Nissin Foods Brings the O’ Back to Its Packaging

SOCIAL MEDIA HELPS food brand embrace its heritage just in time for its 50th anniversary. Nissin Foods, which claims to be the inventor of instant ramen noodles, is switching back to the brand’s O’riginal name when it first hit shelves in the U.S. as Cup O’ Noodles.

“It’s been almost 30 years since we changed the name, but thanks to social media monitoring, we realized there’s a lot of conversation about the O’,” says Jaclyn Park, vice president, marketing, Nissin Foods USA.

According to a nationwide survey, more than 80 percent of ramen lovers still call the brand “Cup O’ Noodles” instead of “Cup Noodles,” which has been its O’fficial name since 1993. Some say this may be a classic example of the Mandela Effect, an unusual phenomenon where a large group of people remember something differently than how it occurred.

Park adds, For our 50th anniversary, we decided to end the debate and bring back the O’. We’re tired O’ fighting it.”