A new trend in Japanese pop culture could have dire consequences for dolphin populations worldwide warn World Wildlife Fund experts.
A new noodle soup made of dolphin fins and articulations is the hottest product on Japanese grocery shelves as consumers are buying the food item produced by Nippon Jay like there was no tomorrow.
The Tokyo based company that manufactures the noodles that have been available on the market for the past two weeks is victim of it’s own success as the demand has exceeded current production, the problem being that dolphins are not highly commercialized as food, a situation the company vows to change.
The trend started when Nippon Jay’s marketing team decided to exploit the unusual habit of a popular japanese figure of the hit comedy show YOGOYA!, where one of the characters claims she must eat only dolphin noodle soup to preserve a beautiful skin.
“It just came to me as a really good idea” acknowledges marketing director Jennifer Wasamoto. “Millions of people love to watch the show, why not give them what they want?” she adds.
Comedian Nihonji Yakuta plays the role of Ashiban, a woman in her thirties who believes she can get rid of her wrinkles if she keeps eating only dolphin food products, a trend Nippon Jay’s marketing team has successfully capitalized on.
World Wildlife Fund spokesman Jane Glitter has warned the scientific community that “such an attack on dolphin populations world wide” could create “a dramatic downfall in existing dolphin populations” and is seen as a direct threat to the survival of the species.