The text below is the script the video above was based on. There are many differences between the script and the video.
Thick, wet, and intoxicating in the best possible way. Once you put it in your mouth, you lose all your inhibitions. You just want more and more and more. Obviously, I’m talking about udon. Yeah, as in the Japanese noodles. What did you think I was talking about? Something sexual? No, I would never do that.
But since we’re talking about noodles, let’s discuss a recent Japanese commercial that featured a horny anime girl eating udon.
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In early February of this year, the popular Maruchan brand of instant noodles released a commercial for their Akai Kitsune instant udon. The commercial featured an anime girl watching dramas on TV at night while eating udon. Just going by that description, you’d think there’s nothing remarkable about this commercial. However, it ended up getting a lot of attention.
That’s because some people have been saying this commercial is too sexual. Yes, sexual. If you’re confused, I get it. Udon isn’t normally considered a sexual food, but here’s the thing: the commercial isn’t overtly sexual, but it is pretty damn suggestive.
Unfortunately, I can’t outright show you the entire commercial since I might get a copyright strike, but I can show you a few clips of this 33-second ad. Make sure to pay attention to the audio.
The way the commercial makes her the focus rather than the udon. The sensual sounds of her slurping and eating the noodles. Her heavy breathing and the breathy voice she uses when—
I guess you’re just an asexual angel who would never think of such dirty things.
According to several news reports, after this commercial was released, numerous people complained that it was “sexual” and “disgusting.” Not surprisingly, this caused people—including notable individuals like Tomoka Igari, a member of the well-known Japanese idol group Kamen Joshi—to chime in, saying they didn’t see anything sexual about it. Plenty of people in the comments on the original X post and YouTube video also noted that they didn’t see what the problem was.
In the following weeks, as news sites covered the story and more people weighed in, a new allegation arose. Apparently, some people started accusing Chocolat Inc., the company hired to produce the commercial, of using generative AI to create it. In response, Chocolat posted a statement on X on February 21st, denying the allegations and asking people to email them directly if they had complaints. This last request seems to be due to reports that people involved in the production were being harassed or that false claims were being made about them.
But ultimately, this is an utterly stupid story.
First of all, the number of people claiming to have a problem with this commercial seems to be very small. One article I came across in the Japanese publication Nikkan Spa cites a specialist who says exactly this. On top of that, I looked around on X and YouTube and saw that the overwhelming majority of comments were from people saying they didn’t get what the big deal was. So, as far as I can tell, this appears to be a case of a few voices—some of whom may have even been trolls—being blown out of proportion.
But is the commercial sexual? No, it’s not overtly sexual, but as I said, it’s suggestive. And it’s extremely hard to believe that not a single person out of the potentially dozens involved in creating the commercial wasn’t aware of this.
With social media, YouTube, and streaming video, it’s harder than ever for a TV commercial to make an impact. This TV commercial definitely made an impact. Currently, the original X post featuring the ad has over 221 million views. The YouTube video has over 1.7 million views. Countless people have chimed in on social media, expressing their opinions about it, and online news sites have published tons of articles covering the controversy. This commercial was a huge hit.
If you want to believe that Maruchan and the people who planned this commercial didn’t know what they were doing, go right ahead. But I definitely think this was exactly what they were hoping for.
The way I see it, this was a masterful bit of marketing.
The people who like the suggestive nature of the commercial aren’t going to complain—or they’ll defend it. A large portion of people who do think it’s sexual in some way will either stay quiet or defend it out of fear of being accused of having a dirty mind. This means the few who do complain are likely to be outnumbered. And since the commercial isn’t overtly sexual, Maruchan doesn’t even have to apologize for anything. That’s some damn good marketing.
As for me, I’ve already said this multiple times—I do think it’s suggestive, but I don’t care. I’m sure I’ve made the same sounds when eating a good bowl of ramen before, too.
Oh, and by the way, if this commercial offends you, I highly recommend that you stay away from Food Wars.
See you in the next one.
Check out the video below to watch the original commercial.
