MullenLowe - Wagamama - From bowl to soul
Together with Passion Animation Studios, MullenLowe Group UK has launched a new illustrated ad campaign for pan-Asian restaurant chain, wagamama, entitled Bowl to Soul. Drawing on wagamama’s association with Japanese food, we created an anime-style animation for the ad in partnership with Danish anime director Mads Broni and Passion Animation Studios.
Bowl to Soul was inspired by wagamama’s founding philosophy that food doesn’t just feed our belly, it nourishes our soul. The ad illustrates this philosophy by showing the restorative sensation of eating wagamama food. After tasting her first bite, the protagonist tumbles into a magical land filled with flowing rivers of ramen, undulating coriander fields and exploding fireworks of spice.
The campaign aims to appeal to new customers who may not have enjoyed wagamama food before by creating a distinctive campaign that cuts through to new diners by focusing on the feeling inspired by the food, not just the food itself.
The anime-inspired ad was created through a combination of hand-drawn and computer illustrated artwork. MullenLowe and Passion Animation Studios relished the job of bringing the delicious, soul feeding feeling of wagamama food into beautifully animated life.
The film brings together a broad range of modern, diverse references and characters, with each frame existing as a unique illustration inspired by anime art. Aiming to embody the idea of ‘kaizen’, Director Mads Broni has taken inspiration from his love of anime and transformed it into something new and unique for wagamama.
We worked closely with the music supervisor (Thirty Two Music) and the artist Invisible Minds to create a bespoke version of the track, recording new instruments and creating detailed arrangements to fit films.
