It’s not a stretch to say that Godzilla is one of the most marketable characters out there, with a new product collab announced seemingly every day. But he’s a good mascot for a reason – the sight of a giant angry dinosaur hocking t-shirts is always going to be pretty funny.
The ingenuity, creativity, and sometimes just the sheer gall of some ads make them as interesting as the movies Godzilla came from. You probably already know about the ILM-produced Godzilla vs. Charles Barkley Nike commercial, which had its own comic book, behind the scenes special, and oral history. It’s iconic for a reason! But there are so many great ones out there, and far too many to form a comprehensive history. So here’s a sampling of some particularly fascinating commercials guest starring the King of the Monsters – presumably all with Toho’s stamp of approval – including deeper cuts you may have never seen!
Godzilla’s Kid Cries At His Dad’s Movie
Product: Glico Pucchin Pudding
Did you know Godzilla has another child? And he might be the cutest one?! This Pucchin Pudding tie-in with 1984’s The Return of Godzilla features an original human-sized child of Godzilla, who cries in the movie theater while watching his daddy suffer (we can all relate) and is only comforted by an audience member and his pre-packaged pudding. This adorable take on Godzilla Junior combines big anime eyes with 84 Goji’s shape, an expressive tail, and a surprisingly emotive face – and despite only being used once, he’s forever an icon.
Glico had another very cute commercial the previous year, featuring a less articulated Showa-esque Godzilla skreeonking his way into winning a singing contest. But let’s face it, nothing tops
Little PuddingGoji.
Godzilla Joins The KISS Army
Product: Canon EOS Kiss Digital X
Believe it or not, the band KISS has a legacy of massive popularity in Japan, from their record-breaking debut at Tokyo’s Budokan in 1977 to their farewell tour in 2019. So when Canon branded a line of cameras as EOS Kiss, it was only a matter of time before a collab happened.
For the 2006 release of their Digital X camera, Canon launched the “We Need KISS Japan” campaign, with a commercial featuring children in familiar KISS makeup exploring Japan and singing a riff on “I Was Made for Lovin’ You.” Sure, makes sense!
…And then there’s Godzilla, who rolls up completely out of nowhere in the last few seconds. Invhis two-year-old Final Wars design, he sports a silver version of Paul Stanley’s Starchild makeup, presumably to welcome the band to his home country. It’s one of the oddest uses of Godzilla in a commercial that already had a clear gimmick. That said, KISS isn’t wrong – I was made for lovin’ Godzilla.
Godzilla Buys Gas Station Lottery Tickets
Product: JOMO Scratch-Offs
Gamble with Godzilla! Well, sort of. Tying in with Godzilla vs. Spacegodzilla in 1994, JOMO gas stations offered limited-time Godzilla-themed scratch-off tickets. Instead of cash winnings, you’d
play for Godzilla merchandise that included a clock, a poncho, and a calendar.
The commercial itself is simple, but the idea of Godzilla rolling up to a gas station and terrifying the attendants so he can play the lottery for a poncho with his face on it is very funny. As is Godzilla bellowing the company name “JOOOOMOOOOO” – one of the only times Godzilla speaks in any commercial!
Office Supplies Defeat Godzilla
Product: Liquid Paper
Godzilla has been a metaphor for everything from nuclear weapons to the environment, but we all know the true Godzilla metaphor: Typos.
Among the many Return of Godzilla product tie-ins, office supplies might be the lowest of anyone’s predictions. And yet this commercial portrays the discovery of a printed typo as a kaiju-sized catastrophe – which anyone who lived in the pre-digital age and wasn’t a particularly good speller can tell you was one hundred percent true. 1984’s suit is used here to full effect, and the image of human-sized Godzilla firing off his atomic breath next to desk chairs and a printer is a surreal, funny image. It wouldn’t be the last time Godzilla intersected with office supplies – his kid took a similar job a decade later!
Godzilla Eats a Teen Girl Alive
Product: Fox Kids
Kids’ networks have always had fun with their Godzilla cartoons (a special event on Cartoon Network once had Shaquille O’Neal interview Hanna-Barbera’s Godzilla, while a Fox Kids event had Spider-Man interview Zilla Jr..…which is a bizarre series of words, now that I spell it out.)
