Suntory erased Tanaka Kei from the whisky campaign he had carried since 2014

Actor Tanaka Kei had appeared in Suntory's Kakubin whisky commercials since 2014 — more than a decade as the face of the brand. The latest campaign, co-starring Igawa Haruka and Kase Ryo, began airing nationally on 24 March 2025. About a month later, the weekly magazine Shukan Bunshun reported an alleged affair between Tanaka and actress Nagano Mei; both denied it, and message exchanges later published and attributed to the two were also denied.

Suntory did not wait for any finding. It stopped airing the television commercials in early May, and on 13 May removed the Kakubin and Kaku Highball videos featuring Tanaka from its website and YouTube, saying it had judged it 'difficult to convey the brand's original value' given the current situation. Television airings had already been halted, with no further bookings scheduled.

On 1 June, Suntory released the next Kakubin commercial: the same campaign, now starring only Igawa and Kase, with Tanaka edited out of footage he had fronted for more than ten years. The public mocked the edit as 'eraser magic'. A single magazine report — denied by everyone involved and backed by no court, regulator or company finding — ended a decade-long advertising relationship in seven weeks.