Lady Gaga is scanning purchases and mopping floors at FamilyMart, although sadly only on television. The pop star became the unlikely face of the convenience-store chain’s new recruitment campaign on September 25, appearing in a monochrome commercial that turns an ordinary konbini shift into something closer to a fashion film.
 

The casting makes more sense in the context of what FamilyMart has been doing all month. On September 1, FamilyMart introduced a new set of appearance guidelines called “Famima Coordinate” across approximately 16,500 stores. Staff can now choose their hair color freely, while the company has formally permitted Muslim employees to wear hijabs. Workers also have greater freedom to layer their own clothing beneath the uniform, provided hygiene and customer-service standards are maintained. FamilyMart has said the changes are intended to create a workplace where people can work more comfortably as themselves and to help attract a more diverse workforce.

The chain also replaced its jacket-style uniform for the first time in a decade with a T-shirt designed by Hiromichi Ochiai, founder of Japanese fashion label Facetasm and creative director of FamilyMart’s Convenience Wear line. The shirts come in 14 sizes, from XS through 11L. FamilyMart has paired the dress-code overhaul with recorded and online interviews and a revamped recruitment platform under its “Famima jo!n” initiative, which emphasizes individuality and inclusion.

There is a practical reason for the makeover. FamilyMart has explicitly pointed to Japan’s shrinking labor force and changing attitudes toward work as challenges for the convenience-store industry. Around 13% of its roughly 200,000 store employees are foreign nationals, according to figures reported when the new rules were announced.

For the next two days, Gaga will also be difficult to avoid inside FamilyMart itself. From 11 a.m. on September 25 through September 26, the chain is screening exclusive interview footage featuring the singer on FamilyMart TV displays at around 11,600 stores nationwide.

And lest anyone question her konbini credentials, Gaga says she has been to FamilyMart before. Asked about Famichiki, she offered a succinct review: “Oishii!”