Cursed Kleenex Commercial

About

Cursed Kleenex Commercial refers to an infamous 1986 Japanese commercial for Kleenex that gained notoriety due to its bizarre production and cryptic music. Since the commercials release, people started an urban legend about the makers of the commercial and, much like the film The Ring, watching the ad kills the viewer.

Origin

In 1986, Kleenex released a Japanese advertisement featuring a young woman in a toga offering a kleenex to a toddler dressed as a Japanese ogre, before reaching for a tissue.^[1] The woman makes loving gestures at the child before the commercial fades out and fades back in to the two watching the tissue fly away. The ad is set to the song "It's A Fine Day" by Jane.^[4] The commercial was one of three featuring the characters.

On May 23rd, 2006, YouTuber derioderio uploaded two of the commercials to YouTube. The first, and more popular video, entitled "Japanese baby ogre kleenex commercial." The video (shown below, right) received more than 1.1 million views in 11 years. The second commercial was significantly less discussed. It featured a baby with angel wings on holding a tissue (shown below, right) and received more than 180,000 views in 11 years.

Spread

After the ogre commercial aired, viewers complained about its disturbing nature, claiming the song was a German curse, despite the song being in English, which translated to "Die, die, everyone is cursed and will be killed." Due to complaints, Kleenex pulled the ad, however, rumors about the cast and crew sprang up in the wake. Some said that the baby in the ad died suddenly, while actress Keiko Matsuzaka was said to have either died, been institutionalized or gave birth to a demon baby.^[2] As of August 2017, Matsuzaka is still alive and working.^[3]

On March 25th, 2013, YouTuber Shrouded Hand posted a video of the video becoming distorted when watched at midnight. The video (shown below) has received more than 875,000 views as of August 2017. Since then there have been numerous videos of people watching the commercial at midnight.

The following year, on September 14th, 2017, YouTuber 9208 Ebara uploaded the third commercial, which featured the baby ogre pulling out a tissue from the box and throwing it into the air. Once again, the video is set to "It's a Fine Day." Within three years, the video (shown below, left) has garnered more than 10,000 views.

On Septeber 25th, 2015, YouTuber ScareTheater posted a video called "Cursed Kleenex Commercial Debunked." As of August 2017, the video (shown below, right) has received more than 240,000 views.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References