[Ad Text in Japanese]

朝は、シャキッと。

飲んだら、飲んどこ。

This commercial is for Ucon tea, and features Momoi Kaori. Momoi Kaori is the type of actress that Japanese refer to as 個性的, a unique, individual character. She follows her own path, does what she wants, and is successful. She has a self-confidence and sharp opinion that some say is usually lacking in Japanese talents. She was in Memoirs of a Geisha, Swallow Tail Butterfly, among others. She also writes and sings.

Apparently Ucon an extremely healthy tea, and Ucon in English is known as “turmeric”. Other than being all-around good for you, Ucon is also known in Japan to be great for hangovers!

A couple of the TV spots are on the official website here, and here. A TV commercial for the same tea, with different actors is on youtube here.
Now, let’s checkout the language.

朝は、シャキッと。

The interesting vocabulary here is 「シャキっと」

シャキっと is a Japanese word which means to really “sharpen” up. In this case, in the morning, waking up and immediately being aware. Not the groggy, sluggish way that I tend to wake up in the morning.

There are other words like this that I have listed below. These words are not Onomatopoeia, but a similar kind of sound based word. If anyone knows what the proper term for these are let me know!

ハッとする

カチンと来る

「飲んだら、飲んどこ。」

First off, 「飲んどこ」is just a shortened way of saying 飲んどこう。Which is the informal way to say 飲んでおこう。As in, 飲んでおきましょう。As you may know, adding 「置きます」to the end of the 「て」form of a verb gives the nuance of…

Doing [verb], in order to prepare for something that might happen in the future.

For example…

ホテルで両替ができるかわからないから、空港でしておいた方がいいよ。

I’m not sure if we can do it at the hotel, so you should go ahead and exchange some money at the airport.

電車に乗っている時間が長いから、トイレに行っておいた方がいいよ。

We’ll be riding the train for a long time, so you should go to the toilet first.

二日間ここには戻ってこないから、携帯電話を充電しておいた方がいいよ。

We won’t be back for two days, so you should charge up your cell phone.

風邪がまだ完全に治ってないみたい。薬を一応飲んでおいたら？

It doesn’t seem like you are completely over your cold yet. Why don’t you take some medicine just in case?

Got the feel of it?

Now for this particular sentence in the poster.

飲んだら、飲んどこ。Or written more formally, 飲んだら、飲んでおこう。

Translated. “If you drink, drink this to prepare.” The question is, what do they mean by「飲んだら」。

Putting a verb into the 「た」form, and adding 「ら」will give the meaning of “if”. So 「飲んだら」 means “if you drink”.
This ad, is specifically referring to “If you drink alcohol.”

Ucon Tea is good for preventing hangovers. So if you have been drinking alcohol, drink this tea once the party is over, just in case you might get a hangover later!

I’ve never had this tea… I wonder if it tastes good…

- Harvey