What Japanese Snack Company’s Catchy Commercial Drove Aussies Crackers?

どの日本のお菓子メーカーのCMがオージーを夢中にしたの?

For years, Australians couldn’t get three simple syllables out of their heads: “Sa-ka-ta.” A catchy television commercial turned a little-known Japanese rice cracker into a household name, proving that great advertising can cross cultures as easily as great food.

「サ・カ・タ」――。この3文字が頭から離れなかったオーストラリア人は少なくありません。印象的なテレビCMによって、日本の米菓メーカー「サカタ」は一躍有名になり、広告が国境を越える力を証明しました。


A Tune Nobody Could Forget

耳から離れないメロディー

During the 1990s and into the Noughties, Sakata rice crackers burst onto Australian television with a simple commercial.

Its infectious adaptation of Trio’s hit song Da Da Da repeated one word over and over.

“Sa-ka-ta.”

It was impossible not to remember.

耳から離れないメロディー

1990年代から2000年代にかけて、サカタの米菓は印象的なテレビCMでオーストラリアのお茶の間に登場しました。

ドイツのバンド、トリオのヒット曲『Da Da Da』をアレンジし、「サ・カ・タ」を繰り返すシンプルなCMでした。

一度聞けば忘れられないメロディーでした。


A Japanese Snack Finds Australia

日本のお菓子がオーストラリアへ

Rice crackers were still unfamiliar to many Australians.

Sakata offered something different from potato chips and savoury biscuits.

The commercial encouraged people to try a snack that was already popular in Japan.

日本のお菓子がオーストラリアへ

当時、米菓は多くのオーストラリア人にとって珍しい存在でした。

サカタはポテトチップスやクラッカーとは違う、新しいお菓子として紹介されました。

CMは、日本ではおなじみの味をオーストラリアへ届けました。


More Than Just a Jingle

CMソング以上の存在

The advertisement became part of Australian popular culture.

People sang the tune at school, at work and at sporting events.

Many remembered the jingle long after they had forgotten the details of the commercial itself.

CMソング以上の存在

このCMはオーストラリアの大衆文化の一部となりました。

学校や職場、スポーツ観戦の場でも、「サ・カ・タ」のメロディーを口ずさむ人がいました。

CMの内容は忘れても、歌だけは覚えている人が少なくありませんでした。


A Taste of Japan

日本を身近にした味

Long before sushi became part of everyday Australian life, products like Sakata crackers introduced many Australians to Japanese food.

For some families, a packet of rice crackers was their first taste of Japan.

日本を身近にした味

寿司が日常食になる以前から、サカタの米菓は多くのオーストラリア人に日本の味を届けていました。

家庭で初めて食べた日本のお菓子が、サカタだったという人もいます。


Why It Worked

なぜ成功したのか

The campaign succeeded because it was simple.

A memorable tune.

One easy-to-pronounce Japanese name.

A product people enjoyed sharing.

Sometimes the best international marketing doesn’t need many words.

なぜ成功したのか

成功の理由は、とてもシンプルでした。

覚えやすいメロディー。

発音しやすい日本語の名前。

みんなで楽しめるお菓子。

国際的な広告は、必ずしも多くの言葉を必要としないのです。


An Unknown Nichigo Story

「知られざる日豪交流」の物語

Trade agreements helped strengthen Australia and Japan.

So did business partnerships.

But one of the happiest connections between the two countries came from a television commercial that had Australians happily singing the name of a Japanese snack.

Sakata was once synonymous with rice crackers in Australia, but the Aussie company got taken over in 2005 and is now owned by a multinational that makes the biscuits in Bangladesh. Still, the brand that originated from Japan did much to tighten the ties with Australia.

「知られざる日豪交流」の物語

日豪関係を深めたのは、条約やビジネスだけではありません。

テレビCMもまた、人々を結びつけました。

オーストラリア中で日本のお菓子の名前が歌われたことも、日豪交流の小さな歴史の一つです。

サカタはかつてオーストラリアではライスクラッカーの代名詞のような存在でしたが、2005年に豪州企業が買収され、現在では多国籍企業の傘下となり、ビスケットはバングラデシュで製造されています。それでも、日本発のブランドはオーストラリアとの結びつきを強めるうえで大きな役割を果たしてきました。


Did You Know?

Sakata’s Australian television commercials adapted Trio’s international hit Da Da Da, replacing the famous refrain with the brand name “Sa-ka-ta”. The campaign became one of Australia’s most memorable food advertisements of the 1980s and was later revived because of its nostalgic appeal.

豆知識

サカタのオーストラリア向けCMでは、ドイツのバンド「トリオ」のヒット曲『Da Da Da』をアレンジし、「サ・カ・タ」というブランド名を繰り返しました。このCMは1980年代を代表する食品広告の一つとなり、その後も懐かしさから復活しました。


Sources


Cop A Gander At These Rippers Too...

