WWE Partners Noodle Giant In Could-Only-Be Japan Campaign!

WWE have partnered their wrestling star Shinsuke Nakamura with the noodle giant, Nissin (Donbei), in their latest could-only-be-Japanese campaign for its Kamatama Udon.  The 39-year-old wrestler— who personifies the ramen giant’s newest product Kamatama Udon (egg noodles)— stars as the new romantic interest of Japanese actor Riho Yoshioka, who reprises her role as the Fox Lady, a play on the Japanese word kitsune, which means fried tofu as well as fox, in the latest commercial film.

Over the past two years, in a series of quirky commercials, the Fox Lady and a male main character played by singer-actor Gen Hoshino, have been gradually developing a relationship that is seemingly swerving from friend zone into a romantic one. However, the introduction of a fresh rival in Shinsuke Nakamura, who mimics Hoshino, has gotten the latter into a fix as he observes Fox Lady drawn to Nakamura.

According to ASN data, Japanese brand Nissin has a mere 1.1% share for the FMCG: Foodstuffs category, investing over US$17.6m since Q316 across the Asian sponsorship market, largely focused on its home turf (94.9%)… However, its already tiny share is forecasted to take a hit for the first half of 2019, continuing a downward spiral which began last year as spends nosedived to slightly under US$4m from US$6.8m in 2017.

The popular ramen brand’s biggest sponsorship deals in the US$1m+ category continue to be endorsements from tennis stars Kei Nishikori and Naomi Osaka, and is still very much into traditional advertising despite clever sponsorship activations in the past, particularly with Manchester United.