That's an ad on your egg

Now, advertising stickers touting chicken ramen instant noodles will be stuck on the shells of ordinary eggs in Japan.

Which came first -- the chicken or the ad? In a month-long campaign that began in Japan on Thursday, 1.8-cm (0.8-inch) advertising stickers touting chicken ramen instant noodles will be stuck on the shells of ordinary eggs, sold in packs of 10.

"The chance of people taking the ads directly into their hands is very high this way," said Takako Maruyama, a spokeswoman at public relations firm Sunny Side Up.

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Plans are to sell some 300,000 packs by the end of the month at certain branches of retailer Daiei Inc.

Although cost-per-egg figures are not available, she said the total cost for the campaign, whose sponsor is Nissin Food Products Co., will run some 7 million to 8 million yen (29,000 pounds-34,000 pounds).

The ad campaign, inspired by similar advertising in the United States, is the first of its kind in Japan, said to be the world's largest per capita consumer of eggs.