Uniqlock Gets Hot and Heavy for the Winter

Posted in Japan and East Asia by James Turnbull on October 27, 2008

Not strictly Korean sorry, but then I’m having fun again, and I didn’t do enough justice to Japanese clothing retailer Uniqlo’s “Uniqlock” when l first mentioned it back in May. Since then, it’s won won several awards at the 2008 Cannes Lion International Advertising Festival, generally regarded as the worlds most prestigious (it’s been going for 65 years), and it still remains probably the best (if not only) example of successful international viral marketing in recent years not to have used YouTube.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Uniqlock, it can be a bit of a tough sell at first, as when all is said and done it remains, well…a simple screensaver really. But still, one of the most popular worldwide based on the number of downloads, and there’d be tens of thousands of people like me that would also have noticed the change in the women’s clothing and dance moves last week as the Uniqlock moves into its fourth season and promotes its new “Heat-Tech” line (in these first three screenshots). Why so many? Well, like the writer of this excellent review said, to understand what makes it so unique, you really have to experience it for yourself.

Unfortunately however, the best advertisement Uniqlo provides to persuade people to do so is this rather small and rather inelegantly embedded version below, which doesn’t quite do the large screen format justice. And when you do click on it to see if full size, the music will be probably be quite loud and jarring, so be warned. During the day it’s quite peppy, which definitely has its time and place (literally), but personally I prefer looking at it late at night instead, when the music, dancing and backgrounds becoming more subdued and soporific…but also more haunting and ultimately quite compelling, and despite yourself you can easily find yourself watching it late at night for ten minutes or more.

Some screenshots from previous versions:

( Source: mujitra (´･ω･) )

( Source: mujitra (´･ω･) )

( Source: iGeeky )

For an in-depth discussion of Uniqlo’s whole new rebranding and marketing strategy for the internet age, see here. Meanwhile, you may also enjoy its “Merino Landscapes” below, although I recommend clicking here for the low and wide-screen version; again, this YouTube version doesn’t quite give you the sensation of flying that that format does:

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