Creative > Ad of the Day

Ad of the Day

Nissin "Eddie Wise"

Brand: Nissin Chow Mein
Agency: Dentsu America
Review Date: September 14, 2009

If a one-foot-tall Asian wise man, complete with pointy beard and mandarin robes, materialized when you were microwaving some instant noodles in your office snack room, wouldn't you be a bit taken aback? The women in this spot for Nissin Chow Mein (via Dentsu America, Los Angeles) seems unfazed. Nor does she seem particularly startled to find him spouting pseudo-philosophical remarks about her meal -- for instance, saying she has "resisted the frozen path" (he gestures toward the nearby refrigerator's freezer) and speaking of "the final step to noodle enlightenment" as she shovels some of the food into her mouth. If the intent of all this consumer Confucianism is to make the noodles seem genuinely Asian, I doubt whether it'll work. Then again, maybe this hokeyness is a roundabout way of assuring potential customers that the food is not particularly Asian -- that it's the sort of thing they could have encountered at an Asian-American restaurant 50 years ago. Either way, the whole routine seems more silly than funny, including the surprise ending (spoiler alert!) when we learn that this ancient-looking character is actually "Eddie, from accounting." And I'm not sure this plot twist will prevent some viewers from feeling the spot is trading on a hoary Asian stereotype, even if in a good-natured way. The tag line, "Noodle on," is a nice touch that gets lost in the shuffle here. --Mark Dolliver

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Overall rating:
(3.32 ) Good

31 Comments
  • 1. Dentsu suxx comments:
    December 20, 2009

    dentsu sucks, they can't even shepherd their clients from Japan to worldwide markets...toyota trusts saatchi around the world except Japan...President gets busted for taking beaver shots of maria sharapova during a photo shoot!


  • 2. good but not good comments:
    December 08, 2009

    its really good but the only thing is if u eat too much of these meals makes u poop alot!!!!


  • 3. GraphicDesigner23 comments:
    December 04, 2009

    Eating a bowl as I type. It got me to try the product which means the ad was successful. Was it the mini dude? Probably not, but overall a great ad.


  • 4. Eddie From Accounting comments:
    November 11, 2009

    Thanks Maryann! I think you're great. Noodle On!


  • 5. Maryann comments:
    November 03, 2009

    LOL!!!!! IF IT IS SO CORNY WHY BOTHER COMMENTING? I Think it is great!


  • 6. Alice comments:
    November 03, 2009

    I LOVE IT!!!!! I guess you have to have an Eddie in Accounting to love it but LIGHTEN UP FOLKS!!!


  • 7. Phil Silvers comments:
    October 29, 2009

    Bad. Corny. Stupid 1973 jokey punchline. Garbage.


  • 8. RK comments:
    October 23, 2009

    I know an Eddie from Accounting, Eddie you are never going to live this one down ;)


  • 9. Moo kahn comments:
    October 08, 2009

    I don't know about "racist" - racism denotes oppresssion and hatred, and none of that is happening... but it most definitely IS perpetuating a stupid bunch of "oriental" stereotypes. It would only be racist if it was bad-natured, which it isn't... but not all Asian-Amerikans speak in pseudo-confubuddist mumbo-jumbo, wear silk temple robes, and carry a samari sword. And how many japanese warriors have you seen working in "accounting". I like the chick though - she's hot.


  • 10. FunnyPeople comments:
    October 06, 2009

    How is Nissin racist? So now a Japanese company can't use an Asian character to sell Asian food products? The voice actor is esteemed Asian actor James Hong, the director is Asian. The agency is Asian. Yeah everything should be sterile and boring, and safe. Better yet, let's only use White People in ads, yeah that wouldn't be racist...


  • 11. NissinIsRacist comments:
    October 01, 2009

    This commercial is racist. Period.


  • 12. LUNCHSPOT comments:
    September 17, 2009

    what is there to like really? the puppet looks good i guess. but does he say anything amusing, funny or unexpected? The biggest "joke" in the whole thing is that old Asian man's name is Eddie. Oh, and get this..he's from ACCOUNTING! How wacky! WTF!


  • 13. Hong Fan comments:
    September 17, 2009

    I like it.


  • 14. NotColby comments:
    September 17, 2009

    Check your facts, this isn't from Colby. This is from Dentsu Los Angeles. Yes Colby previously had the office space, but it's a completely different team of people. Anonymous internet haters, sheesh... Just remember what opinions are like


  • 15. Never comments:
    September 16, 2009

    I have never met a creative from Colby with any talent and I'm guessing this is just the old Colby West Coast office. Better than the East Coast office was, but still bottom feeders.


