100 Stories1952 Piyo Piyo University, an advertising program for Asahi Aji™

The radio program Piyo Piyo University started in 1952 as an advertising program for Asahi Aji™. In this program, President Chicken would ask a question, and Dr. Rooster, Dr. Hen, and Dr. Chabo would give three different answers, and the contestants would choose which one was the correct answer. Then, President Chicken would give the correct answer.

This popular radio program, sponsored by Asahi Kasei and broadcast on the then Radio Tokyo (now TBS) from 1952 to 1960, was based on an idea by an Asahi Kasei employee. The title, with its combination of the two contrasting words ‘piyo piyo’ (which evokes a connotation of childishness) and ‘university,’ has a resonance that aptly describes the atmosphere of this program.

It was not a foolish show, nor was it absurd. It dealt with things that everyone knows, but things which they may not actually know so well, and makes them think about those things. The theme of the show was perfect: “Clarifying knowledge that we all have, but which is nonetheless ambiguous.”

Mr. Yoshishige Abe, who served as president of Gakushuin University, had this to say about Piyo Piyo University.

“If the program stopped at mere wit, tact, sharpness, and fashion, it may end up being as shallow as a “30-minute master.” But if it helps to determine the ambiguity of common sense knowledge, it will do more good than harm. If Piyo Piyo University can ensure common sense in entertainment, its contribution to social education may be surprisingly large.”

The program structure, which took advantage of the characteristics of radio, which was highly entertaining and well listened to by the masses, even attracted the attention of the president of a university.

The program was also broadcast on television starting in 1953, the year after the radio program was first broadcast. The program was broadcast on both radio and television until 1960, when it was discontinued. In the third TV broadcast, a large glass water tank was brought into the studio and a live cormorant fishing demonstration was broadcast to catch the viewers by surprise. This was a big hit with the viewers, and the program went on to bring tigers and lions to the studio, and even experimented with rocket launching.

Piyo Piyo University also won the Dentsu Advertising Award for this daring approach. Managing director Kagayaki Miyazaki, then managing director of Asahi Kasei, expressed his delight that Piyo Piyo University was chosen from among so many commercial TV programs.

He said, “I am keenly aware that the birth of a new advertising medium, television, is so vivid for society, and the degree of human absorption it has is so intense. I hoped that Piyo Piyo University would resonate with public goodwill through the outpouring of the sponsors' goodwill without being bound by tricks, even though it is an advertisement broadcast. I cannot help but be very pleased that this fact has been recognized with this award.”

In his capacity as a sponsor, he expressed his great joy that his long-held desire to provide the public with something good through television was rewarded in the form of an award.

Piyo Piyo University was very active as an advertising medium for Asahi Kasei in the early days of television and radio. The original idea came from an Asahi Kasei employee, and the breakthrough that led to the creation of a real program to promote Asahi Aji™ was reminiscent of Asahi Kasei's values. Piyo Piyo University, which must have thrown itself into the unknown based on the idea, reminds us of the feeling that we should never forget such things as hard work.