The encyclopedia · Advertising & PR · Marketing decision · 2026
Lion suspended its 16-year Stoppa CM face two days after the accuser retracted
Takahashi Shigeo fronted Lion's Stoppa ads for 16 years; a bullying claim aired May 5, he apologised and the accuser retracted — Lion paused the CMs anyway.
Lion Corporation · 2026-05-13
What happened
Takahashi Shigeo of the comedy duo Savanna had been the CM character for Lion's anti-diarrhoea medicine Stoppa since 2010 — sixteen years, one of Japan's most familiar advertising faces. On 5 May 2026, comedian Nakayama Kota said on the ABEMA programme 'Naokiman no Toshi Densetsu Wide Show' that a senior comedian had bullied him for about ten years; the internet identified the senior as Takahashi.
The two comedians settled it between themselves. Takahashi's partner mediated a meeting, and on 11 May Takahashi apologised publicly, saying his words and behaviour on shared Osaka programmes had hurt Nakayama and that he 'had been truly immature'. The next day Nakayama retracted himself, calling the word 'bullying' 'completely inappropriate' and confirming the two had reconciled.
It was not enough to save the campaign. On the evening of 13 May, Lion announced that it was 'temporarily suspending' promotional use of his image and CM materials on the Stoppa brand site after 'a comprehensive judgment'; two web videos featuring him that were up on 12 May were replaced that night, and there were no plans to run the television CM. Two days after the accuser apologised, the brand moved anyway.
Why it happened
- An over-the-counter medicine sells reliability; a face wrapped in a trending allegation is unusable regardless of what the two parties privately resolved
- Lion waited out the full cycle of allegation, apology and retraction, then made its own judgment — a company decision decoupled from the personal dispute
- Sixteen years of goodwill did not change the arithmetic: keeping him would have kept the story alive every time the ad ran; removing him cost once
The lesson
Brands do not need an allegation to be true, only still talked about. Reconciliation ended the dispute; it did not end the story, so Lion paused a 16-year campaign.
Aftermath
Takahashi apologised publicly and Nakayama retracted the word 'bullying', saying the two had reconciled; Lion kept the suspension and did not say when, or whether, the campaign would return. Advertisers in Japan cited the case as evidence that a sponsor's 'comprehensive judgment' outweighs the parties' settlement once the story is big enough.
Sources
- J-CAST: サバンナ高橋、「ストッパ下痢止め」プロモーションへの出演「当面見合わせ」 ライオン「総合的に判断」
- スポーツ報知: サバンナ・高橋茂雄がCM起用中のライオン、プロモーション活用の当面見合わせを明かす
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