Osaka governor snacks sell well after controversy over illustrations

The governor of Osaka, Toru Hashimoto, made national news last week when he threatened to sue the makers of souvenir snacks bearing his likeness:

The spat arose on Wednesday over the use of illustrations of Hashimoto crying, glaring and laughing used on the packets. Hashimoto initially claimed the images were a violation of his publicity rights and demanded the suspension of their use, even threatening legal action.

However, Hashimoto turned about on Friday, saying, “I don’t care as long as it benefits Osaka.”

Some believe that Hashimoto may actually have planned to threat as a publicity stunt to promote the release of the snacks. If he did so, his plan worked – the snacks have become a hot item at souvenir shops.

Here’s a FTV report about the illustration controversy and the resulting popularity of the snacks:

A customer buying the snacks tell the cameras that they are doing so because they heard about the product through the news coverage of the controversy.