In Japan, many feel it’s essential to invest time and effort when cooking and that it’s always better to make food from scratch. This belief is usually held by men with antiquated expectations, and women often face criticism for their efforts to cut labor and time in the kitchen with frozen food. Japan’s gender gap is most prevalent in the division of domestic chores, where wives are often responsible for the lion’s share, and the pandemic has added more work to their already heavy loads. The bias that “nothing less than homemade is good enough” has affected the business category as well, so as a leader in its industry, Ajinomoto Frozen Foods looked for ways to add value to its products and offer time-saving options to the women of Japan.

When it comes to closing the gender gap, Japan still lags behind other advanced countries. According to the Global Gender Gap Report 2020, Japan is ranked 121st of 153 countries, down eleven places from the previous year. Japan’s gender gap is the largest in the developed world, and despite the government’s efforts to promote gender equality, stereotypes and biases persist—especially when it comes to domestic roles. The opinion that mothers are responsible for cooking and should cook everything from scratch has been ingrained in Japanese society over decades of ads and television content. The role of modern campaigns should be to break this stereotype. Helping break the stereotype makes this campaign significant.

The communication concept presents frozen food in a new light. It’s not cutting corners. Instead, it’s delegating the hard work to professionals. Engaging with married women and mothers in realtime through social media, Ajinomoto propagated its message throughout Japan. The brand also responded to the Dumpling Debate with a video showcasing the many ways Ajinomoto employees prepare food with care at production facilities.

The campaign targeted housewives and their families. It was clear that many women would prefer to use frozen meals—such as dumplings— to reduce time spent in the kitchen and increase opportunities for personal pursuits and family activities. However, many were criticized for “cutting corners,” leading to some guilty feelings. On the other hand, since the 2015 Act on Promotion of Women’s Participation and Advancement in the Workplace, gender equality issues were moving in a positive direction. Ajinomoto leveraged an opportunity to bring the Dumpling Debate to life with a positive message that freeing up time is not necessarily cutting corners. Highlighting the message with a video and a press release based on goodwill and support helped garner more approval throughout the debate. This campaign improved social perceptions and business results.

One tweet incited the Dumpling Debate: “I made frozen dumplings for dinner, and my son loved them—my husband called it lazy, hands-off cooking.” This inspired Ajinomoto to respond with the tweet, “Handy, not hands-off.” The point was to shine a positive light on this housewife’s decision to free up time for herself. The company reached out to opinion leaders and experts on gender equality, actively inviting more media coverage. This generated strong reactions on social media, amplifying positive responses and support. Ajinomoto released a video showing 144 steps of love and effort that its employees put into preparing meals in the “big kitchen.” The video was released on YouTube, and POP signage promoting frozen meals followed.

The response from the official Ajinomoto account garnered 135,000 retweets, 440,000 likes, and 22.2 million impressions. Mentions related to frozen dumplings increased by about 14.6 times, or 500,000 instances. The video uploaded by the brand accrued 900,000 views, increasing the number of positive tweets related to “frozen dumplings,” “frozen food,” “I’m going to make a handy meal today,” and “frozen food is the bounty of these companies” by about 142%. Tweets expressing approval tripled, indicating a change in cultural perceptions. More public expression of support and trust in Ajinomoto Frozen Foods continued along with stronger retail links, resulting in a 20% increase in sales over the previous year for that month.