Dirty Pot Noodle Ads That Would Get Canceled To Hell Today
The Brits LOVE the shit. And these commercials, with varying degrees of crassness, tried to capture that love. Four ads.
I’ve eaten both Pot Noodle and many brands of Ramen. Pot Noodle wins, if not for taste, then convenience. All of these ads knew their target (un-PC non-snoots) and nailed it.
1. “WAG”
For those unaware, “WAGs” stands for Wives And Girlfriends of British footballers. Here, “Brian” is living a life of leisure as a WAG. Hundreds of angered Britons complained to the Advertising Standards Authority that the ad (and it’s follow-up spot) was “offensive” and “condoned and encouraged” discriminatory behavior towards transgender people. The ASA let the ad stand. From 2011, part of a campaign tagged “Why Try Harder”. Ad agency: Mother, London.
2. “THE SLAG OF ALL SNACKS”
“Slag” is of course British slang for a slutty woman. Here, our hero thinks Kate’s sandwiches are “nice”, but he needs something more “filthy”. So he hits the Red Light District looking for a slaggy woman/snack, finds both, and gets a hotel room. The Independent Television Commission ruled that the word "slag" was so offensive to women it could not be used on TV, and banned the ad. Here’s a second spot from the campaign. From 2002. Ad agency: HHCL, London.
3. MARIACHI’S SHAME
Lyrics:
“English girl you’re so pale and so lovely, on holiday with your proud man. But secretly he’s bored with you. He wanted filthy and dirty and more rude. And when you sleep he creep into town to look for the backstreet (anal) action…”
2004 spot for “Seedy Sanchez” Pot Noodle. “Eet es dirty and you want eet”. Mexicans were not very pleased with the ad. Ad agency: United, London.
4. “HORN”
See, he’s “Hornie”, for Pot Noodle. So hornie, he smacks his trouser trumpet into a woman’s face, a la Brett Kavanaugh. The ASA received over 600 complaints about the ad, but declined to act. Today’s ASA would’ve banned it faster than a pre-teen boy’s orgasm. From 2005. Ad agency: HHCL Red Cell, London, who also created Tango’s maniacal “You’ve Been Tangoed” ads
"The Slag of all Snacks" ran on billboards as well, IIRC. Which was jarring, because 'slag' is way more derogatory than 'slut' over here.
It’s crazy how slurs to women are never seen as slurs, the whole reason we don’t use the F** word and the N word is because it’s dehumanising and demoralising but when it comes to half the population some words are okay, what’s even crazier when you consider how real trafficking is, rape, other countries that have laws that treat women like cattle yet it’s still common to hear slurs for women.