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Memes

The Pop Politics of Pop Mie (and Other Instant Noodle Brands)

Facebook groups combining popular instant noodle brands with political parties are our favorite thing this week.
Illustration by Dini Lestari

The next time a confused friend asks you to explain Indonesia's incredibly complicated political scene, circa 2018, just start talking to them about instant noodles. That's right. Instant noodles.

Satirical Facebook shitposting pages like Partai Kehaqiqian Indomie (PKIn) and Front Pembela Income (FPIn) are translating the complexities of Indonesia's ideological extremes via meme culture with ridiculously combative posts and fake coalitions that would never happen in real life through fan pages devoted to rival instant noodle brands.

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That's how you get a fan page backing Indomie that greets fellow posters as "comrades," and references a long-banned communist party that is still insanely controversial today, the PKI. And, because this is Indonesia and there are few names worse being called than a communist, the page PKIn doesn't explicitly push leftist ideologies.

“I wouldn’t say we’re leftist since I’m afraid of the law,” the anonymous admin told me over Facebook chat. “We only make sarcastic jokes that have ‘leftist’ tone.”

It's also how a fan page for lefty Indomie lovers found itself in a weird coalition with a fan page for right wing Islamist lovers of Indomie, the Front Pembela Income (FPIn). The two pages cross-post and bond over their shared love of Indomie brand instant noodles (and probably little else), while both of them attack Mie Sedap lovers who rally behind a name (MieSedaap Cyber Army or MCA) that sounds suspiciously similar to a fake news syndicate recently busted by the police.

“You can say that this fan page is a satirical take on a group but it’s nothing more, and certainly is not a form of hate speech,” one of the admins of MCA told me.

Then, way out there in the far radical right, you've got the team behind Indofood Sarimi Isidua State (ISIS) who are trying to establish something called the Khilandofood. The ISIS page claimed that they need to form a new instant noodle caliphate because PKIn and FPIn pages have deviated the true teachings of instant noodles, by incorporating other, non-noodle, carbs into the meals.

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“Our true belief is that we can’t eat instant noodle with rice,” an admin for ISIS the parody page told me. "The best way to eat it is without any toppings at all. FPIn and PKIn practice capitalism and liberalism because they claim their organization as the best ones. They can’t be forgiven, especially by us who want to enforce the beliefs of Indofood Sarimi.”

And all of this isn't even touching on the political beliefs of Hizbut Popmie Indonesia (HPI), named after the banned Islamist organization, and Lembaga Persatuan Bakmie Bersatu or PBB, a group that acts as the United Nations and enforces its own type of instant noodle diplomacy. (PBB is the Indonesian acronym of the UN)

“I’m trying to keep up with real-world politics, even though our opponent seems to take a different direction," an ISIS admin told me. "For example, FPIn formed a coalition with PKIn. And FPIn is hostile toward MCA. But, so far, the path of the parody still follows the real world politics, even though the conflicts have nothing to do with the actual organizations.”

A lot of these pages are only months old, and in another few months they might already be passé, but right now they're an endless entertaining play on Indonesia's rival political parties and mass organizations (ormas). But, as one admin explained, it's all also really about instant noodles. Basically, no one should be taking any of this seriously.

“I need to stress that this page has nothing to do with politics and other organizations," the FPIn admin told me. "This page is purely created to unite Indomie lovers and show off some fresh humor.”

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Where did all of this come from? The admins explained to me that Indonesians' devotion to specific instant noodle brands is analogous to the way we all think about political parties and ormas.

“We always argue which instant noodle is the best,” the ISIS admin explained. “This happens on the political scene as well. Politicians want to be the best. And they are so crazy about political power that it makes them forget their key political objectives.

"That’s why we made political parody accounts using instant noodles. The made-up conflicts on our Facebook pages are not important, but we are using this to show people that Indonesian political conflicts are not important as well. They just waste our time and energy.”

There are few things closer to the heart of Indonesian pop culture than instant noodles, especially Indomie, explained Hikmat Darmawan, a pop culture expert. Indonesians praise Indomie like it's a cultural force, a cuisine that unites people regardless of their class, ethnicity, religion, or political views.

“It was only successful branding at first, but now it’s developed into its own culture,” Hikmat told me. “Now we can understand aspects of life using instant noodles as an analogy."

Tie this in with our love of fast-changing meme culture and the toxicity of our political landscape today, and you end up with an environment ripe for this kind of satire, Hikmat explained. But, oddly enough, in an attempt to distance ourselves from these political fights, some people have created instant noodle fan pages that mirror the battles, just in a more absurd venue.

Maybe that's the point? Maybe all of these pages are telling us that regardless of how exhausting politics may be, we can't ever escape its hold on our lives?

“Facebook pages of political memes show that we’re fed up with biased political scene in Indonesia, but it's had no real impact yet,” Hikmat said. “Using social media as a form of escapism is our opportunity to release ourselves from all this political tension.”