"Who are the female artists that you wouldn't want to use in a CM?" - Ayu in 10th

Originally Posted by Halla

I think another reason why Hikki does not appear in CM's anymore is that she is quite homely looking these days

most spokespersons are models/idols, looks count very much.

Uh, believe it or not Hikki's style is very popular in Japan right now. You can find her hairstyle on many fashionable girls in Japan. And I think it's quite rude to call her homely, as well as inaccurate. To me this looks natural and beautiful, like she doesn't need 30 pounds of makeup and tons of surgery to look good:

[Luv ~Venus~]

^

Yea, short hairstyle are still in. As for her clothes, her style has been getting better and her recent photoshoots have really been something new.

But lulz @ Hall for sayin' Hikki looks homely.

Originally Posted by Uemarasan

She wasn't the prettiest, but she used to at least look cute...

Wow, dude! If you don't think Hikki's cute, you pretty much think ayu is fugtastic. =/

[Uemarasan]

Originally Posted by Luv ~Venus~

Wow, dude! If you don't think Hikki's cute, you pretty much think ayu is fugtastic. =/

Uh, I said she used to be cute. Now she's not. She has let herself go. Simple as that. And Ayu is definitely better-looking than her. Ayu has her off days, but I've never seen her fugtastic. Stop putting words in my mouth

But honestly speaking, I actually don't think Ayu is THAT beautiful. She's pretty, sure, but there are a lot more Japanese celebrities who look better than Ayu. Nakama Yukie, for one.

And just to stir the pot, Koda Kumi is not even cute I wouldn't call Hikki homely, just plain. Koda Kumi is homely.

Originally Posted by Halla

I'm sure her clothing in the picture is by some high end brand, and she most likely has make-up on too since this picture is from some photoshoot. and a very calculated B&W picture can flatter anyone ...

Good show

And why is everyone so anti-makeup? Just because someone doesn't wear makeup or a lot of it it automatically makes them better than everyone else? Genetics can't be helped. If you don't have the right genes, then what's the harm in making yourself prettier with makeup? It's called human choice and freedom.

Also, it must be repeated here: Hikki's "natural", "down-to-earth", "simple-ordinary-gal" whatever persona is as carefully calculated as any J-pop idol's. She was born rich and privileged.

[I_you_me]

O__o

[pommy48]

i'm just glad ayu's not at the top...

[BoBo]

that sucks...

[angelwing886]

I'm glad ayu wasn't in the top 5 ^_^

[gakkun]

you people are so naive. If you're going to throw millions of dollars on an ad obviously you want the best possible choice and of course it's gonna get picky. They are not lame reasons.

[jonneh]

Lol what does acting in short 30 second commercials have to do with being deaf in one ear? I don't see why those two relate at all, but whatever.

[Ayumiko]

unless she advertise something that's related to hearing like d-snap or cellphone then yea it can relate to deaf in one ear.

[kouta]

There're many good points to get Ayu on their CM, but also not-good points.
--Good Points--
1. Everybody knows her face, which makes people remember the products easily.
2. She has very big fan base, and makes an impression on viewers.

--Not-Good Points--
1. She's super expensive (I heard she costs over 80,000,000 yen for one CM)
2. She has also big anti base.
3. Because of her big impression, sometimes people don't remember the product's name correctly.(In fact, many people don't remember the name of "LUMIX", but they remember the fact that Ayu is on camera CM. At the store, they say "I'm looking for Ayu's camera." instead of saying " I'm looking for LUMIX.")

As for a reason of her half deafness, some people think Ayu is overworked by those companies even when she needs rest. Whether the product will sell good or not, that image is not good for the company.

[ImpactBreaker]

Originally Posted by kouta

There're many good points to get Ayu on their CM, but also not-good points.
--Good Points--
1. Everybody knows her face, which makes people remember the products easily.
2. She has very big fan base, and makes an impression on viewers.

--Not-Good Points--
1. She's super expensive (I heard she costs over 80,000,000 yen for one CM)
2. She has also big anti base.
3. Because of her big impression, sometimes people don't remember the product's name correctly.(In fact, many people don't remember the name of "LUMIX", but they remember the fact that Ayu is on camera CM. At the store, they say "I'm looking for Ayu's camera." instead of saying " I'm looking for LUMIX.")

As for a reason of her half deafness, some people think Ayu is overworked by those companies even when she needs rest. Whether the product will sell good or not, that image is not good for the company.

You make some interesting points there specially the "I'm looking for ayu's camera" instead of saying Lumix haah That's a very interesting point.

[Sundae]

When I read that I assumed it was because she's so busy. Ayu has a lot of fans and if they thought a company was overworking her, it would mean bad publicity for them. Also some people don't feel comfortable around deaf people. I know Ayu is just half deaf, but still companies don't want any illness to be associated with their products. Cold but money is cold. Just think about what qualities the perfect celebrity has to have to endorse your product. I think that even though Ayu is on the list it won't affect her too much. She is still very popular and she sells.

As stated before the poll isn't mean. It would make sense that an advertising company would want to know which celebrities the companies want to avoid. CMs are advertising.

[kendelle]

Wow, that's pretty mean! Although I'm sure that it's common in the entertainment industry.

Ayu is a touch character I'm sure she doesn't care about it!

[ImpactBreaker]

Originally Posted by kendelle

Ayu is a touch character I'm sure she doesn't care about it!

Well, I guess that could be one of the reasons why ayu didn't want the news of her going deaf in the left ear to leak from TeamAyu to the whole press. I think she was aware it could hurt her privacy and also business.

But now, yeah, she probably doesn't care much.

[wenren93]

wierd poll 0__o
but hmm.. i feel that this poll abit biased one ... ;/

[Uemarasan]

Sexism at its finest. What a terrible list.

[ImpactBreaker]

Actually, i have to agree with Halla though. i don't think he was rude. Hikki always had sort of laid back looks. They're good for people obviously, because they're simple looks that a normal person can do anytime. This kind of look even if popular in Japan, isn't really anything I think would make you buy a shampoo or other products advertised by Hikki. I like Hikki and she looks beautiful imo, but she JUSt doesn't, and it's undeniable, have that sort of diva/model look that makes people feel like "OMG, this is a superwoman, I just have to be like her and buy this crappy product she says she uses but she doesn'1t". No, you look at Hikki and just think of a normal person, with normal looks.

^I know Hikki is laid back and not all glam diva, but "homely" is kind of a rude word to describe her. It can be used sometimes to mean "normal" or "everyday" or "average" as far as looks, but it also has connotations of "ugly", which Hikki is not.

I've seen some people do CMs who are straight up ugly and scary looking, with their huge eyes and white Michael Jackson surgery faces.

[cosmeticmusic]

That picture of Hikki you posted is just so damn pretty. It made me smile. I love her pose.
Besides, if they wanted to, I'm sure all they would have to do is put some high fashion clothing on her, spiffy her hair up and she'd probably look like a diva. I like how she looks pretty without makeup.