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If you've ever traveled in Japan, even if you've never stepped foot inside one, you've almost certainly had the shining lights and blaring cheerful music of a Don Quijote catch your attention. Don Quijote is a major discount chain that operates all around the country, known for its low prices and wide variety of goods.
Often called "Donki" for sort, the chain has a bustling theme-park like interior and carries just about anything you can think of (food, cosmetics, clothing, adult goods, furniture, etc.), making it a convenient shopping hub, as well as popular souvenir stop for foreign visitors.
Donki is also known for its popular mascot character, Donpen, a Santa-hat wearing penguin. At least, it was! Much to the shock, surprise, and frustration of many around Japan, Don Quijote has announced that they will be changing the beloved mascot to a new one--Dojo-chan, an anthropomorphic mascot representation of a Japanese alphabet character.
Left: Donpen, Right: Dojo
Don Quijote has ditched the happy-go-lucky penguin character for a mascot shaped like the Japanese katakana alphabet character "ド ("Do").
The reasoning for the mascot switch is rooted in Japanese. Don Quijote says they are making the change because they want more people to know about their "Passionately Priced" (情熱価格, Jonetsu Kakaku) brand of goods.
In Japanese, Dojo-chan's name is written as "ド情ちゃん", which combines "ド" (the "do" in "Don Quijote" ドン・キホーテ) with the character "情", which carries the meaning of "emotion" or "passion" used in their Passionately Priced brand. When you consider Do ("ド") is also used as a slang suffix in Japanese to mean "highly" or "super", you even get a bit of a pun with the mascot's name possibly meaning "Super Passionate."
Got it?
Many have expressed sadness over the sudden change--but the plot thickens. Some are speculating that this is part of a big joke, as within the Twitter thread of the announcement, Donpen himself slams the decision and an account claiming to be the head of store says they knew nothing of it and are investigating--all of which the actual Don Quijote account has acknowledged by Retweeting.
Whether it's an angle or not, however, the replies are filled with comments from shoppers shocked by the announcement:
"No way...Donpen is Don Quijote! That's so sad..."
"I'm going to have to buy some Donpen merch while it's available."
"It's actually kinda funny that the name is so straightforward now."
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- External Link
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22 Comments
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momoclo
Maybe the reality of this change will hit me later.
Michael Machida
Im shocked myself. Shocked!
TokyoLiving
One more change pointing to Japanese culture, that's very good, but the penguin was very cool..
Thank you Donpen Kun, we will miss you..
Again, if a mascot change makes a national headline, it shows for the thousandth time that Japan has been, is, and will continue to be one of the safest countries in the world to live in..
Dear Japan, I love your geeky news !!..
Coolest and frikiest country of the world !!..
wanderlust
Elsewhere, it is reported o Friday evening that there will be no change.
...Due to the backlash, Don Quijote's president Naoki Yoshida decided to hold an emergency meeting on the same day to resolve the issue. According to his tweet, he was not aware of the surprising plan to replace Donpen.
After the strong response from the general public, Don Quijote released a statement (as shown above) on Friday evening stating that it would be keeping Donpen as its mascot.
Donpen stans can now breathe a sigh of relief. You might even want to pick up a Donpen souvenir or two the next time you’re shopping at Donki.
rainyday
Pretty sure this is just a publicity stunt. Pretend to scrap a well known character or product, get headlines for doing so, generate buzz around the thing being scrapped, announce that owing to popular demand you have changed your mind, reap the benefit of the free advertising the story created.
Donki often gets listed as a black company for its labor practices, and instead of articles about that we are talking about its mascot. See? Amazing how effective that is.
yakyak
Who the hell cares. What a ridiculous story.
Wakarimasen
If they change their jingle, the world may well end
Mark
""Don Quijote is a major discount chain that operates all around the country, known for its low prices and wide variety of goods.""
SO WRONG, they are not cheap at all, the image is cheap by design.
In fact many of the same items are sold at many other shop at lower prices, I have learned this early on.
DudeDeuce
RIP!
Now I can go to the thrift store and buy Donpen junk to sell to the "mourners" on Yahoo Auction who will act like they have always been Donpen's biggest fan.
Mark
This is probably a paid for stunt or CM.
finally rich
"after the public outcry we decided to keep donpen-chan".
They literally resort to anything. And only a fool would believe its totally not a stunt when Don Quijote does these weird things such as putting in store signs asking couples to "refrain from breaking up in the store".
Some people truly believe in these things. They walk among us.
GBR48
You do get quite large companies making idiot decisions every now and again, but this may simply be to get some free coverage as 'news'.
rainyday
I agree. They usually have a few bargain items in big piles on sale for low prices which are placed in highly visible locations in stores to create an impression that everything is cheap. But when you look at the other 95% of stuff they have for sale on the shelves, the prices are basically the same or even more than what you would pay at AEON, APITA or any other major retailer for the same thing.
The selection of stuff they have isn't all that impressive either.
virusrex
Not exactly a life-changing news but I was surprised by this because the chain has always been pushing a lot of merchandise of their mascot and many of its costumers like it to a degree that can be called excessive.
As said before the stores prices are not exactly low, so I would have imagined they relied a lot on their image to keep their regulars coming to buy instead of searching for more convenient and cheaper places.
factchecker
Yes, how will life go on with the knowledge that a store crammed to the brim with tat has changed its logo? I for one cannot cope.
Numan
Eeeeeeh, nani ?!
Capuchin
I'd have thought they'd at least change it from a penguin to one of their trademark screaming orgasm rubber chickens.
Eastman
most important news today.
Sven Asai
Don’t worry too much, that’s only a cheapest possible viral campaign to get quickly into news headlines and back again into potential customers’ consciousness. My guess is they have red numbers and can’t afford a real CM campaign. Otherwise they just had replaced the real logo overnight countrywide everywhere and then widely announced in TV commercials, on radio, newspapers etc , afterwards, starting right next morning.
ThonTaddeo
Small correction for Japanese learners:
"Do" is a prefix, not a suffix. "Do-erai", "do-mannaka", et cetera. You can't out do on the end, only at the beginning.
Tim Sullivan
Donki is brilliant -- I love shopping there. You can find stuff you won't get anywhere else in Japan. The staff are great as well.
Tom San
I try to not shop at Donkey because their narrow aisles makes me claustrophobic.