Cup Noodle? No Border? What?

If you’ve watched Japanese TV quite a big in the last 6 months, you are probably familiar with the “No Border” commercials that Cup Noodle put out. I must admit, I enjoy the commercials, perhaps because of the song that plays in them and the peaceful images displayed in them. However, when the commercial finally announces itself as a Cup Noodle commercial, I can’t help but this “WTF does this have to do with instant noodles?”
This Commercial is one of the first “No Border” commercials I saw. When I finished watching it, I couldn’t help but think “What do smiling muslim children have to do with cup noodle?”

I can see more of a link to Instant noodles in this one. It appears that this cosmonaut is eating them on a space station.(Edit: Nissin paid a great deal to the Russian space agency for this commercial to be filmed on the ISS) Same song, and its pretty cool , I guess.(You can also watch it here)

Here are the older, original “No Border” Commercials:

1. Red Square Commercial: they didn’t want freedom, they just wanted instant noodle cups.

2. No Border No. 3 : Cups of instant noodles are used as barriers between peopel in war-torn european countries.

3. No Border No.4 : No Instant Noodles, just a burned out tank.

The commercials have little or nothing to do with instant noodles. Yet they burn themselves into my mind. Help.