'Columbus' was a song written for Coke Studio, Coca-Cola Japan's music campaign, performed by Mrs. GREEN APPLE. The music video, released on 12 June 2024, showed the three band members dressed as Christopher Columbus, Napoleon and Beethoven discovering an island inhabited by ape-like people — having them pull a rickshaw, and teaching them piano and horseback riding. Within hours, social media called it racist and an affirmation of colonialism.
The next day, 13 June, Universal Music Japan stopped distributing the video. Coca-Cola Japan stopped airing all advertising that used the song and said it tolerated no discrimination: 'We regret this situation,' adding that it had no prior knowledge of the video's content. A scheduled television performance of the song was changed. The band's own statement said the video 'contained expressions that lacked understanding of historical and cultural background.'
Vocalist Motoki Omori apologised, saying there was no intent to discriminate or affirm tragic history: the concept came from keywords like 'historical figures of different ages', 'apes' and 'home party', and the group had worried from the start that the ape imagery could be read as discriminatory, checking makeup, costumes and acting with staff. 'We deeply apologize to anyone who was offended.' A sociologist quoted by Asahi criticised the record company and the corporate sponsor for lacking checks.
Universal pulled the video and Coca-Cola pulled the ads within a day, but the band had flagged the ape imagery as racist, so the real cost was a failed review.
A colonial theme — Columbus 'discovering' an island of ape-like natives — was treated as a comedy premise that no single veto point stopped
The sponsor and the label both said they had not reviewed the video's content before it shipped as part of the Coke Studio campaign
The band itself had worried the ape imagery might be read as racist and raised it with staff — concern was on the table and still was not escalated
A joke about colonial history is never just a joke when the descendants of the people it mocked are watching. If someone on the team already flinches at the image, the review process failed.
The controversy ended the campaign's use of the song and became a case study in Japan of corporate music-sponsorship risk: neither Coca-Cola nor Universal disclosed financial losses, but the pull was immediate and global coverage framed it as a racism scandal for both brands. The band's subsequent activity drew renewed scrutiny of its music catalogue.
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