'Holesome fun': Mark Denton's take on the latest Pot Noodle ads

A lot of people have got treasured memories about food.

A wonderful meal in a beautiful restaurant, or a special family recipe handed down by your granny.

Me? 

I fondly remember staggering out of the disco in the early hours of the morning and making a bee-line for the burger van.

They were the kind of burgers (I can’t, with any certainty, call them ‘beef’ burgers) that would be boiling (yes, boiling) away all pink and puffy.

When you chomped into them it was like biting into a meat-flavoured sponge. Fortunately the not-so-fresh ‘squeaky’ buns would soak up any excess fluids. We used to call them ‘Drinka-Burgers’…and they were quite exquisite.

More recently I found myself as the Head of Catering at Denton Abbey, when my Missus went on holiday for a few days.

I had Baked Bean Pizza for two nights on the trot.

Just thinking about it now is making my mouth water.

I’ve never been much of a gourmet.

So, when it comes to the latest Pot Noodle advertising campaign they’re really pushing against an open door with me.

That said, up until recently, I can’t remember the last time I had a Pot Noodle…probably not this century. But I saw the ‘Fills a Hole’ adverts and I went online to check out the flavours.

Easy choice, it had to be the ‘Doner Kebab’ flavour.

I nipped down to Tescos only to be slightly disappointed when I found that they only had the ‘Original Curry’, ’Beef & Tomato’, and ‘Bombay Bad Boy’ varieties.

Tough choice I’m sure you’ll agree, so I bought all three (Curry’s the best btw). I’m going to try the ‘Doner Kebab’ when I finally get my hands on it.

That’s the best sort of advertising - the stuff (I think they call it ‘content’ nowadays) that encourages the punters to go out and buy the product.

How did Pot Noodle do it?

It made me laugh.

It stuffed its product into loads of different holes like a pot hole, a front-loading washing machine and a bird box.

Then it underpinned it with the oh-so elegant line - “Nothing fills a hole like Pot Noodle”. So simple that I’ve explained the ‘hole’ plot in a couple of sentences.

It definitely knows its audience and now it's definitely got a new appreciative epicurean as a customer.

Bon appetit!