Editing Pot Noodle (section)

==Controversies==
The Pot Noodle brand has been involved in a number of controversial advertising campaigns.

In 1993, the ''[[Computer Graphic (advertisement)|Computer Graphic]]'' advertisement was banned after reports it caused [[epileptic fit]]s in viewers.<ref name="Erlichman">{{cite journal |last1=Erlichman |first1=James |title=Flashing TV pot noodle advert banned after epilepsy attacks |journal=The Guardian |date=21 April 1993 |page=5}}</ref>

In January 2002, Irish politician [[Michael Ring]] [[Teachta Dála|TD]], branded a Pot Noodle animated television advertisement as glorifying child neglect and demanded it be banned. The advertisement featured a young boy whose tongue was stuck to a frozen climbing frame. A supervisor went to get a sponge and boil a kettle of water to help free the child's tongue but was distracted and instead used the hot water to make a Pot Noodle. Ring said "the manufacturers have a responsibility to the public not to encourage youngsters to lick frozen pipes or suggest that adults should neglect a suffering child".<ref>{{Cite news |date=27 January 2002 |title=TD potty over 'child neglecting promoting' ad |page=25 |work=[[Sunday World]] |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002323/20020127/083/0025 |url-access=subscription |access-date=31 March 2023 }}</ref>      

In August 2002, a series of television adverts that described Pot Noodle as "the slag of all snacks" was withdrawn after complaints to the [[Independent Television Commission]].<ref>{{cite web |author=Jennifer Whitehead |url=http://www.brandrepublic.com/news/155509/pot-noodle-banned-calling-itself-slag-snacks/ |title=Pot Noodle banned from calling itself the "slag of all snacks" |publisher=Brand Republic |access-date=2015-12-11 |archive-date=2011-05-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110501020642/http://www.brandrepublic.com/news/155509/Pot-Noodle-banned-calling-itself-slag-snacks/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2202298.stm |title=UK &#124; Pot Noodle advert 'caused offence' |publisher=BBC News |date=2002-08-19 |access-date=2015-12-11 |archive-date=2017-08-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170827124425/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2202298.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> The related poster campaign, revolving around the "Hot Noodle" range with a tagline of "hurt me, you slag" was withdrawn by Unilever after the [[Advertising Standards Authority (United Kingdom)|Advertising Standards Authority]] (ASA) upheld complaints that "the tone could be interpreted as condoning violence".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2220108.stm |title=UK &#124; 'Irresponsible' Pot Noodle ad withdrawn |publisher=BBC News |date=2002-08-28 |access-date=2015-12-11 |archive-date=2009-04-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090421134106/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2220108.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>

In May 2005, the Advertising Standards Authority received 620 complaints, about a series of advertisements featuring a man with a large brass [[Horn (instrument)|horn]] in his trousers,<ref>{{Cite news|title = Pot Noodle's 'horn' ad off the hook|url = https://www.theguardian.com/media/2005/may/18/advertising.uknews1|newspaper = The Guardian|date = 2005-05-18|access-date = 2016-01-14|issn = 0261-3077|language = en-GB|first1 = Stephen|last1 = Brook|first2 = advertising|last2 = correspondent|archive-date = 2019-04-13|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190413184948/https://www.theguardian.com/media/2005/may/18/advertising.uknews1|url-status = live}}</ref> with the suggestive slogan "Have you got the Pot Noodle horn?" Some of the complaints described them as "tasteless and offensive." The three advertisements had been already approved for restricted times, primarily after the 9:00pm watershed. The ASA did not uphold the complaints. While it accepted the campaign was "a little crude," they deemed it harmless and said that "the timing restriction was appropriate."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.asa.org.uk/~/media/Files/ASA/Old%20Broadcast%20rulings/Broadcast_report_18_May_05.ashx|publisher=Advertising Standards Authority|title=Broadcast Report|date=18 May 2005|access-date=3 March 2012}}{{dead link|date=August 2014}}</ref>

In a September 2006 article headed "Teach Pot Noodle teens to cook" in Dublin's [[Sunday Independent (Ireland)|''Sunday Independent'']] newspaper, Cavan chef [[Neven Maguire|Nevin Maguire]] on a recent school visit was shocked "to see 60 per cent of [[Leaving Certificate (Ireland)|Leaving Cert]] students had Pot Noodle for their lunch". Maguire, along with other celebrity chefs called for compulsory cookery lessons in Ireland's schools for a "new generation that thinks 'food comes in a box'".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bradley |first=Lara |date=24 September 2006 |title=Teach Pot Noodle teens to cook |page=8 |work=[[Sunday Independent (Ireland)|Sunday Independent]] |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002324/20060924/091/0008 |url-access=subscription |access-date=31 March 2023 }}</ref>