• by Teresa Buyikian , Yesterday

Noodles & Company’s latest campaign for the return of it Steak Stroganoff uses AI to bring customer comments to “life.”

The campaign was created with Fortnight Collective.

The :30 hero ad, seen here, opens on product shots of the Stroganoff when a voiceover says, “There are people that love Noodles & Company’s Steak Stroganoff so much that when it was taken off the menu, they got dramatic about it.”

The ad then cuts to AI-created dramatizations of the customer comments asking for the return of the dish, such as a shipwrecked woman on a life raft shouting “Bring back Steak Stroganoff!” An astronaut in space says, “This is your message from the universe telling you to bring back Steak Stroganoff!” Lastly, a drenched man standing in a torrential downpour also exclaims “Bring back Steak Stroganoff NOW!”

A super reads, “DrAImatic Reenactment.”

“Steak Stroganoff fans did more than ask for its return; they showed us how deeply this dish is woven into their rituals, memories and cravings, and we listened,” Stacy Moss, vice president of marketing at Noodles & Company told Marketing Daily. “We transformed real fan submissions into playful, over-the-top 'drAImatic reenactments,' using AI as a creative tool, guided by human insight, to bring their words and emotions to life and celebrate the fandom behind this iconic dish.”

The campaign runs on CTV, YouTube, YouTube Shorts, Meta and TikTok.

“We’re living in the golden age of performative emotion,” said Andy Nathan, CEO, Fortnight Collective, in a release.  “From social feeds to reality shows, feelings are a new form of currency: outrage, obsession, heartbreak. The bigger the reaction, the bigger the reach. And no one is more dramatic—in the best way—than Steak Stroganoff superfans.”