Nicolas Cage has reflected on his regret over a series of bizarre Japanese commercials he made in 2006 for Sankyo, a pachinko machine company. He accepted the work believing he was advertising a toy, only to discover later that pachinko machines are gambling devices in Japan. The incident exemplifies how, even during his prolific period of making numerous films for financial recovery, there were limits to what he was willing to do without fully understanding the implications.

Between 2011 and 2021, Cage starred in 45 films, with fewer than one-third receiving theatrical releases, as he worked to resolve severe financial difficulties. The 2006 commercials featured him in increasingly absurd scenarios, including screaming about Mount Fuji at a press conference, playing a cowboy encountering extraterrestrials, and singing at a piano about his favourite things. Though the adverts never aired outside Japan, they have become easily accessible online. Cage described the experience as "fun and goofy" but expressed deep regret upon realising the true nature of what he was promoting.