Resident Evil Requiem’s Umbrella Corp Escalates Fake Lawsuit Against the Real-Life Nissin Noodles — Complete With Over-the-Top Ad Campaign

In the run-up to Resident Evil Requiem’s release this week, the official Japanese X account for Resident Evil has come up with a quirky way to promote the game. On Tuesday, it made a joke post that Resident Evil’s nefarious pharmaceutical company Umbrella Corp. was filing a lawsuit against the real-life Nissin Noodles over their similarity to Umbrella Noodles.

Umbrella Noodles have appeared in several Resident Evil games. They were an item in 2003’s Resident Evil Outbreak and, more recently, showed up on posters around Raccoon City in the Resident Evil 3 remake. Umbrella Noodles’ packaging is a spoof on the red and white lettering of Nissin’s Cup Noodles, a cheeky Easter Egg for players who noticed. Real-life Japanese food company Nissin was founded by instant noodle inventor Momofuku Ando in 1948. After putting the world’s first instant ramen on the market in 1958, Nissin has been selling their Cup Noodles ever since 1971.

However, on February 24, Resident Evil’s official X account posted an announcement that Umbrella Corp. had submitted a complaint to the Raccoon City District Court, alleging that Nissin’s noodles significantly infringe upon Umbrella Corp.’s intellectual property rights regarding Umbrella Noodles. It’s worth noting that even if Umbrella Corp. were a real company, it set up shop in 1968 with an initial focus on biological weaponry, meaning that it’s unlikely it developed Umbrella Noodles before Nissin’s offering!

However, if there’s one thing S.T.A.R.S members can attest to, it’s that Umbrella Corp. does not give up easily. The official Japanese Resident Evil account then escalated the drama by posting a video featuring an Umbrella Corp. scientist apologizing to those who accidentally purchased “imposer” Nissin Noodles instead of Umbrella Noodles, and explaining how Nissin “copied” the recipe.

As evidence, they allege that they were able to recreate Umbrella Noodles from Nissin Cup Noodles with a 99.9% success rate, simply by adding entrails and a herby, mostly basil-based sauce to Nissin’s product (although it made Umbrella employees who ate it a little itchy… probably best not to ask where those entrails are from). Sharing the video, Nissin clapped back with, “However you look at it, you’re the ones doing the copying!”

Adding even more hot water to the situation, Japanese shoppertainment company Yume Group (who last week released a bizarre ultra-limited edition of Resident Evil Requiem bundled with exercise equipment, which sold out almost instantly), launched the over-the-top Umbrella Noodles/Resident Evil Requiem ad below. A terrified Grace Ashcroft comes across the Japanese infomercial duo casually munching on and singing the praises of Umbrella Noodles (the ad notes that Umbrella Noodles are not a real product, although Resident Evil Requiem is a real game).

Soon after, the official account for Nissin Cup Noodles reacted, sharing the ad with a, “What the hell is this?”

The fake lawsuit and sudden focus on Umbrella Noodles sparked much amusement from Japanese-speaking commenters. “No way can Umbrella beat Nissin. You think a Tyrant can stop a cheese alien?” joked one fan, referencing the mascot that sometimes appears in Nissin Cup Noodle commercials (like this one from 2001). “Umbrella Noodles are delicious, yeah? Although a huge eye’ll appear on your shoulder the day after you eat them,” quipped another.

Given all this sudden focus on Umbrella Noodles, it seems likely that they will pop up in Resident Evil Requiem too. Perhaps Leon and Grace will be able to find Umbrella Noodles in Resident Evil Requiem and chow down on them as they explore the ruins of Raccoon City.

We’ve got plenty more on Resident Evil Requiem, including how long Resident Evil Requiem takes to beat, and we’ve tracked Resident Evil Requiem’s global release times.

“Like the result of an experiment conducted in an underground Umbrella Corporation lab, Resident Evil Requiem successfully splices two separate strains of survival horror together into the one highly infectious new mutation,” IGN wrote in our full Resident Evil Requiem review, which returned a 9/10 score.

Verity Townsend is a Japan-based freelance writer who previously served as editor, contributor and translator for the game news site Automaton West. She has also written about Japanese culture and movies for various publications.