Uber Japan leans into exaggerated humour in new campaign

Uber has unveiled an integrated creative campaign aimed at converting traditional street-hailers into first-time Uber Taxi app users.

Called Over-the-Top Discount, the campaign was developed in collaboration with VML & Ogilvy Japan alongside WPP Media.

As summer’s languid evenings transition into busier autumn schedules, the campaign targets young professionals, positioning Uber Taxi as the seamless choice for getting home comfortably after long workdays or nights out.

Central to the initiative is a introductory promotion offering first-time riders up to 99% off. The message is brought to life through relatable scenarios, amplified by Japanese comedian Hollywood Zakoshi, whose signature "over-the-top" performance style highlights the unbelievable nature of the discount.

By pairing a relatable consumer insight - that a 99% discount sounds almost too good to be true - with Hollywood Zakoshi’s exaggerated comedy, VML & Ogilvy Japan dramatised late-night moments familiar to young professionals, turning a promotional campaign into an engaging piece of cultural entertainment.

Running from September through October, the campaign encompasses creative strategy, production, media planning and execution. Key placements include a high-impact out-of-Home takeover at Tokyo's Shibuya Station, alongside dynamic 15-second and six-second digital video spots across major online platforms depicting late nights at the office, spontaneous gatherings, and missed last trains.

Junkichi Tatsuki, senior creative director at VML & Ogilvy Japan, said young Japanese professionals are looking for seamless ways to move through the city, especially as the pace picks up after summer.

"With Uber and countless other taxi services constantly throwing discounts at them, getting their attention takes more than just another offer. We needed to give them a reason to notice it in the moments that matter, when they’re leaving the office late or wrapping up a night out," Tatsuki said. 

"So, we invited Hollywood Zakoshi, a master of Japan’s finest exaggerated comedy, to give Uber’s discount a distinctly Japanese twist. Using his signature over-the-top reactions, we turned an ordinary discount into an Over The Top Discount – a discount so exaggerated, so unexpected, and so impossible to ignore that you couldn’t help but notice," he added.

Instead of simply telling people how much they could save, the campaign lets Zakoshi make them feel it, at full volume, right at the point when they’re deciding how to get home, he said. "By combining a culturally rooted insight with a uniquely Japanese sense of humor, we created a campaign that makes Uber Taxi the obvious choice to try this fall," Tatsuki added. 

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