One problem is that even if the person receiving the box is exposed to Japanese culture, their coworkers probably aren't.
You might not like that the world works that way, but as a business it's wise to not deny reality.
Wait, what? In fashion, sure, by definition - but when I'm choosing between Persil and Tide, or Coke and Pepsi, or Pizza Hut and Domino's, I'm primarily looking at how good it is at whatever I want it to do. Which one cleans better, which one tastes better?
There's a certain point where many people start buying things more as social signalling than as actual useful things, but I'd disagree that the vast majority of brands could be fashion items in this way. The rest use their brands to evoke trustworthiness - "I know that this will do what I want".
That said, that does not explain people reading the kinds of graphic novels and magazines they do in plain sight in public on trains in parks, etc.
