My first encounter with SOYJOY was in the Atlanta-Hartsfield airport during a mind-numbing layover. I purchased a coffee from one of the food vendors, and the cashier handed me eight SOYJOY bars (two of each flavor) for my trouble — promotional samples. Mildly baffled, but simultaneously loving the freebies, I snatched up my bag and found a table. After reading the literature the cashier politely shoved into my hand, I gave the Coconut Mango bar a try . . . it was . . . terrible. I shoved the bar — with the consistency of moistened cardboard and the flavor of coconut syrup — back into the package and worked my way through the rest of the lot. Unfortunately, the experience didn’t improve. I took one bite out of each of the four bars (Coconut Mango, Apple, Berry, and Raisin Almond) and vowed never to put another SOYJOY into my mouth again — a year later and still true to my vow.

Quality of the product aside, SOYJOY does produce pretty amazing commercials. And after doing some digging, I discovered that the product has been sold in Japan for quite sometime and just recently made the US transition. Commercials in Japan are notoriously over the top, and SOYJOY commercials are no different, just check out the “Soypermarket” below for proof. The US commercials, illustrated by artist Simon Peplow are pretty tame in comparison to their Eastern Asian counterparts but nevertheless deliver a visually stimulating experience; and if my initial inundating encounter with SOYJOY hadn’t been so terrible, they would peak my curiosity for the healthy snack.

SOYJOY Spot by Simon Peplow

SOYJOY Spot by Simon Peplow

SOYJOY Ad by Airside

SOYJOY Japan: Soypermarket