Japanese contact lens maker Ace has just launched a new brand called Cunte. Yes, that’s not a typo. Ace really did decide to call its new brand of one-day color lens Cunte, and to advertise it with music idol Amu Nigemizu (of Kyururin te Shitemite and Team Strawberry)
There’s nothing quite like seeing publicity photos with a cute young Japanese woman fronting a campaign called Cunte.
Even better, the lineup is described as “Cunte special charms.” Indeed, cunt does have special charms aplenty.
Apparently, it’s meant to be a combination of “kyun” and “cute,” the former an onomatopoeia for a heart-skips-a-beat moment, and a common word in manga.
How does this kind of goof happen in 2026? It is yet further proof, as if any more was needed, that Japanese marketing people unfortunately don’t seem to use Google when picking their service and brand names.
The online response has been as instant and febrile as you might expect, to such an extent that the official press release was taken down by Cunte, along with the official social media posts for the press release, and the brand website on Queen Eyes (an online shopping site for contact lens, run by Ace) is also offline, though the brand’s social media posts remains undeleted at the time of writing.
We doubt the entire brand’s release and campaign will be canceled outright due to this very unfortunate use of derogatory language, since Japan is full of such examples (and likewise in other countries and languages), which are typical just a bit silly and provoke a smile. In this case, though, it is a particular problem because the marketing is so female-centric and the target consumers are obviously all young women. So just as long as young Japanese women don’t seem to mind the idea of wearing a Cunte on their eyes, the controversy has provided the brand with a huge amount of unexpected exposure (which is not something we usually want for our genitals).
We shall have to wait and see how Ace responds. In the meantime, you can get your “Cunte all-color special box” for ¥8,800, scheduled to go on sale from Friday, February 27. It casts a “spell to fall in love with yourself.”
