Title | U.F.O. TIME REWIND |
Brand | NISSIN FOODS HOLDINGS CO., LTD. |
Product / Service | NISSIN YAKISOBA U.F.O. |
Category | A02. Fiction & Non-Fiction Film: 5-30 minutes |
Entrant | DENTSU INC. Tokyo, JAPAN |
Idea Creation | DENTSU INC. Tokyo, JAPAN |
PR | PLATINUM Tokyo, JAPAN |
Production | ROBOT COMMUNICATIONS INC. Tokyo, JAPAN |
Production 2 | D2C DOT Tokyo, JAPAN |
Name | Company | Position |
---|---|---|
TATSUHIRO NAGASHIMA | DENTSU INC. | Creative Director / Planner |
IORI ANEGAWA | DENTSU INC. | Planner / Copywriter |
KOSUKE FUKUI | DENTSU INC. | Planner / Copywriter |
KYO NISHIYAMA | DENTSU INC. | Art Director |
RYO SAKURAI | DENTSU INC. | Planner / Copywriter |
ATSUSHI MUKUNOKI | DENTSU INC. | Account Executive |
KEISUKE SHINTAKU | DENTSU INC. | Account Executive |
TSUYOSHI UNOKI | DENTSU INC. | Account Executive |
Daisuke Takahashi | D2C dot Inc. | Communication Producer |
Go Yamamoto | D2C dot Inc. | Communication Producer |
Taro Sugawara | D2C dot Inc. | Communication Producer |
Junya Sato | Freelance | Designer |
Haruki Yokoyama | ROBOT COMMUNICATIONS INC. | Producer |
Kazuchika Yoshida | EUROPE KIKAKU | Associate Producer |
Satoshi Urabe | ROBOT COMMUNICATIONS INC. | Production Manager |
Ryunosuke Oka | ROBOT COMMUNICATIONS INC. | Production Assistant |
Makoto Ueda | EUROPE KIKAKU | Director / Screenplay |
Junta Yamaguchi | EUROPE KIKAKU | Director / Cinematographer / Editor |
Kensuke Okura | FUJIART,INC. | Production Designer |
Katsuhiro Yokota | YKP INC. | Stylist |
Nana Sato | SHOCHIKU COSTUME INC. | Stylist |
Miku Takeyama | SHOCHIKU COSTUME INC. | Stylist |
Chica - | Creators-plus INC. | Hair & Make Up |
Natsuko Ide | Freelance | Hair & Make Up |
Hiroe Sato | Freelance | Hair & Make Up |
Masaya Kuranuki | Freelance | Recording Engineer |
Shinsuke Iwasaki | SPOT INC. | Foley Artist |
Masayuki Takahashi | VASC INC. | Sound Mixer |
Shota Ojima | aiin CO.,LTD. | Music Producer |
Mamoru Miyano | Himawari Theatre Group Inc. | Actor |
Gota Ishida | EUROPE KIKAKU | Actor |
Yoshifumi Sakai | EUROPE KIKAKU | Actor |
Takashi Sumita | EUROPE KIKAKU | Actor |
Masashi Suwa | EUROPE KIKAKU | Actor |
Kazunari Tosa | EUROPE KIKAKU | Actor |
Haruki Nakagawa | EUROPE KIKAKU | Actor |
Munenori Nagano | EUROPE KIKAKU | Actor |
Naoko Nishimura | EUROPE KIKAKU | Actor |
Shintaro Kanamaru | Freelance | Actor |
Kazunori Kameshima | Lolo Icc | Actor |
Kumi Kureshiro | jungle | Actor |
Saori - | STARDUST PROMOTION inc. | Actor |
Yuya Hamamura | Platinum, Inc. | PR Producer |
Nozomu Watanabe | Platinum, Inc. | PR Producer |
Ai Shibahara | Platinum, Inc. | PR Producer |
Hiroe Ajiki | A3 Co., Ltd. | Casting Director |
This work succeeded in creating a form of entertainment out of an “eating the product scene,” which is very important in a branded food advertisement but can also be very boring for consumers to watch. These days, an increasing number of people dislike advertisements. The 30-minute drama featuring eating scenes successfully generated buzz, inspiring food manufacturers all over Japan with new hopes and dreams.
Nissin Yakisoba U.F.O. is Japan's major instant fried noodles in a cup -- “cup yakisoba.” In recent years, as consumers keep changing their media usage, there has been a need to figure out a way to ignite buyer motivation with a method other than using TV commercials. Especially in 2020, with the impact of COVID-19 making it difficult to do offline sales promotions, we have been searching for a way to promote the eating experience through digital media.
We came up with the idea of time travel as a plot twist to show eating scenes multiple times. The product itself becomes the main character in our drama, in which time leaps back whenever they try to eat the product. The live stream of the drama was made into an event by combining the streaming of the video with experiencing the product. The video was marketed as “the drama that will make you the hungriest,” streamed at lunchtime on YouTube Live, and promoted eating the product while viewing the video.
While a product’s “eating scene” is a very effective tool to make viewers crave it and then buy it, the advertisement itself becomes quite boring if this moment is over-shown. In order to solve this dilemma, Nissin Foods came up with the surreal idea of repeatedly showing scenes of almost eating the food product, making people look forward to seeing it finally eaten.
We created a drama that uses time travel to repeatedly show the product eating scene. One week before the drama was live-streamed on YouTube Live, the campaign launched primarily on Twitter, telling people to buy U.F.O. for when they watch the video. After the live stream, the drama remained on YouTube as an archive; we also streamed a talk show with the actors, continuing to make the drama a relevant topic.
Generated buzz starting on Twitter with a record of trending at #3, resulting in over 60,000 related tweets. While spending zero money for advertising promotion, the piece was featured in over 300 media outlets, including four TV programs (over 10 minutes), with the total advertisement exposure equal to 240 million yen. In the first week of release, it reached 1.3 million plays, even though it was a long-form 30-minute video focusing on eating scenes. After the video stream, many tweets about the product said things like “now I want to eat U.F.O.” and “I went and bought it.” The video was successful in not only creating buzz but also in increasing the appetite for the product. Media site Netorabo said in an article that “it makes you totally want to eat U.F.O. which makes it completely correct as a promotion.”