Japanese noodle company risks scalding to shoot first ad in space

by Ben Bold Brand Republic 04-Oct-05, 13:30

LONDON - A Japanese food manufacturer could soon have its scalding hot noodles chasing astronauts around the International Space Station in zero-gravity, if an ad for its Cup Noodle product goes wrong.

Nissin Food Products asked space tourist Gregory Olsen to take a high-definition video camera up to the ISS to film the firm's first ad in space.

American scientist Dr Olsen, who paid a reported £11m for the space trip, blasted into orbit yesterday with camera and noodles in tow. He is joining Russian cosmonauts Sergei Krikalev, who will act in the commercial, and Valery Tokarev, the wannabe auteur who is filming it.

"I will be eating the noodles and the scene will be taped on the high-definition camcorder," Krikalev said.

The ad will be aired on Japanese television next month as part of Nissin's "Cup Noodle No Border" campaign.

However, this is not the food firm's first space-based product promotion. In 2002, it announced plans to make Space Ram, a ramen noodle it claims astronauts can eat in zero gravity. Although the product has been patented, it has yet to make its space debut.

The high-definition camera has been provided by Japan's space agency JAXA, which said it is leaving the camera on board the ISS for future projects. The organisation is expecting demand from other companies seeking orbital publicity, as well as educational bodies and broadcasters looking for pictures of the Earth from above.

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