And Now, a Word from Our Competitor

We were recently surprised to see that one of our chief competitors (whose name shall remain unmentioned for obvious reasons) was featured on the Ellen DeGeneres Show — with none other than Jennifer Aniston as celebrity pitchman. At first we were jealous because it looked like terrific pr. But given how lame, stupid, silly, superficial — and did we say, stupid? — the whole segment was, our envy morphed into relief.

Now don’t get us wrong. We happen to think that the competition has a decent-enough product: nice graphics, impressive retail distribution, and questions that aren’t half-bad. (Sometimes, we can’t help wondering whether Noodle Talk, which has been on and off the market since 1993, has been ripped off or plagiarized, but that’s another story altogether.) Nevertheless, in our totally unbiased judgement, Noodle Talk questions are more entertaining, imaginative, provocative, and quirkier than theirs. It’s also a much better bargain: customers get far more questions while paying less, even though Noodle Talk is printed and assembled in the U.S. of A., not overseas.

Noodle Talk ♥ TASK

With Valentine’s Day coming up soon, we opened our January Noodle Talk session at TASK (the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen) with a question about what the French call “amour”: “Suppose that love was not an emotion, but an actual substance, object, or imaginary place. Please describe its physical characteristics or scenic features.”

The answers ranged from the surprisingly mundane to expansive and poetic, and nearly all came with a warning:

It’s like a sponge full of holes that soaks up but also leaks.

It’s a rag that wipes things away.

It’s like a fire that keeps you warm but will burn you too.

It’s a brilliant, blinding light that’s brighter than the sun.

It’s like being on top of a mountain with a 360° unlimited view that overwhelms you. You don’t control it; it controls you. You do things that are stupid because you love that person even if they don’t love you as much.

As for metaphorical places, one participant likened it to paradise (specifically, Paris with its Eiffel Tower) while another saw a close resemblance to Camden (nice but rough).

Last Words

We recently spoke to a customer whose introduction to Noodle Talk came at a family gathering more than 15 years ago. Among those present was a father who  didn’t have long to live, and whose illness made him irascible and difficult to be with. In response to a Noodle Talk question, his eyes teared up as he mentioned  how proud he was of his kids. It was the first time his children had seen him cry and  the words they most remember him by.

This is one of the reasons we do Noodle Talk.