Visit Soccerphile’s Shop

Click here for t-shirts, posters, memorabilia and much more...

Commentary - Becks Rules Japan

Football News

The David Beckham show made a four-day stop over in Tokyo beginning June 18 at the start of his Asian tour, which will also take him to Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam.

Over 1,000, mostly female fans, packed Narita airport to greet the celebrity heart-throb who had just completed a $41 million move from Manchester United to Real Madrid while in the air.

The Beckhams' arrival was televised live on some Japanese TV channels and featured heavily on the evening news and in the weekly editions of women's magazines across the country. Japan's daily sports papers were slightly more sanguine - it is the middle of the baseball season after all.

For his promotional efforts in Japan, which consisted mainly of giving dull Japanese-press-only interviews, posing for photographers, and kissing babies in scripted walkabouts - Beckham has earned a cool $5 million. Or more than his annual salary at his new club. Ever the family man, Becks brought along his Hollywood-wannabe wife Victoria for the fun.

Since last year's World Cup, in which he captained the England squad in Japan, Beckham has seen his off-field fortunes rise considerably. Following his stay on the rural island of Awajishima in western Japan, where the England team trained last summer, a bronze statue of Beckham-san has been erected to commemorate - and market - the ground he graced for but two weeks before the team's early exit from the Cup.

The hotel where England stayed on Awaji has also been doing a roaring trade with young women anxious to sleep in the Beckham bed.

The latest Goldenballs image, a three-meter high chocolate statue of Beckham, was also unveiled last week in Tokyo as part of an ad campaign on behalf of the Meiji Seika confectionery firm that has roped the blond samurai superstar into its stable for a cool 500 million yen ($4.2 million) in a two-year contract.

Another two-year deal inked by the former Manchester United midfielder while in Tokyo was with TBC, a nationwide chain of "aesthetic salons."

The company, which specializes in hair removal and other beauty treatments, is also paying Beckham 500 million yen for his appearance with Posh in an ad in which the pair drink coffee and get cozy in front of a fire before saying, "Just Beauty."

In addition to these endorsements, two other lucrative deals are on the table. For the benefit of anyone who has not been on public transportation in Japan recently, Beckham is also hawking cell phones. He can be seen gazing longingly at his phone in ads plastered all over trains and subways. This is part of an existing deal with Vodafone, a UK firm that controls J-phone, one of Japan's biggest mobile phone companies.

The final gem in the crown of this marketing magnet is Castrol, for whom "King David"- as much of the Japanese press dubbed Beckham - is selling his name and face for the sake of motor oil. No contractual details have been forthcoming from the company, which is splashing Beckham's image across Asia's billboards.

Interestingly, Beckham's appearances were either tightly controlled photo-ops at local schools or at news conferences from which the foreign media was banned. According to a Meiji Seika spokesman, Beckham had a clause inserted into his contract that coverage be restricted to the local press.

Like many foreign stars, who if the price is right, will gladly stoop to promoting something, anything, in Japan they would not be caught dead doing at home, Beckham is hustling all of the above without the embarrassment of it being widely known in England.

With the notoriously fickle Japanese public, the window of opportunity is brief. The Beckhams can figure on another year or so to continue to milk the Tokyo marketing tit. After that, Beckham-as-super-idol may well have become yesterday's flavor.

While at Real Madrid, he should enjoy continued exposure in the Japanese market with the world's number one club. His first appearance with his new team will be in - you guessed it - Tokyo in a pre-season friendly against Tokyo FC on August 15th.

Now, though, Beckham is the idol supreme, particularly among young women for whom soccer might as well be competitive darts or bass fishing. He is young, handsome, blond, fashion-mad, breathtakingly-rich, and happily married to a semi-famous former Spice Girl who bore him two cute children. He is the embodiment of many a fantasy, which for the time being many Japanese will cling to - and lay out cash, lots of cash.

Related Article
Beckham in Spain
Spain Football (Spanish Football) La Liga

"The Onside In-Site" Copyright © From 2000. All rights reserved. Soccerphile Ltd.