I thought it was stupid, until I saw Japan at the end. It's dumb if they try to push it beyond Japan, but for those that don't know every prefecture in Japan has a mascot associated with it, so over there it's a given that a country, town, or even company, will have some kind of cute mascot and not just random anime shilling.
They can get really silly with them, such as Kanoya city's mascot, a break dancing business fish:
Ver archivo adjunto 6572893
Or the mascot used for a concept like safe sex:
Ver archivo adjunto 6572896
Yubari city mascot, the melon bear:
Ver archivo adjunto 6572924