Japan Can Even Make a Fungus Look Cute.

You can often find him/it sitting outside of a shop, along with his co-workers who announce the latest sales and releases. Cute enough for children of all ages can recognize him but not so obnoxious that adults wouldn’t love him too.

DoCoMo Dake has been the mascot of mobile phone company NTT DoCoMo for the past few years. His popularity has grown, along with his fungus family too. Not only has NTT created a site , they have expanded with a whole range of products both mobile and NON-mobile related too.

DoCoMo is known for offering cheap rates for whole families that sign up. They were one of the first companies to offer an “older” persons phone which, featured larger buttons with arrows and instructions of were to push written right on the phone. They were also one of the first to release a child’s mobile with basic calling features and with the “imadoco?” (Japanese: Where are you?) GPS tracking feature allows parents to locate their children.

The funny thing is, DoCoMo Dake is really only used when talking about family plans, never for commercials or ads where they release a new phone or feature (In this ad featured at the end) The mascot is mainly used as a icon, creating a “family identity” for them. It may sound odd but I feel the consumer can easily relate to the mushrooms, and pick out  one that is themself, and another member. I always thought my Gram looked like the one with the purple cap, but maybe we just have bad genes?

Which DoCoMo Dake are you?