This Lovable Cowboy Selling Ramen Is the Ad Star 2020 Needed [Video]

And what he wants for dinner is … ramen?

Welcome to the first long-form ad for San Francisco-based startup Ramen Hero, which promises “the best ramen west of the Mitsuishi” and features a rancher who’s stereotypical in nearly every way (Stetson, spurs, chaps and a charming Southern drawl).

The cheeky spot, from branding studio Iyashi, might be the first introduction that many consumers have to Ramen Hero. But the direct-to-consumer brand, launched via Kickstarter in 2018 by CEO-founder Hiro Hasegawa, has buyers all over the country for its meal kits and has seen a 350% leap in its business year to date compared to 2019, execs say.

For its first major advertising campaign, which will air across digital and social media, Ramen Hero dusts off a whole mess of Western cliches—expansive …