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Britain has a pothole epidemic, with one road for every nine miles in urgent need of repair. Local groups around the country even hold protests on National Pothole Day in January.
Unilever food brand Pot Noodle has proposed a bizarre solution to this problem: fill the holes with noodles.
A new campaign, by U.K.-based agency adam&eveDDB, calls Pot Noodle “the ultimate hole-filling meal.” The play on words refers to the product’s ability to satisfy hunger, while illustrating this in quite literal terms.
Spanning outdoor, print, social media and PR, the ads show all manner of holes–including a pool table pocket, a bird house and a washing machine drum–being filled with noodles.
The campaign will appear in locations that are notorious for potholes, such as Surrey, Essex and Northamptonshire. A digital van showing the noodle-filled holes will also drive down two of the worst pockmarked roads in Surrey.
Pot Noodle has released a GIF sticker pack on Instagram Stories, allowing users to fill holes digitally with the hashtag #NothingFillsAHoleLikePotNoodle. A brand spokesperson called Mr. Pothole will advocate (humorously) about the country’s pothole problem.
A subversive personality
The campaign came about to challenge the notion that Pot Noodle–instant noodles that come in a pot–is not “real food,” explained adam&eveDDB creative director Mark Shanley.
Though the images of noodle-filled holes may be gross for many viewers, this cheeky tone of voice is in line with the brand’s advertising personality, he said.
“Pot Noodle has a history of being quite a subversive brand,” Shanley continued. “We’re not for everyone and we’re okay with it.”
