Japanese convenience store enlists Lady Gaga to bolster recruitment

TORONTO, ON - SEPTEMBER 08: Singer Lady Gaga speaks onstage at the "Lady Gaga: Five Foot Two" press conference during 2017 Toronto International Film Festival at TIFF Bell Lightbox on September 8, 2017 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

Japanese convenience store chain FamilyMart has enlisted Lady Gaga for a recruitment campaign, convincing the pop icon to trade vocal registers for cash registers in an effort to plug staffing shortages at thousands of outlets.

The global star appeared in a stylish black-and-white video for the retail chain’s part-time worker recruitment campaign and can be seen performing tasks typically set out for staff working at the franchise.

FamilyMart boasts a network of more than 16,000 stores across Japan, and roughly 30 percent of them are short-staffed, a company spokesman told AFP on condition of anonymity on Monday.

The spokesman added that featuring one of the world’s biggest selling artists would attract and retain recruits at a time when Japanese businesses are competing to hire new workers.

“When people decide to work at a convenience store, we want FamilyMart to be the place they choose,” he said.

“By having Lady Gaga appear in the commercial, we thought we might be able to convey the appeal and excitement of working at FamilyMart.”

Relaxed dress codes

Sporting a futuristic leather-textured suit, Lady Gaga can be seen working behind the counter, offering fried chicken to customers and restocking bottled tea in the video clip released on Friday.

“Famima de hataraku? (Want to work at FamilyMart?) ” she asks in the video.

Traditionally, Japanese convenience stores have also required workers to adhere to relatively conservative dress codes, including bans on certain hair dyes and large earrings.

FamilyMart started to relax those rules this year in an attempt to lure workers, including young people who want to maintain their own style.

FamilyMart is also offering shopping vouchers worth 200 yen (US$1.3) or more to those who enquire about positions or go through interviews at the retail chain.

“We want people to come to interview, and we hope they will go through the training and stay,” the spokesman said.