This week: Pot Noodle

With their long hair, awful cooking and joie de vivre, university students can be annoying. But the introduction of #163;9,000-a-year fees has made us slightly more sympathetic towards school-leavers planning their next step. The party lifestyle is not so easy when you’re working most evenings, pulling pints behind a bar.

But the fact that our latest batch of school-leavers are set to be the most cash-strapped ever doesn’t mean that they should be exploited by massive corporations. TES was left with a bad taste in its mouth after the announcement that Pot Noodle is to offer a “scholarship” that pays for one year’s tuition fees.

Not bad, you might think, until you learn that the lucky scholar will have to lead an entirely Pot Noodle-branded lifestyle to earn the cash. Everything from their clothes to their bedsheets, bus-pass holder and even condoms will feature the branding of Unilever’s snack. And any spare time that this “supreme brand ambassador” might have will be spent leading on-campus activities promoting the instant foodstuff.

Pot Noodle insists that this will turn their scholar into a “legend” among their peers. TES, however, is unconvinced.

So, Pot Noodle, it’s off to the naughty step with you, for probably spoiling - if subsidising - a young innocent’s university life.