Marketing : Made in Japan : Stars are starting to be more open about their work in Japanese ads.

Heavyweight Champion Mike Tyson’s promoters pummeled the press Monday with Mailgrams ballyhooing the fact that Toyota signed Iron Mike to pitch sheet metal.

The king of the ring will be paid more than $1 million to appear in an ad for Toyota Motor Corp. of Japan that is scheduled to be filmed Friday in Los Angeles.

This commercial, however, will never be seen in the United States. It will only be aired in Japan. But unlike most American celebrities, who for years have tried to conceal the fact that they are appearing in commercials on Japanese television, Tyson and his representatives are actually flaunting it.

“I am delighted to be working with the people of Toyota and the people of Japan,” said Tyson in a statement. “I hope my commercials are as powerful as my left hook.” Tyson has previously appeared in Japanese ads for Toyota and for Suntori Beer.

Both Tyson and promoter Don King were traveling and unavailable for comment Monday. But they are so eager to promote this Toyota pact arranged through the Japanese advertising agency Dentsu Inc. that they have scheduled a cocktail party and news conference on Thursday at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

More than a few lawsuits have been filed by American celebrities whose Japanese ads found their way onto American television. But now it appears that a growing number of celebrities--especially those who are unable to land lucrative promotion deals in the United States--are no longer hiding the fact that they’ve struck gold in Japan.

Tyson’s antics outside the ring have cost him millions of dollars in commercial endorsements from U.S. companies. Pepsi, for example, dropped him as a spokesman shortly after the media began to report details of his stormy marriage and breakup with actress Robin Givens. Now Tyson is courting the Japanese. “The point, however blunt it might be,” said Tyson’s spokesman Lee Solters, “is Mike Tyson is available for commercials--everywhere.”

But Tyson is hardly the only American celebrity to now openly embrace the Japanese ad market. “Japan is a fabulous market for artists,” said George Tobin, who is the record producer and manager for teen pop singer Tiffany. And Tiffany is one of the few American celebrities whose manager makes no excuses for getting his client booked into Japanese commercials.

“It was an incredible way to have her face all over Japanese television,” said Tobin. Over the past year, Tiffany has appeared in Japanese ads for Yamaha’s electronics division and for Meiji, a giant Japanese candy maker. The ads all feature Tiffany singing her songs and only briefly show the products. One of those songs even became a hit in Japan right after the commercial came out.

“The ads were more like advertisements for Tiffany than for the product,” said Tobin. “We couldn’t have possibly bought that much exposure.”

Some American celebrities don’t want the exposure, they just want the paychecks. You won’t see his ads on American TV, but Paul Newman has appeared in Japanese ads for the credit card company Fuji Card Service Co. Actor Mickey Rourke is in Japanese ads for Daihatsu’s Charade automobile.

Long before Madonna did her much-publicized Pepsi commercial, she was singing in a Japanese ad for Mitsubishi Home Electronics. Actor Gene Hackman pushes Kirin Dry beer in ads only shown in Japan. And while you won’t see Sylvester Stallone pitching products on American television, he has appeared in several ads in Japan, one for Kirin beer and another more recent ad for a brand of sausage called Ito Ham.

“What sells in Japan is the raw, coat-tail appeal of someone’s celebrity status,” said Kent Cooper, vice president of public relations at the Los Angeles office of Hakuhodo Inc. Indeed, Hakuhodo’s office in Japan has nearly 200 American celebrities on retainer. “There doesn’t have to be any believability,” said Cooper. “You just have to get the big names.”

These big-name stars don’t even have to be alive.

Just ask photographer Phil Stern. Back in the 1950s, when Photoplay magazine paid Stern $75 for a photo of actor James Dean, the Los Angeles free-lance photographer was elated. Last year, the Japanese consumer electronics maker, JVC, paid Stern upward of $10,000 to use that same photo in a Japanese print ad for its compact disc player. But already Stern looks back on the JVC agreement and says, “We made a bad deal.”

Some Hollywood agents openly admit to soliciting Japanese business for some of their clients. Stephen Carbone, executive vice president of ICM and head of its commercial department, said he travels to Japan several times a year to discuss the availability of his clients with Japanese ad agencies.

“They ask what ads certain clients would do, and what they won’t do,” said Carbone. “And they keep all this information in a database.”

One of his clients is Alyssa Milano, the 17-year-old co-star of the TV show, “Who’s the Boss?”. While Milano may not be considered a superstar in the United States, she is one of the top commercial stars in Japan.

“The Japanese love her wholesomeness and that all-American girl image,” said Lin Milano, who is the actress’s mother and spokeswoman. Alyssa Milano has appeared in ads for Spasso, a Japanese noodle product made by the big food maker Nissin.

While Milano is happy to let her daughter appear in ads in Japan, she doesn’t want her to appear in commercials in the United States. “She’s already starring in a Top 10 situation comedy,” said Milano. “It would be overexposure.”

Indeed, Japanese advertisers can promise something that no American advertiser can: limited exposure. “Sure, Stallone won’t be paid the kind of money he’d be paid in the U.S.,” said Vic Sutton, co-owner of the firm Sutton, Barth & Vennari. “But it’s still lucrative, and he doesn’t have to worry about the U.S. exposure that he might not want.”

That is why many American celebrities have clauses written into their contracts that forbid the Japanese ad agencies from discussing their commercials--and that also forbid them from releasing the commercials for U.S. distribution.

“If a movie star or TV star is involved, this becomes especially critical,” said Sutton, whose firm represents a number of celebrities. “They don’t want producers to see the ads. They worry that it might hinder their chances to be in certain movies.”

Wine and Beer Fight Like Cats and Dogs

Has wine advertising has gone to the dogs?

Well, some beer industry executives sure think so. Earlier this summer, a wine industry trade group ran a generic wine advertisement in a specialty publication, the Wine Spectator. The ad featured a photo of a handsome guy with his golden retriever. The headline reads, “I like wine. He likes beer.”

That ad, created by the San Francisco ad firm, Kilpatrick, Strand, & Whitworth, has drawn the wrath of several beer industry trade groups, including the Boulder, Co.-based Assn. of Brewers. “I don’t know of anyone in the beer industry who thinks the ad is funny,” said Daniel Bradford, the trade group’s marketing director. “The ad is very derogatory. It says beer drinkers are dogs.”

But wine industry officials say the beer makers need to look closer at their own ads, which feature the likes of Budweiser’s Spuds MacKenzie and Stroh’s beer-drinking spokesdog, Alex. “The inspiration comes from the beer industry itself,” said John DeLuca, president of the San Francisco-based Wine Institute. Of course, beer makers haven’t been the only ones to complain about the ad. Said DeLuca, “We also heard from some animal rights groups.”