But an edgy 1999 Fox Kids promo takes the cake, where a smarmy kid bites back against teen bullies by grilling them on their Fox Kids knowledge. When the lead bully admits that she doesn’t watch Spider-Man, Power Rangers, or especially Godzilla: The Series, the animated Zilla Jr. swoops down and takes a big ol’ chomp – complete with a grotesque bone-crunching sound effect, two panicked legs kicking fruitlessly from the edge of his mouth, and a horrified scream echoing within his maw as he prepares his gulp. We’re only spared from the horror when we see the girl dropped in one piece with a squelch sound on the final title screen…but who’s to say that’s not her landing in the pit of Zilla’s stomach, about to be digested?
Godzilla and SpaceGodzilla Have a Movie Night
Product: Sogo Appliances
Godzilla and SpaceGodzilla are secretly best buddies, right? The Sogo department store advertised their appliance sale by having the mortal enemies enjoy their own 1994 film on their new TV (in a white void, for some reason). They’re enjoying snacks, clapping along with their fight scenes, and just generally seem to be besties having a great time.
The Heisei movies had tons of commercials that didn’t just use movie clips, but actually utilized new footage shot with Godzilla – way more than are even listed here. While bigger budget commercials clearly featured a real movie Godzilla suit (or a very good facsimile of one), others used flimsier versions you might find at an in-person event. This ad appears to use one of those cheaper Godzilla suits, presumably the same one worn in the 40th Anniversary Special. But what’s striking is the simplified SpaceGodzilla suit, which makes the previously elaborate design look both friendlier and like a Wish.com version of the cosmic jerk. But it only adds to the goofy charm.
Godzilla’s Suit Actors Need Love, Too
Product: Wonda Coffee
The easy go-to for Godzilla in a commercial is to have Godzilla the character in your commercial. This one stands out for being about the production of the concurrent movie, 2001’s
GMK, and starring Godzilla’s suit actor, Mizuho Yoshida!
There’s not much to the ad itself – playing Godzilla is strenuous, don’t talk to him until he’s had his coffee, etc. But that it acknowledges and respects the effort these actors make in bringing the characters to life is cool to see, as is this re-creation of a kaiju movie production set, miniatures and all. Seeing Yoshida roaring and posing as himself and in the Godzilla suit is a delight.
It’s Wine O’Clock for Godzilla
Product: Yellow Tail Wine
Even Australian wine moms love him! This 2007 ad is of the “repurposing old footage” variety, re-editing footage from 1964’s Mothra vs. Godzilla with the classic Ifukube score and a bad dubbing joke that had been hacky for decades. What’s interesting is that it happened among a string of corporations like Subway and Honda using Godzilla in western ads without permission, sparking lawsuits from Toho. In Yellow Tail’s case, they apparently did everything by the book.
It’s not exactly the greatest Godzilla commercial ever – somehow the best idea they could come up with was “What if Godzilla had a yellow tail, like our brand, Yellow Tail?” But it’s still a hilariously strange choice to use a clip from a 40-year-old Japanese Godzilla film to advertise an Australian wine, even though Godzilla would definitely not be a chardonnay guy (he’s beer all the way, but might enjoy one of those dark reds aged in bourbon barrels.)
Godzilla Installs a Ceiling Light
Product: NEC Lifelook HG Fluorescent Lights
Godzilla does glow sometimes, so maybe it’s not that weird to use him as a mascot for light bulbs? “Godzilla does mundane human things” always hits in commercials, and in this case he installs a new ceiling light in an oddly designed living room (why are chairs blocking the doorways on either side?!) The image of him cheerfully holding that light in his mouth is just adorable. And look at him clapping! He changed that light easily! I’m so proud of him!
This commercial aired as early as 1994 in conjunction with Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla and advertised free Hello Kitty merchandise with purchases. It would continue to air during the summer of 1995, when they ran a contest to win a “leisure set” that included merchandise from the educational children’s anime Godzilland. It’s not the only cross-promotion and contest NEC did with Godzilla in 1995, though…
G-FORCE Loves the Godzilla chair
Product: NEC Lifelook HG Fluorescent Lights (and a foldable chair)
Akira Nakao, who would appear in six Godzilla films, reprises his role from the Heisei era as Colonel Takaaki Aso, commander of G-Force! Tying in with 1995’s Godzilla vs. Destoroyah, these commercials feature a G-Force HQ decked out in, hilariously, the box art for the HG fluorescent lights. That’s the most the actual lights are advertised, though – really, this is all about a very cute chair. As G-Force deals with the latest kaiju rampage (even briefly mentioning psychic powers) they, of course, open up their foldable yellow chairs emblazoned with a cute Godzilland Goji.
That chair was just a prize in another NEC contest, so it’s funny how hard these commercials go on advertising that rather than their actual product. By the last commercial, Aso is literally avoiding his duties just to relax in the comfortable chair. Getting to see the usually straight-laced Nakao ham it up is a delightful turn, especially considering how few tie-in commercials ever feature human actors from the Godzilla films.
Everybody Wants a Dad Like Godzilla
Product: National Fatherhood Initiative
Godzilla is rarely a representative for charities and causes. But in 2004, the National Ad Council felt like he’d make a good role model and used him in a PSA for the National Fatherhood Initiative, an organization offering training, programs, and resources for fathers. Who’s a better dad than Godzilla?
Well, that’s debatable – but the commercial cuts together moments from Son of Godzilla and All Monsters Attack to show Godzilla and Minilla as an example of a dad spending time with his kid.
The PSA is, in fact, an homage to the opening credits of The Courtship of Eddie’s Father, a late 60’s Bill Bixby sitcom that centered on a father/son relationship; it even uses the exact same Harry Nilsson song. It does also have to cut around the moments of Godzilla being…not so nice to Minilla in those scenes, but it’s very sweet nevertheless.
Shin Godzilla Blasts a Talking Dog
Product: SoftBank with Apple Pay
Since 2007, a talking Hokkaido dog named Otosan has been the popular mascot for SoftBank (which is not actually a bank, but a mobile company). The beloved character comes with his own lore – he’s the patriarch of an otherwise normal human family, but he just happens to be a man-in-talking-dog form. He’s appeared in a ton of commercials that are usually strange, always funny, sometimes heartfelt, and even feature actors like Bruce Willis and Tommy Lee Jones (who plays the family maid who is also an alien from the Boss Coffee commercials…the lore is deep here, y’all!)
It was only a matter of time before Godzilla crossed his path. While a friendly old school Godzilla would fit the tone perfectly, the geniuses of SoftBank went for the funniest possible option in 2016 – the terrifying and grotesque walking tumor, Shin Godzilla. An entire series of dark comedy ads ran with Otosan trying to deal with Godzilla’s slow arrival, but the funniest one has to be the moment the two meet face-to-face. After Otosan tries so hard to get his oblivious wife out of the store, Godzilla shows up, Otosan greets him politely…and he’s implied to be vaporized by atomic breath. It’s hysterical. (Don’t worry, he’s fine!)
Godzilla is a Working Family Man Who Does Karaoke
Product: Hitachi VT-JF25 VHS/Karaoke Player
Godzilla in a VCR commercial in 1993 is a slam dunk. But there are two reasons why this Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II tie-in is one of the best Godzilla commercials of all time. The lizard brain reason: Again, kaiju doing regular human things is always good. Godzilla rides the train, interacts with shopkeeps, and then sings karaoke. It is adorable, and it gave us an incredible print ad.
But the actual reason? This commercial shows the truth we’ve always wanted to believe – that Godzilla is a real working saurian with an interior life, who finishes his long hours at the kaiju movie factory and comes home to his dear wife and kids. The commercial is narrated by his wife, who decides to treat her hardworking husband with a homemade karaoke tape (the advertised feature for this VCR, though the microphones don’t come included). There’s just something so comforting about Godzilla living a happy life and having such a joyful family moment.
Godzilla (And His Girlfriend) Love Dr. Pepper
Product: Dr. Pepper
We’ll end with a fan favorite! For westerners, this is probably the classic Godzilla commercial, second only to the Charles Barkley match. And it seals the deal that The Return of Godzilla and its American adaptation, Godzilla 1985, were on a whole other level with product tie-ins…for better or worse.
Godzilla 1985 is notorious for its extensive collaboration with Dr. Pepper, which helped pay for the new footage. In addition to prominent product placement in the film itself, Dr. Pepper also produced a little-seen music video and, more famously, a pair of very fun black and white commercials. These are the shining jewels of the Dr. Pepper deal – a clear homage to the original 1954 film that even matches its blurry compositing. This Godzilla is a new design that harkens back to the Showa era, slit pupils notwithstanding. And it gives him a triceratops-like girlfriend who (in a very gendered “of-the-time” choice) prefers Diet Dr. Pepper. With shockingly good effects and a clear affection for the series, it’s no wonder this one is so memorable.
There are many, many more fascinating, funny, and bizarre Godzilla commercials from all around the world – and big thanks to everyone who’s captured and archived so many over the last few decades. We’ll certainly cover more in the future, but in the meantime, let us know your favorites!
