Kyary Pamyu Pamyu kicks it in Crocs and gives up on Candy Racer

Kyary Pamyu Pamyu's latest product related campaign is probabaly one of the most on brand that she's done in quite some time. And it's for Crocs and their little fridge magnet style charms called Jibbitz.

It's so crazy the way in which Crocs have transitioned into fashion and street wear. I remember working in retail around the time Crocs first came onto the scene, and they were ridiculously popular then, but only amongst those who worked in hospitality, medics or were home makers. Now everybody be in Crocs. I'm not there yet, but I know them shits is comfortable. I used to wear them during my evening shifts back in the day.

HENNYWAY.

Kyary Pamyu Pamyu and Crocs makes sense. It's a perfect match, which makes far more sense than the Kyary, Street Fighter II and Onitsuka Tiger team up we got a couple of years ago.

What doesn't make sense to me is that there is a whole ass TV commercial which features her, but not a song from Candy Racer. An album, which at this point, is barely a month old.

The product-tie ins for Kyary have been pretty light on the ground compared to circa 2013, when Kyary was the face of EVERYTHING. But even so, how did her management team not push to have her song featured in the Crocs commercial that she is the sole star of to help push an album which is in dire need of being pushed? Candy Racer has sold 3000 copies and bungee jumped out of the Oricon album chart after a week. It needs all the help it can get. But I guess everybody is like 'Fuck it. It's flatlined.' The only other market that moves on from albums quicker than Japan is South Korea.

Kyary Pamyu Pamyu for Crocs | 2021, Crocs Japan

One thing which is as clear as day here, if it wasn't already, is that Kyary is really trying to move out of the look and persona that she exploded onto the scene with. A Crocs campaign featuring Kyary would have looked nothing like this 9 years ago. But I also wonder how Kyary feels about continuing music at all.

I was watching Kyary's Candy Racer live show, and Kyary had zero life in her. She's never been the most switched on and engaging live performer, and has always been pretty lethargic on stage. But even knowing this, Kyary just looked over the whole thing. As good as Candy Racer was, and as much of a step in the right direction the album was for her and a new phase of her career, I wonder if she'll even continue to do music. Especially now that Kyarihanna has launched her own beauty brands, and Kyary Shampamyu 'n' Conditioner seems more focused on her hair care brand Curuput than Candy Racer. And yes, Kyary only just set herself up with a record label. But so did Namie Amuro, just for her to only release 2 albums from it before retiring, at a point where she probabaly knew full well she only had 2 more albums in her.

I do think Kyary needs to think about what she wants from her career ultimately. Because there is zero value for her in making albums, just to not properly promote them and have them sell such meagre numbers, which are only going to get smaller unless there's some form of step change. Or perhaps Kyary should just focus on singles when and as promo calls for it, and play albums by ear. Kyary is in a weird position in regards to her music career, but she's also in position to really set the terms of how she wants to proceed with it, and maybe even shift the industry a little based on the decisions she makes. She can make it work. It just depends on if she even wants to.

💿 Pamyu Pamyu album reviews: Candy Racer | Japamyu | Pikapika Fantajin | Nanda Collection
📀 Pamyu Pamyu Special edition: Super Pamicom