During the pandemic, Maruchan had a massive increase in instant noodle sales. Big sales mean big budgets, so they came to us with an ask for a broadcast spot. Our strategic insight was the idea of warmth, specifically relating to the reasons people ate ramen during the lockdown periods. It turns out it wasn’t just because it was a hot bowl of delicious noodles that warmed them up during colder months, but because it was also a product that warmed their souls.
Our concept was simple. Come up with awesome feelings that relate to eating bowls of ramen noodles. We opted for an illustration style instead of casting and shooting due to pandemic restrictions, which was entirely new for the client.
We worked with a Japanese illustrator, an Argentine animation house and an LA-based account and project management team making this a four timezone project. I came up with the concept, wrote the scripts and saw the project through from concept to execution with the help of my Art partner and Creative Director.
The spot is currently running through 2021 and can be seen if you are like me and spend your mornings with coffee watching Good Morning America or The Today Show. It was a really fun project to work on, while also being completely new territory for me. The :30 spot was cut down into :15 and :06 paid social content that will probably show up on your Instagram feed if you search Maruchan or Instant Noodles one time.
Here is the final product.
Megan Lake 