  • 16. COLBY comments:
    September 16, 2009

    Oh, NOBODY sucked like Colby and Partners. What a joke of a place.


  • 17. DK comments:
    September 16, 2009

    snore. I hate to get rational by why is the spokesman selling her? She already bought and is currently COOKING your product! Shouldn't Eddie from accounting (wow, that's hilarious) be confronting someone eating a sub or something BESIDES his product? It's a straight product sell job delivered by a puppet. Rewrite it.


  • 18. Not a Dentsu Hater comments:
    September 15, 2009

    I guess if I was a Dentsu hater I could hate this spot too. But I don't hate Dentsu, and I don't hate the spot. I love Eddie. Much more than The Burger King and many others whose coming-out parties met with negative reactions. Stereotype? I guess the warning from our ad community is: When advertising Asian food don't use Asians - animated characters or otherwise. Same goes for Italians and Italian food, or Mexicans and Mexican food. If you do, no accents allowed.


  • 19. Denise comments:
    September 15, 2009

    Clever and funny. Everyone needs to lighten up with the racism comments.


  • 20. Erv comments:
    September 15, 2009

    This spot made me laugh. After seeing it a few time, I thought they could use a little less product shots and maybe a reaction shot at the end but was well executed and nicely written. I haven't seen Nissin advertise for a while so I hope they keep this character going it could turn into something.


  • 21. Stop being racists. comments:
    September 15, 2009

    "Asian character, selling Asian products made by an Asian company." Conceived by an Asian Ad agency and shot by an Asian Director. P.S. Dentsu sucks almost as bad as Colby and Partners sucked.


  • 22. StuckOnEarth comments:
    September 15, 2009

    This is pretty funny, I caught this on TV the other night, and laughed when he delivered the Eddie from accounting line. I agree with the comments that people are being overly sensitive. An Asian character, selling Asian products made by an Asian company. Kind of makes sense, no? If anything this character reminds me of a rip off of the many kung fu masters I've seen in 100s of martial arts films. If anything I think they could have pushed it further.


  • 23. Stop Your Whining comments:
    September 15, 2009

    client: asian product: asian agency: asian director: asian character's voice: asian so tell me what the issue is... you're telling me this didn't run all the way up the tent pole in japan? exactly. love the spot. tired of whiners who think everything is a stab at them. get over yourselves and laugh at something.


  • 24. Micro comments:
    September 15, 2009

    Kinda creepy... in a good way. It's not genius but I'm sure it was tough to get this through the client gauntlet. Kudos!


  • 25. COYH comments:
    September 15, 2009

    If I were to guess where Eddie's from, granted, it would probably be the Himalayan 'burbs. Does that disqualify him from being an expert on noodles? C'mon, it's a nice bit of a fun to brighten up the day. Love the voice.


  • 26. Not At All Offended comments:
    September 15, 2009

    If you're offended by this, then all Kung Fu movies should be offensive. I mean really, if we need to be PC then let's take the Ikea founder and dub him with an american voice so you don't notice his thick accent...jeesh people...take a joke.


  • 27. NoDentsu comments:
    September 15, 2009

    I'd like to second an earlier comment. Not generally a fan of Dentsu but this is damn well-done.


  • 28. James comments:
    September 15, 2009

    The character is supposed to be a 900 year-old noodlemaster from the Far East. Would he not speak with an Asian accent? James Hong is the VO talent I believe and this sounds very close to his natural speaking voice. Not sure where the stereotype comments are coming from. This is a advertising character for the company that invented the category. Lighten-up. It's funny.


  • 29. ah so comments:
    September 14, 2009

    what a disaster


  • 30. kind of offended comments:
    September 14, 2009

    does anyone else find this commercial a bit offensive to asians and/or asian-americans? why does "eddie" need to have an asian accent? is it so unbelievable that in this day and age that asians can't speak perfect english or be portrayed in a way that isn't based on an antiquated stereotype?? i think we as advertisers really need to think about the messages we put out in the marketplace and are sending to the public. i think this sort of thing really perpetuates the stereotypes that exist in our society. growing up asian-american, i've had to deal with prejudice on a constant basis, and ads like this just reinforce that it's okay to offend and denigrate a whole race of people for the amusement of others.


  • 31. I hate Dentsu comments:
    September 14, 2009

    Clearly this is successful because of Asian ex-Chiat LA'r Director Tanimoto. It's a stupid idea, but so well executed it makes me laugh. The only issue I have is the fact that the cabinet is full of the product, which is unreal - unless your in a supermarket - and strategically leaves the woman with no other choices. Dentsu is a crap agency, but this is a hit for them. The product, by the way, is really quite tasty.


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