The article didn't answer my main question, which is how the economics work. How does it add up to have high-touch home delivery of $5 yogurt packages?

Every time I read an article about people trying to solve the 'loneliness epidemic' I can't help but wonder if we're not trying to solve the wrong problem.

Maybe the solution should not be sought in trying to increase social connections but in eliminating our need for social contact. This dependence on other humans has always felt like a flaw to me.

Note that I'm not saying that human contact is bad, just that our pathological dependency on it is.

This is an ad

Is this a PR piece, with product placement clearly front and center?

This seems to be a submarine article - all the images and quotes seem to be directly sourced from Yakult Honsha's strategic comms department.

Edit: yep, appears Yakult has just kicked off an ad campaign putting Yakult Ladies front and center [0]

[0] - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=u8HNY7Ta4dA

Japanese have lactose intolerance, almost universally.

They don't eat yogurt or dairy in general.