In the moment of anticipation after your instant yakisoba packet has finished cooking, and you've poured the excess water out, you likely never considered yourself to be a monster as you unceremoniously ripped away the lid ready to chow down, but you just might be.

At least, a fictional world proposed by Japanese instant noodle maker Nissin would have you consider the possibility. The company recently conducted a survey of customers who eat instant yakisoba, particularly their popular U.F.O. brand, that revealed 90% of those questioned (500 men and women) experienced cabbage stuck to the lid of their noodles, which they threw away without eating. Based on sales volume, Nissin estimates that 4.17 tons of cabbage are wasted in a year due to this behavior. Fortunately, they've tapped into a popular "pay it forward" trend in Japan as well as the cuteness of cats to teach us to save cabbage from such a cruel fate.

A couple of years ago, a trend called "neko-panpan" (猫バンバン), or "Knock Knock Cats", caught on in Japan. The idea was, during cold weather, to knock (pan-pan is the sound for this in Japanese) on the hood of your car before entering to make sure a cat wasn't in your engine seeking warmth and shelter. Following in those pawsteps, Nissin is promoting the act of "Kyaba-panpan" (キャベバンバン) or "Knock Knock Cabbage"--kindly knocking on the lid of your yakisoba cup to make sure no cabbage is wasted. Nissin says they've done this for "a society where humans and cabbage can live in peace".

Perhaps this video will make the comparison seem more natural!

It may seem silly to imagine cabbage rolling around your house, playing with string and being terrified of cucumbers, but if it helps you stop wasting veggies, consider it another bizarrely successful campaign from Nissin.