The portal, created by AKQA, asks users to create short films in response to a monthly challenge issued by Pot Noodle. Everyone who uploads a film will receive a case of Pot Noodle; the clip that generates the most views during a four-week period will earn its creator a Sony PlayStation 3 games console.
The first challenge calls upon users to upload films illustrating the strangest place they have eaten a Pot Noodle. Early entrants include Adrian, eating a Pot Noodle on a playground roundabout, Ben, bouncing on a trampoline, John, in the shower, and Dan, who eats the snack in the window of a London Austin Reed store.
Unilever plans to extend the reach of the network by launching it on Facebook, to tap into the growing popularity of the social-networking site, which attracted more than 3m unique users in May.
The FMCG giant also plans to promote the portal in partnership with The Sun Online. The tie-up will see the best content from PNN showcased to the 2m readers of the national newspaper's website.
In April, Unilever was forced to recall some single-pack variants of Pot Noodle from retailers after quality assurance tests revealed that a manufacturing flaw had weakened some of the containers, making them prone to cracks that could let boiling water leak out.
The brand is also facing increased competition with April's launch of a range of instant pot snacks from Heinz. Heinz is promoting the Big Eat line as a healthy snack that contains no artificial preservatives, colours or flavours.
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