This is an original Japanese B2 promotional poster issued in May 2000 to launch Sapporo Beer’s new product, Reisei Karakuchi Nama (冷製辛口〈生〉). Bold, eccentric, and unmistakably of its era, it is a superb piece of Japanese commercial graphic design, blending beer advertising with a playful retro kaiju / giant-monster visual language.
Design
The composition is built around a brilliantly theatrical central image: Japanese actor Masahiro Takashima (高嶋政宏) appears as a towering, smiling giant striding across a neon-drenched cityscape, holding a can of Sapporo beer aloft in his right hand. He is dressed in loose, pale summer loungewear—resembling casual jinbei / suteteko-style attire—which reinforces the campaign’s relaxed, cooling, after-hours mood.
Behind and beneath him stretches a dazzling Las Vegas-style night scene, crowded with casino signage, fireworks, and showers of gold coins. In the lower right, a group of astonished salarymen point upward in comic amazement, heightening the poster’s deliberately exaggerated sense of spectacle. At bottom right, a large frosted can of the product appears surrounded by ice and condensation, visually underscoring the beer’s cold, sharp refreshment.
A major graphic feature is the huge diagonal white katakana sound-effect text 「シャキイイイイイイン」, an onomatopoeic expression conveying something crisp, sharp, and bracing. At the upper left, the handwritten copy reads 「うまいぞ、ねっ。」 (“It’s delicious, isn’t it?”). Along the bottom, the familiar S★PPORO branding appears above the product name 冷製辛口〈生〉 and the emphatic campaign slogan GREAT!!!
Significance
This is a particularly striking example of Japanese beverage advertising at the turn of the millennium, when major brands often embraced highly cinematic, surreal, and humorous visual campaigns. With its giant-figure imagery, casino-night setting, and vivid colour, the poster has strong standalone display appeal far beyond its original commercial function.
Condition
Excellent. Please review the photos—they show the exact poster for sale.
This poster is an original Japanese promotional B2 from the 2000 launch campaign.
It is not a reproduction or a reprint.
It is over 26 years old!
Certificate of Authenticity included.
