Cat-ear eye drops take Japan’s obsession with felines to a whole new level

Best-selling Japanese eye drop brand adds three cool cats to their range.

The love for cats is strong in Japan, where people dedicate festivals to the feline, design banknote ideas for the furballs, and even give them pride of place on giant 3-D advertising screens.

Now, as further proof that we’re living in a cat-obsessed society, Rohto, one of the country’s leading eye drop manufacturers, has announced they’ll be releasing a special limited-edition range of eye drops…in the shape of cats.

▼ The new bottles give the existing Rohto C Cube range a feline makeover.

The feline-themed bottles were commercialised after a prototype image of a bottle with a cat-ear lid went viral on Rohto’s Twitter account on Cat Day on 22 February last year.

For Cat Day this year, Rohto launched a commercialisation project, calling for cat models to lend their looks to the design of the lids. 40,000 humans voted for their favourites out of eight finalists, which were selected from a pool of 7,000 feline applicants, and the three winning models can be seen alongside the cat lids they inspired below.

▼ Left to right: Haruku (two years old), Naoya (two years old), and Herb (one year old)

Each variety has a different formulation, with varying levels of “coolness” for the eyes, and they’re all safe for use while contacts are being worn. The mildest of the bunch is the Rohto C Cube m, which has no tingling, refreshing effect, making it similar to the eye drops commonly sold overseas.

▼ “M” for “mild”, as this one has a cooling level of 0 out of 8.

Those who like the eyes-wide-open, menthol-like refreshment often found in Japanese eye drops will want to try the Rohto C Cube Cool. These have a slight tingling effect and a cooling finish.

▼ This cool cat has a cooling level of 5 out of 8.

And if you want even more refreshment, you can opt for the Rohto C Cube Ice Cool, which provides the strongest tingle and cooling sensation out of all three.

▼ The coolest cat, coming in at 7 out of 8 on the coolness scale.

Not only do these new eye drops look cute, they do good too, as a portion of profits from sales of the product until 31 December will be donated to organisations engaged in animal welfare activities, in order to help animals in need.

According to the company, eye drop containers like these have never existed before, and given the huge buzz they’ve created online, they look set to sell out as soon as they become available on 13 October.

The “Cat Ear Eye Drops”, as they’ve become commonly known, will be sold at drugstores nationwide, and online sites, at a recommended retail price point of 605 yen (US$5.50).

Source, images: PR Times
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