-a-kind vending machine works as follows: Choose the flavor of ice cream you would like to eat, dance along with idol Ayami Mutou on the machine’s monitor, and get your ice cream. Those who dance well will be able to get their chosen ice cream, but those who dance poorly will be given a completely different flavor of ice cream than what they chose. This is a fun and delicious media art project that, through dancing and ice cream, makes it possible to communicate with a vending machine.
At the unveiling of the vending machine, Ayami Mutou was also there to lend her support. Ayami was born in 1996 and was 17 years old (Editor's Note: On the day of the event, Ayami was still 17. She turned 18 shortly after on April 29). She is an idol singer who has captivated many fans, from teen girls to males. For the event, she sang her solo debut song “Seventeen.” The packed in fans responded to her carefree singing and performance with shouts and cheers. After singing enthusiastically, Ayami shared an ice cream memory: “I would always get my dad to buy me a Seventeen Ice after swimming.” She also commented with a smile about how happy she was to be able to collaborate with Glico, a brand she has been familiar with since childhood.
This is a Tokyo Otaku Mode original article.
