Boston America, you're so missing the novelty of the E-Tank sports drink. It's supposed to look like an E-Tank. That's why everyone wanted them in the first place! Why the change to something a bit more generic? Read their response to the issue and find out:
" I understand why that Japanese version had such a tremendous appeal to the hard core Megaman fan but when we showed this to the buyers here in the US they didn’t know if the majority of their customers would understand the product. They felt that if we created a branded drink that this would have a broader appeal.
That being said, our strategy with this drink is to create a demand for the brand with the attached design and then follow this up in 2010 with a design similar to the one you suggested below." -- Boston America Rep.Well, it's something to be hopeful for. I'll keep you posted if anything new comes up!
Thanks, Flame.
Imma not buying this until I can get my mits on the E-Can design.
ReplyDeleteI truly hope they dont make it exactly like the Japanese one. Otherwise I will be forced to be pissed that I imported one when I can get them now for $2.99. Hopefully their similar design might be an E-Tank from the X Series instead.
ReplyDeleteYeah. In the end, its not really their fault. Blame Capcom of America for not doing such a good job advertising Megaman.
ReplyDeletehonestly- for every Japanese Megaman game commercial, how many do we have?
That I know, only 2 or 3. and none of them are too creative. They usually involve kids proclaiming their love for him, or a little thing with a mother saying that her kid can play megaman after grandmas house. "he's a good guy, right?"
Seriously, even Sega dis better advertising for Sonic!
But yeah. Hopefully, Just like the Iwamoto X series mangas that Udon has promised if the current releases do well, We might see an E-Can design design time in the future.
They were very polite about the matter, explaining it quite thoroughly to me.
Hmm. they way they say it- makes me want to buy this if only to help the sales.
Umm, are they backpedaling? Wasn't the problem before supposedly with COA? Or did they get in trouble for talking bad about COA and have to revoke it and replace it with another statement?
ReplyDeleteIn other words: Most US consumers are too dense to register that an E-can comes from Mega Man, so we had to put him and his name really big on the product. Sorry America, but we know how much you hate anything that's too unique, and we're out to sell overpriced novelty soft drinks here, not art collectibles! But maybe if you buy lots of our overtly bland and pandering can designs, we'll throw you super nerds a bone and give you what you actually wanted in the first place!
ReplyDeleteYeah, give me a break.
@MegaMac: Well, the writing on the English versions probably wouldn't be in Japanese, so you'd still be privileged enough to say you have both versions if they actually did release the true blue E-cans.
Sub-Tanks don't look much like actual cans, nor are they anywhere near as sleek and nostalgic, but they would make cool plastic mug designs.
"They felt that if we created a branded drink that this would have a broader appeal."
ReplyDeleteNo kidding, Ford.
But couldn't there have been a limited quantity of the E-Can design or something?
And how do you know that this imagery will sell any better than said E-Can design?
Sorry to double post but:
ReplyDeleteFlame's right. Mega Man was a great icon in the NES-era, and between a lack of proper marketing and spinning-off the series all to heck and back, the brand has dropped below Resident Evil and Street Fighter.
And that's just sad, frankly.
@ Aldo: Because Megaman 9 came out recently. People still have the 8 bit Megaman fresh in their minds.
ReplyDeletePlus it says it in big letters.
yeah. Megaman was never really marketed well here in the US, the only ones that ever got expansive ads being the Bn series, which has kind of brought down the name of Megaman, since many now associate Megaman with EXE. and Starforce now, both of which are really childish in nature to many. Plus the only Megaman shows we got after the Ruby spears one, (which the current future generation was too young to remember or watch,) was NT warrior and Star Force, both of which were terribly edited for content, resulting in a mess.
"Most US consumers are too dense to register that an E-can comes from Mega Man, so we had to put him and his name really big on the product."
ReplyDeleteYep, that's pretty much it, though as I said before, I suspect Capcom of America had a lot to do with this too, and perhaps some idiots over there at marketing are at least partially to blame.
@Flame: For what it's worth, I did somewhat enjoy the Ruby-Spears cartoon at the time, but mainly because it was funny and it was Mega Man. Now, "Mega" from Captain N' is even sadder!
@Flame: haha, I think you got that backwards. "for every Japanese Megaman game commercial, how many do we have? That I know, only 2 or 3."
ReplyDeleteSo we get more than they do?
I don't care about the e-tank drink, but it's dumb they didn't make it... an e-tank. An X e-tank would be ridiculously huge and cumbersome and hard to manufacture, haha. Or at least X 1-3.
It's not due to marketing error. Almost everyone has heard of Megaman. It's just that something so specific as the design of an e-tank is something only the most staunch classic megaman fans are going to recognize. Even those who loved megaman may not recognize the design if they saw it on a store shelf.
I also resent the assumption that EXE and SSR are any more kiddy than classic, which, as evidenced by Powered Up, was intended to be very chibi and blech. Most megaman series minus X were immature in ways. I don't think there were more BN commercials than commercials for other Megaman games either. At least not on the stations I watched as a kid.
I do hope you all realize that you're just a small niche group in comparison to the audience they have to target to generate any sort of profit on this drink.
ReplyDeleteThe idea is that they are waiting to establish the drink well enough in America to use the Japanese can design. Otherwise, the only people that will buy it are you guys, and that will not be enough for this company to keep selling the drink, and possibly kill any chance of seeing similar products comming to America. It has happened once before: remember the features COJ cut out of Starforce 3? That's because nobody bought the book for Starforce 2 that you were supposed to get the codes from, and instead used GameFAQs. The book sold terribly, and now they didn't want to license an English version of the Starforce 3 book!
The thing is, it sounds weird the way he says when we showed our consumers.
ReplyDeleteCapcom probably produces a test crowd or something. Actually, they have to consult Capcom on the design, since theyre using Capcom artwork. They probably came up with both designs, and Capcom chose the one that would be recognized better.
@ Brahman: Yeah but what kids nowadays know about the ruby spears show? The most they might remember is NT warrior on a while ago. Captain N thankfully isnt too remembered.
@ previous Anon.
ReplyDeleteNo, what I mean was that Japan has a commercial for almost every single Megaman game, except for I believe X3 and X4. and often, multiple commercials. We, only have maybe... 3 Megaman commercials. tops.
They will never sell enough units to make that follow up edition. Instead of trying to create a market for this that doesn't exist, they should have catered to the fan base that already has a desire for the product. If they made a limited edition release of the original design that you could order online, you know they'd sell out just as fast as MM9's press kits. But in trying to create some large market they'll wind up selling below estimates, ruining any future chance of getting the a real E Tank design. I wonder why after nearly 30 years of marketing video game tie ins, these companies keep making the same mistakes..?
ReplyDeleteFlame> I have seen Japanese Rockman X4 commercial!
ReplyDeleteThey could do a series:
ReplyDeleteE-Tank: Energizing...
W-Tank: Weird flavor
L-Tank: Limon flavor
M-Tank: Mysterios flavor
S-Tank: Supreme flavor!
Skull-Tank: Bitter...
@Anon5: There WAS one, right? Yeah, now I remember.
ReplyDeleteBut still, Japan outnumbers our megaman commercials by like, all of them.
Lol! That series of drink flavors sound interesting....a whole line of X-cans.
ReplyDelete