Japan’s beloved ice cream brand apologized on national TV after increasing the price for the first time in 25 years — by $0.1

For 25 years, Japan’s beloved GariGari-kun ice cream, known for its wacky flavors like potato stew, spaghetti, and best-selling "bouillon-heavy" corn potage, has stayed at the same price since 1991. So when its parent frozen dessert company, Akagi Nyugyo, decided to raise its price by just 10 yen in 2016, they went on national TV to formally apologize to customers on April 1, 2016, as reported by Quartz. The deleted official commercial can now be seen in a video from the same date by the YouTuber @jazzjapan7206.

Heart-winning apology

The public apology featured a 60-second commercial that included every member of the company, including top executives, the president, Inoue Sota, and the chairman, Hideki Inoue, standing on a backdrop of the company’s headquarters, 46 miles northwest of Tokyo, with a Japanese folk song playing in the background. 

'We held on for 25 years, but...'

The song essentially said the company never wanted to raise prices and had delayed the decision for as long as possible, carefully debating when — or even whether — to approve the increase at all. Akagi went on to say that even though the company was reluctant to raise the prices, a price increase was unavoidable. As hundreds of executives bowed in unison, the screen displayed the text, “We held on for 25 years but… 60→70.” The commercial ended with the whole staff bowing down in apology.

History of Akagi's price hikes

In this commercial, the price of Garigari-kun was being increased from 60 yen (54 cents) to 70 yen (63 cents). According to Business Insider, this was the first price hike for the ice cream bars since 1991, when the company apologized for a 10-yen increase in a newspaper advertisement. Launched in 1981 and priced at just 50 yen, GariGari-kun was created as an affordable after-school snack for Japanese schoolchildren but had to increase its prices amid Japan’s broader push to create inflation and revive its slow-moving economy.

A culture of humility

Humble apologies are rooted in Japan's culture. According to Japan's national newspaper, Mainichi, more than 70% of the country's companies have apologized when failing to fulfill customer demands to their satisfaction. In a survey conducted in September 2024, researchers contacted 1,005 company heads. 46.8% responded that they assumed the dogeza pose, the pose that indicates apology. 35.7% said they had gotten down on their knees once, and 34.5% responded that they had done so repeatedly. 

The outlet says that the company sells more than four billion ice treats every year. And while the hike of nine cents wasn’t a big deal for the consumers, this apology proved to be a brilliant demonstration of the company’s ethics, honest communication, and dedication to consumer service. Besides, a 16% raise in the price wouldn’t mean much to the consumers, but a dramatic revenue shift for the company.

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