  • |

    Straya, We’ll See Your Vegemite Chocolate and Raise You with Cough Lolly KitKats

    Strewth! It doesn’t get much worse than the latest KitKat concoction to hit Japanese stores, which arguably takes the title of world’s worst chocolate unofficially claimed by Australia when it produced Vegemite chocolate back in June 2015. KitKat Nodoame flavor is now selling at Japanese retail outlets and is the latest in a line of Japanese KitKat flavors that extends well beyond 200. It should be noted, that <i>nodoame is the Japanese word for throat lozenge, and that’s exactly what’s been dished up in the latest KitKat…a throat lozenge flavored-chocolate!!!! For what it’s worth, throat lozenge-flavored KitKat tastes exactly as it sounds, with your average cough lolly covered by waffle…

  • We Are Not Emu-sed! Big Bird Lets Loose In Shiga Shocker

    滋賀県守山市でエミュー脱走、約2時間の“朝の散歩”騒動 Emu Escapes in Shiga: A Very Japanese Wildlife Adventure A crafty emu has shocked Shiga residents by strutting the streets this week. Residents of Moriyama, Shiga Prefecture were treated to an unusual sight early this week when police received a report at 6:45 a.m. of “an ostrich walking around.” 今週、滋賀県守山市で早朝から珍しい騒動が起きました。 午前6時45分ごろ、警察に「ダチョウが歩いている」との通報が入り、住民の間でも驚きの声が広がりました。 Officers confirmed the sighting around 7:00 a.m. on Sept. 23, watching the giant bird stroll casually toward JR Moriyama Station as locals snapped photos and shared updates online. 警察官が確認したところ、巨大な鳥はJR守山駅方面へゆっくりと歩いていき、周囲の住民が写真や動画を撮影する姿も見られました。 It wasn’t an ostrich at all — it was an emu, the second‑largest bird species in the world and a close Australian cousin of the ostrich. しかし、この鳥はダチョウではなく、オーストラリア原産の大型鳥 エミュー でした。…

  • |

    Oz Act Pretty Bleak Turns Summer Supersonic

    There’s nothing ironic about the fact that one of Japan’s top music festivals is being brightened by Pretty Bleak. 今年25周年を迎える「SUMMER SONIC 2026」には、オーストラリア勢も登場します。 Aug. 14-Aug. 20, 2026 THIS WEEKEND! SUMMER SONIC 2026: AUSTRALIA GOES SONIC サマーソニック2026:オーストラリア勢が登場! Summer Sonic turns 25 this year, and the three-day festival has a distinctly Australian flavour. Two Australian acts are on the bill: Melbourne indie-rockers PRETTY BLEAK perform in Tokyo on Saturday, 15 August, while Sydney-based R&B singer BOY SODA takes the stage in Tokyo on Sunday, 16 August. BOY SODA is also scheduled for the Osaka festival on Friday, 14 August. PRETTY BLEAK are part of the Saturday lineup at the Sonic Stage, alongside Steve…

  • |

    Macropod Music and Getting Sentimental Over Kangaroos in Japan

    Kangaroos and koalas are among the symbols Japanese pop culture has, for many and various reasons, adopted at times (the latter with particular relish), and singer Misato Watanabe‘s choice of subject topic for her 1988 hit Sentimental Kangaroo proved a marsupial masterpiece. Watanabe made her debut in 1986 with My Revolution, a huge hit that earned her a gold prize at the 28th Annual Japan Record Awards and would be the biggest-selling song of her career. Watanabe, whose heyday stemmed from the late ’80s to early ’90s, continues performing regularly today. Sentimental Kangaroo was one of the attempts she made to match My Revolution, one of Japan’s most-covered songs of…

  • |

    RIP to a Ripper Bloke, Bob Hawke

    Australia’s last man of the people to become prime minister is no longer. Robert James Lee “Bob” Hawke died earlier this week, just two days before his beloved Australian Labor Party is expected to re-take office in the May 18 federal election following six years of misrule by an incompetent Liberal–National Party coalition government. Hawke was 89. He was a popular prime minister whose time in office went from 1983 to 1991. He remains the longest-serving Labor prime minister in Australian history. Hawkey didn’t really have much to do with Japan during his time in office. Perhaps the closest project involving Japan was the disastrous Multifunction Polis proposal that sparked…

  • | | |

    How Did An Aussie Bloke Build One of Japan’s Favourite Craft Breweries?

    オーストラリア人はいかにして日本で人気クラフトビール醸造所を築いたのか? When Australian Sean Collett moved to Japan, he came to study—not to brew beer. Today, he and his Japanese wife Ayako run Two Rabbits Brewing in Shiga Prefecture, creating beers that blend Australian creativity with Japanese craftsmanship. オーストラリア出身のショーン・コレットさんは、留学のために日本へやって来ました。 しかし現在では、日本人の妻・綾子さんとともに滋賀県で「Two Rabbits Brewing」を営み、オーストラリアの発想と日本のものづくり精神を融合させたクラフトビールを造っています。 From Australia to Lake Biwa オーストラリアから琵琶湖へ Sean Collett first came to Japan as a student at Kyoto University. While living in Japan, he discovered that the country’s growing craft beer scene offered an opportunity to combine two passions—brewing and cultural exchange. Together with his wife Ayako, he founded Two Rabbits Brewing in neighbouring Shiga Prefecture. Today, the brewery welcomes both local customers and visitors from around the world….