Taking the Slow Route
Some of you have been asking for details on the new job…Notes on Teaching post coming soon!
Some of you have been asking for details on the new job…Notes on Teaching post coming soon!
For all the misreadings of the title that undoubtedly brought many of you to this post(!), “Hot 6iX” (핫식스) is just a simple energy drink really, albeit a deliberate attempt by Lotte Chilsung (롯데칠성음료) to produce a Korean equivalent of Red Bull for the domestic market. And ultimately to belatedly tap into the global market too, currently worth 1.4 billion dollars and growing 20% every year despite the recession.
An avid drinker of “V” back when I lived in New Zealand, I think it’s about time. Much more interesting than the drink itself though, are what the 4 advertisements produced so far tell us about how quickly the Korean media is changing, and especially how men and women are presented therein. With apologies for giving the game away somewhat with the opening image, here are the first 3 in one combined video:
And the last one by itself:
Although my wife and I laughed at the joke in the first one too, I confess it was only the 2 featuring women that I saw on television before rushing to my computer to write about them (call it an occupational hazard), for they confirmed a strong and enduring division in the marketing of health, energy, and/or sports drinks whereby those aimed at men tend to promote the idea that the drink will give them extra energy for work, exercise, or even sex, but those at women that it will simply help them to lose weight. A phenomenon by no means confined only to Korea, you can imagine my surprise then, when I learned of those 6iX advertisements featuring men also.
And although it sounds rather awkward, my delight too. For with the proviso that the objectification of men can be just as problematic as that of women, and its occurrence in the media in numbers comparable to that of women a bizarre and somewhat unlikely “solution” for the latter, I’d like to throw open for discussion the notion that any objections any of you may have – or imagine that others may have – to those first 2 advertisements are somewhat mollified by having advertisements featuring men also. Or alternatively is that just me, and/or are the advertisements with women not all that objectionable in the first place?
Meanwhile, expect to see many more advertisements like them in coming months: the 4 above all have random numbers assigned to them, much like what were ultimately 30 or so in this “Confessions of 20-somethings” (스무살의 고백) advertising series of Maxwell House (맥스웰하우스) that started last year (see #2 here). And on a final note, it’s difficult to believe that advertisements objectifying men like this only really started in earnest last year, yes?
(For all posts in the Korean Sociological Images series, see here)
롯데칠성음료 |
This one time, at this one place, I have been victorious!
My son frequently asks me, while we are laying down and just before we sleep, if I have locked the door.
Today, I called him over, turned on the light by the door, and locked the door and set the chain while he watched. He asked me, “No bad guys can get in now?”
…
It wasn’t an easy battle, it wasn’t a predictable win. This was a tough one. I wanted to mention the windows, the hinge-blots, the verandah.
I said, “Right, no bad guys can get in.”
Through some of the 10 Magazine back channels (Thanks Ku Lee at MLA!) we are now able to confirm that the brand new 3-floor Taco Bell in Itaewon will be likely be opening sometime in May assuming no construction delays. (So much for the article we previously linked to saying it would open in March.) Stephen Row of Taco Bell Korea put to rest rumors that they are also opening a Yeoksam location, saying, “We’re just focused on having a successful opening for our Itaewon location right now.” We’re guessing from the number of times this article has been shared on Facebook that they’re going to have a very successful opening. [emphasis mine]For what it's worth, it's in a prime location to find foreigners - perhaps 10 meters from the Itaewon subway station intersection, and quite easy to spot. It'll be a walk for the Haebongchon crowd, but they'll be closer than most other living souls will be.We’ll keep in touch with Taco Bell Korea and bring you the exact opening date as soon as it’s confirmed.
Source: Busan Mike
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Korean foods from different regions compete for fame and glory on the international stage. Which cuisine will reign supreme?Sounds like lots of fun from The Food Guy from 10 Magazine itself. Give it a look - in a new window, of course.Here’s how it works.
It all starts at midnight Seoul Time on March 14th. Every day pairs of foods from the regions of Seoul-Gyeonggi, Northern, Southern and Central will vie for your votes. Each region has sixteen foods. The winners of each region will square off in the semi-finals and finals. By the end of March, we will award a lucky Korean food the title of 2010 World Champion.
I am happy to be in a city with some good pools. Well, I hope they are good pools. Maybe one or two?
The 2002 Asiad Games pool complex is plenty big enough and includes two fifty metre pools that look like they could be fast.Well, fast if they were filled. I think at full volume, this pool would be two metres deep. It has been partially drained to 1.3 metres or so. I was impressed that the water was clear; if it were designed to be two metres deep, the intake and return might be in the wrong places. Most pools carry like 90% of their dirt on the surface. Hair, flakes of skin, compounds released in sweat and more normally ends up in the surface layer. Most pools have drains right at the surface to collect that water for filtering. With the water level so low, I am not sure how it is filtered and kept clean. Still, it smelled and looked clean and I enjoy 50 metre pools so I will return. It is curious, though.
Get rid of your glasses!
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