“Daddy” chic is back!

You can quote us here at WoWasis: Japan is different. Waaay different. By western standards, middle-aged white guys aren’t worth much, sexually or commercially. Ask yourself: how many older western guys are spokespersons, or models, or mage logos for anything hip? Can’t name one? Neither can we. Receding hairlines aren’t very popular: guys are paying big money to try to recover lost hair. And moustaches are even worse. Add smoking, and you’ve probably defined a figure that most western women would find repugnant, so much so, in fact, that no American company would even think of using such a figure to sell anything other than death insurance or old folks homes. “Daddy” is only chic in the gay world. 

That’s why we love the Japanese. The Suntory group created a fictitious character to be the logo for their brand of caffeine-laden coffee drinks. He’s got a moustache, a receding hairline, smokes a pipe, and his name is “Boss.” He’s made “Daddy” hip. 

And Boss gets around. He’s on T-shirts, and sometimes he’s modified to be completely bald, with a gnarly scar down his cheek as well. He’s on coffee vending machines every other corner, it seems. In Thailand, this guy would be a punter, albeit a stately one. In America, he’d be a non-entity. But in Japan, he’s Boss. And don’t forget it!