NISSIN FOOD | hungry? MOA | 1993

Cavemen Are Always Hungry / NISSIN FOOD "hungry? MOA"

A Japanese commercial that won the Grand Prix at Cannes in 1993. It's just a caveman chasing an extinct bird called a moa and never quite catching it—that's the whole story—but somehow it's funny, and somehow it sticks with you. The timing of the stop-motion creatures moving is just perfect.

The idea

This is one entry in the "hungry?" series, a set of stop-motion animations depicting the struggle to find food in prehistoric times. A caveman family chases a giant extinct bird called a moa, but they can never catch up and stay hungry the whole time. At the end, the words "Hungry? Nissin Cup Noodles." appear and that's it. The structure couldn't be simpler, but the humor and perfect pacing unique to stop-motion instantly connect the product to the feeling of hunger.

What happened

The ad won the Grand Prix at the 1993 Cannes International Advertising Film Festival, along with another entry in the same series, "Synthetoceras."

Afterthought

Even though this commercial is from 1993, it hasn't aged a bit. It still makes you chuckle and makes you crave Cup Noodles. The universality of that structure is remarkable. Nissin has kept making ads like this—a little odd, but unmistakably effective—for over 30 years now, and honestly, that's exactly why they're so strong.

Awards

Cannes Lions Grand Prix 1993

Three more the bear picked for you

When asked "hungry?", everyone turns into a caveman / NISSIN FOOD "SYNTHETOCERAS"

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NISSIN FOOD | hungry? | 1993

When asked "hungry?", everyone turns into a caveman / NISSIN FOOD "SYNTHETOCERAS"

At the Cannes festival, someone shouted "Hungry!" In 1993, Moa and Synthetoceras won the Grand Prix together, two films at once. Even across 60 years of Cannes, it's one of the legendary moments.

30 years later, your stomach still remembers / NISSIN FOOD "HUNGRY? III UINTATHERIUM"

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NISSIN FOOD | HUNGRY? III UINTATHERIUM | 1994

30 years later, your stomach still remembers / NISSIN FOOD "HUNGRY? III UINTATHERIUM"

This is the Uintatherium installment, from 1994. It's part of the era when the series that had already stunned the world with mammoths and moas was still going strong. A caveman gets tossed around by a giant mammal, but in the end there's just the word "hungry?" and that white cup with red. By now this rhythm needs no explanation. It's one of the sequels in the series that won the Grand Prix at Cannes as a whole and became a landmark in Japanese advertising history.

When Sound Proved Freshness / LAURA SCUDDER "SUPERMARKET"

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LAURA SCUDDER DIV | SUPERMARKET | 1965

When Sound Proved Freshness / LAURA SCUDDER "SUPERMARKET"

It's 1965, right around the time supermarkets were becoming part of everyday American life. This film, made by the California potato chip brand Laura Scudder together with DDB, won the Grand Prix.