Advertising Reviews: Man, his best friend and their SuperNoodles

Men behave very badly indeed in the new campaign for Batchelors SuperNoodles - playing with their food, feeding dog-licked noodles to their girlfriends and licking plates clean instead of washing them up.

This "quirky" new campaign, created by the London ad agency Mother, "pulls no punches in its look at the hilarious relationship between a man and his four-minute fumble - SuperNoodles", explain the spin doctors behind the new series of ads. The idea? To reposition the brand as a mainstream adult snack rather than kids' food.

Meet Malcolm. Young, recently single and hungry, he attempts to make a snack but, as he hums "Gonna Get Along Without You Now", one suspects he's rarely ventured into the kitchen before. Finally he sits down to eat his noodles, spots the photo of his ex-girlfriend which has been impaled on his dart board and starts to cry.

In the next ad, we see him in his mate's kitchen, discussing the unsavoury bathroom habits of girls. After a discussion about hair trimmings, the pair finish their noodles, licking the plates clean before replacing them in the kitchen cupboard.

Then there's flatmates Jason and Al. They get carried away throwing noodles at the kitchen window, giving a running commentary on the "race" into their spoons, er, microphones. So much for aspirational advertising. The ads look cheap (and probably are). But the thumbnail characterisation in each manages to raise a smile. Malcolm, played by rubber-faced Scottish comedian Lewis Macleod, steals the show, although Dexy, the Super Noodle Dog, enjoys the last laugh.

It's a strange mix of elements, however. First there's Macleod, the one- time presenter of the ITV kids' show Gimme 5, who is currently working on a number of programmes for BBC Radio and is up to voice one of the futuristic creatures in George Lucas's new Star Wars movie starring fellow Scotsman Ewan McGregor. Then there's the director Daniel Kleinman, an established comedy, advertising and film director. His next work will be seen in December with the opening of the new Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies, for which Kleinman shot the opening credits. And, lest we forget the product that drew them together, there's Batchelors' pre-packed, pre- flavoured egg noodles - currently the UK's market leader with 45 million packs sold each year. The end result? An entertaining distraction but not one entirely guaranteed to make you want to try the product. Unless you're unable to cook or are drunk (or both), that is.