Essential commercials: A compilation of commercials for the hair care brand by Kao.
Essential is a hair care brand by Kao that has been loved as one of the company’s flagship brands since its debut in 1976.
From the very beginning, the brand has actively produced TV commercials, and you’ve likely seen quite a few Essential ads over the years.
In this article, we’ll introduce all of the Essential commercials that have aired so far.
We’ll also touch on the featured performers and background music, so if there’s a commercial you’ve been curious about, be sure to check it out.
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Commercials for Essential: A compilation of TV ads for the haircare brand by Kao (1–10)
Kao Essential Damage Care
A female singer, Hitomi Shimatani, who skillfully performs a wide range of genres—pops, rock, Latin, R&B, jazz, house, bossa nova, reggae, and enka—and is also active as a commercial model and musical actress, released this as her seventh single.
It’s a cover of a song by the Village Singers, a group that was active in the 1960s, and is also famous for having been composed by Koichi Sugiyama.
The Hawaiian-style arrangement of the original creates a powerful impact, beautifully matching the fine melodies of a bygone era with a contemporary arrangement.
Thanks to its refreshing feel, it’s a perfect cover for a shampoo commercial.
Kao Essential The Beauty: “Color” VersionAlice Hirose
This piece features Alice Hirose taking on a quiz about hair color, using the results to explore the relationship between hair color and hair quality.
It shows that even with the same hair color, hair that’s well-maintained looks more vibrant, and it highlights how Essential supports that—emphasized through her look of surprise.
The song that further accentuates the joy of this new discovery portrayed in the video is yama’s “The World Ought to Be Beautiful.” The grand, resonant sound of the strings is striking, and combined with the vocals, it creates a bright, youthful atmosphere.
Kao Essential 2010 CommercialNozomi Sasaki
This is a song by Maia Hirasawa, who is half Swedish and half Japanese.
It features a sweet, light vocal quality that evokes the warmth of spring.
The song follows reflections made while traveling around the world, and the way place names from across the globe are listed is also interesting.
Essential commercials: A compilation of commercials for the hair care brand by Kao (11–20)
Kao EssentialHitomi Shimatani
In a commercial from the early 2000s, singer Hitomi Shimatani appears and also performs the vocals.
It features an original song for the ad, passionately calling for directly eliminating hair damage.
Hitomi Shimatani has an unusual background: she debuted as an enka singer and later became a J-pop artist.
Kao EssentialSuzanne
Suzanne, who was hugely popular on TV as a lovable airhead, appeared in a commercial that aired in 2008.
The music was by capsule, the music unit of Yasutaka Nakata, who produces Kyary Pamyu Pamyu and Perfume.
Kao EssentialChiemi Hori
In a 1984 commercial, Chiemi Hori—who was a hugely popular idol at the time—both appeared and sang.
The lyrics were written by Chinfa Kan, who was very active in the ’80s and also worked on pieces like the Checkers’ “Gizagiza Heart no Komoriuta” and the theme song for the anime Touch.
Chiemi Hori looks adorable skating along in roller skates.
Kao EssentialChiemi Hori
In a commercial from the 1980s, Chiemi Hori—who was a hugely popular idol at the time—both appears and sings.
The composition was done by Makoto Ayukawa of Sheena & the Rokkets.
From the lines in the commercial, we can tell that in the early ’80s it wasn’t yet common to shampoo every day.