Two Japanese firms and the United Nations recently highlighted their joint efforts, Mainichi reported. All they are ready to make the Japanese public aware of the international body’s social development work in the world.
The Japanese entertainment powerhouse Yoshimoto Kogyo Co., advertising giant Dentsu Inc. and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals started to work together and set 17 objectives to be achieved by 2030. Such joint efforts aim to lift millions out of poverty, end hunger, make cities more sustainable and tackle climate change, among other critical world problems.
Mr Haneda, who serves as the talent agency’s general manager of corporate communications confirmed that they wanted to collaborate with the UN SDGs to make the planet a better place with millions of smiles. Haneda described some of her company’s efforts to popularize the goals, such as a promotion at the 2017 Okinawa International Film Festival where famous Japanese actors were enlisted to carry placards of the individual goals while walking a red carpet on Naha’s main street.
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Also shown as part of the presentation were two catchy black and white videos produced by Dentsu. The brief skits are part of a series introducing the SDGs through light-hearted interactions at a coffee shop.
“We figured out that our comedians are the perfect messengers to help spread the meaning of the goals in their own comedic way,”
Haneda added.
Miyabi Haneda of Yoshimoto Kogyo recalled her company’s motivation for joining the project two years ago following outreach from Kaoru Nemoto, the Tokyo director of the U.N. Information Center. Among the company’s A-listers participating in the campaign is Naomi Watanabe, a sketch comedy star best known for her lip-synching impersonations of Beyonce, Lady Gaga and Watanabe whose huge social media following earned her a spot on this year’s Time magazine list of the 25 most influential people on the internet.
“The SDGs were hardly known in Japan, and I thought that to allow us, the U.N., to reach out to the general public, we need good storytellers,”
Nemoto explained, saying that is the people’s agenda, so that is why it is really important to reach out to the general public.
