日清食品カップヌードル | OBAKA's大学に春が来た！ | 2016
The creative team who dreamed this up, and the client who approved it — what fools! / Cup Noodle "Spring Has Come to OBAKA's University"
"If you try something, people mock you. If you fail, people pile on." In an era like that, Beat Takeshi stood frozen as a bronze statue of the university president, while Sachiko Kobayashi, Mutsugoro, Mari Yaguchi, and Takashi Niigaki served as the professors at the newly opened "OBAKA's UNIVERSITY." People said there probably aren't many companies in Japan that could greenlight a commercial idea like this — and no wonder. The moment I saw it, I had to take my hat off.
The problem
The social media era we live in now is an unforgiving one. If things keep going this way, everyone shrinks back and nobody dares try anything anymore — that sense of crisis was where this project started. The idea was to deliver a message about two things we need right now — "the power to throw yourself into something and become a fool" and "the power to get back up even after failing" — not as a lecture, but with the kind of humor that feels true to Cup Noodle.
The insight
As a piece of work, it's basically "The Failure Class," but done under a company's name — and by tying it all together through Takeshi, they turn it into a real message. Someone said it was like a goofy version of Apple's Think Different ad from when Steve Jobs returned — and that's exactly right. The planning skill on display here is frightening, especially the way they stick the landing. The whole thing is built to make you go "wait, what is this?" — and that's brilliant, because it was clearly calculated to spread on social media.
The idea
Beat Takeshi appears as both the university president and his own bronze statue. Sachiko Kobayashi shows up as a professor in the "Department of Mechanical Engineering: From Costumes to Construction." Mutsugoro appears as a professor in the "Department of Biology: Father of Viral Internet Videos." Mari Yaguchi is an associate professor in the "Department of Psychology: Authority on Crisis Management." Takashi Niigaki is a professor in the "Department of Artistic Collaboration: Talent Is Now Something You Share." Each of them weaves in self-deprecating jokes, and the whole thing is built around the line "Now's the time! Be an idiot!" to cheer young people on.
What happened
Complaints came in from viewers, and the commercial was pulled from air. Just one week after it started airing, it was voluntarily withdrawn and taken off the air. At the same time, plenty of people voiced support, saying it was a commercial that gave a refreshing jolt to Japan's gloomy mood — a mood that had grown heavy with people harshly judging others' mistakes while taking out their own stress as a scapegoat. Nissin Foods even went on to release a graduation ceremony installment with an unprecedented ending where everyone gets blown away by a beam from "Terra Sachiko," and the series wrapped up in spring 2017.
Afterthought
Credit goes not just to the creative team who came up with this, but to the sheer nerve of the client who approved it. Some criticized it as contradicting the commercial's own message, but I actually think this "we really went there" feeling is exactly what embodies "CRAZY MAKES the FUTURE." "Now's the time! Be an idiot!" — with this line, the Cup Noodle brand itself put into practice the very thing it was celebrating: throwing yourself into something like a fool, the way sharp young people do. And the fact that they didn't care if it drew complaints, that they went all in anyway — that's the kind of courage I love.
