David Lynch Made 4 'Twin Peaks' Coffee Commercials That Aired in Japan

About a year after the Twin Peaks finale aired in the US, the show's Japanese fanbase was still deep in the throes of their obsession. The hype was high: People shelled out thousands of dollars to visit Snoqualmie, WA, for a Twin Peaks tour and attended "funerals" for Laura Palmer, the murdered girl at the center of the show. There was even an increase in the consumption of cherry pie, protagonist Agent Cooper's favorite. So it was a brilliant marketing move when the Japanese canned coffee company Georgia (Joija) Coffee capitalized on Japan's Twin Peaks obsession and tapped series director David Lynch to create four commercials promoting their coffee.

The 30-second spots tell the story of Ken, a Japanese man who gets Agent Cooper to help him find his wife. A rotating cast of supporting characters from the show make cameos while Agent Cooper repeats catch phrases like "damn fine coffee," eats cherry pie, and—of course—ultimately saves the day. The integration of Georgia canned coffee, however, is awkward and forced—almost laughably so. And that seems to be kind of the point. As Food52 points out, "the commercials are giddily self-aware and sarcastic." Watching them, you are extremely cognizant of the fact that you're watching a commercial—and an absurd one at that. Georgia coffee is used to help the men think; it's what they order at the diner; and it's used as a celebratory drink when (spoiler alert!) Ken's wife is found. Every step of the way, of course, Agent Cooper extols the virtues of the canned coffee.

Lynch was supposed to shoot another round of commercials for Georgia Coffee. However, it seems like the company wasn't totally thrilled with the first batch, and didn't move forward.

The four commercials that did make it to TV can be seen here: