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Japanese clothing brand earth music&ecology release new photo app, Mr. Sato has fun with it!

Preston Phro Oct 19, 2013
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Though the brand hasn’t gained much popularity outside of Japan yet, earth music&ecology has propelled itself into the mainstream Japanese fashion world, thanks in large part to their ad campaigns featuring actress Aoi Miyazaki. With a focus on being “colorful and useful,” the brand seems mostly targeted at young women who aren’t looking for anything too extravagant.

Recently, the company rolled out a new smartphone app that allows users to add marketing text over their own photos, giving their patrons a chance to stand in Ms. Miyazaki’s place. A rather clever bit of marketing, we thought…until Mr. Sato decided to try it out!

First, to get an idea of the kind of marketing earth is best known for, here’s one of their ads featuring Ms. Miyazaki looking a little lost and confused.

▼ “Words can. They can hurt, and they can bring warmth.”

A bit abstract, but it does have quite the impact, doesn’t it? And while the scenery isn’t necessarily what you might expect from a fashion brand, there is a certain glamour to the minimalistic presentation.

The new app, which is available on both iOS and Android, keeps with the earthy, minimalistic design. But how does it work? Quite simply, actually!

The app lets you either select a photo saved to your phone or take a new one–like most any photo app. From there, you can apply a filter and select the area of the photo you want. It’s all very easy to use, and you’ll soon be ready for the next step: applying text!

Unlike a meme-creation app, earth music&ecology have a number of set phrases from which you choose, such as the phrase from the ad we showed you earlier. While the typical user might select a serious photo to match the abstract text, Mr. Sato decided to go in a slightly different direction.

To begin with, he chose a random photo from his phone…

▼ “Look deep into my eyes!”

…and, after applying a filter, carefully selected the best text to go with this inspiring image.

▼ “Words can. They can hurt, and they can bring warmth.”

Well, that’s a success if we’ve ever seen one! Ms. Miyazaki should thank her lucky stars that Mr. Sato is already happily employed, or she might have to find a new clothing brand to represent. But wait, we’re not done yet. Turns out that Mr. Sato has more than one photo on his phone!

Bear in mind that all of the text applied to the photos was supplied in the app by earth music&ecology.

▼ “You wrapped a scarf around me. Tears flowed.”

▼ ”Words and clothes. Clothes and words.”

▼ “Are you okay?” “Yeah. I’m okay.”

▼ “What is ‘hate speech’?”

▼ “Tomorrow what will you wear as you go on living?”

We’re not sure if this is exactly what earth music&ecology had in mind when they made their app…but if it wasn’t, they were doing something wrong!

In his review of the app, Mr. Sato said that he found it quite easy and intuitive to use. Oddly enough, the iOS version seems to have a wider range of options than the Android version.

If you’re interested in putting your face in place of Ms. Miyazaki’s, be sure to download the app! There’s also a diary section, where you can view old photo arrangements, and coupons, though there weren’t any available when we checked.

And be sure to post your best arrangements in the comments!

Reference: earth music&ecology
App download: iOS / Android
All images by RocketNews24, except app image by earth music&ecology

[ Read in Japanese ]