Japanese company apologises for 9 cent price increase

The company has now made a public apology through a 60 second advertisement that ran on national TV

Zlata Rodionova
Thursday 07 April 2016 12:17 BST
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Japanese ice cream maker deeply apologizes for raising prices by 9 cents

A Japanese frozen dessert company has apologised for increasing the price of its Garigari-kun, a popular ice cream for children.

Akagi Nyuguyo increased the price of its popsicle, going up from Y60 to Y70 ($0.62), a hike of 9 cents for the first time in 25 years, the Financial Times reports.

To show their remorse, the company has now made a public apology through a 60 second advertisement that ran on national TV, in which the firm’s president Inoue Sota, its chairman Hideki Inoue and staff bowed to viewers.

The apology end with text that reads: “We held on for 25 years but… 60 →70” accompanied by a folk song in the background.

The video has been watched more than a million times on YouTube as of today.

The company explained the price increase of the product, which has been wildly popular since it went on sale in 1981, due to higher production and packaging costs.

In Japan public apologies are both expected and scrutinised, but this week's video was among the more unusual ways a company has asked for forgiveness.

“It was beyond our imagination that the video would be watched so many times,” a company spokeswoman told AFP.

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