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Cup Noodles Gave Its Socials to a Vampire
Cornett hands Cup Noodles' social channels to a 300-year-old influencer with one small problem
Every influencer remembers their first brand deal. For Vladison, it took about 300 years — and the product is garlic flavored.
Vladison is a fictional vampire and the star of “It’s To Die For,” a six-week spooky-season campaign from Cornett in Lexington, Kentucky, for Cup Noodles’ new limited-time Vampire Noodles. The flavor is Hot Garlic Chicken. The noodles turn blood-red when water hits the cup. And the spokesperson is, by every known folklore standard, allergic to the whole thing.
The premise writes itself. The trick is committing to it.
A creator three centuries late to the party
For the length of the campaign, Vladison has taken over Cup Noodles’ TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and Threads accounts. He’s trying to make it as a modern influencer, which means learning the formats everyone else has been running for years.
So he does the product review. He does “What’s In My Bag.” He does Garlicmaxxing, which is exactly as self-destructive as it sounds for a vampire.
The joke lands because the formats are so familiar. Cornett didn’t invent a new genre for Vladison — it dropped an old soul into the most worn-in templates on the internet and let the friction do the work.
The noodles that bleed
The product does a lot of the storytelling on its own. Add water and the broth goes blood-red, which is about as on-brief for Halloween as a cup of noodles can get.
Priscila Stanton, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Nissin Foods, sees the transformation as the hook. “The blood-red transformation and bold hot garlic flavor turn an everyday meal into a memorable Halloween experience,” Stanton said.
The idea: if it’s good enough to make a vampire risk the garlic, it’s probably good enough for you.
40 pieces of content and a Substack, naturally
The scale is what turns a funny character into a full campaign. Cornett built several :15 TikTok spots and more than 40 pieces of original social content, giving Vladison enough runway to develop a running storyline instead of a one-off gag.
There’s also a Substack page. Because if you’ve been brooding for 300 years, you probably have some long-form thoughts.
Who doesn’t want a Cup Noodles casket?
The campaign gets deader through a partnership with Titan Casket. Fans can win Vladison’s custom, limited-edition Cup Noodles casket by guessing how many cups of noodles are piled inside.
Don’t win? The casket is also available to buy through Titan Casket. It may be the only coffin on the market that doubles as a pantry.
Follow the undead
Vladison’s influencer journey is running now across Cup Noodles’ social channels. A few highlights so far:
Three hundred years is a long time to wait for a sponsor. Vladison picked a good one.
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