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Gendered Tea-drink Advertising in South Korea (Updated)


Lee Hyori Black Bean Tea( Source )

Granted, Marxism might not be the first thing one thinks of when one sees Lee Hyori’s navel. But as it turns out, it’s a perfect fit.

If you’ll bear with me for a moment, once a market is saturated, I learned at university in New Zealand, there is a inherent tendency for a company’s rate of profit to fall. But this can be offset by re-marketing and/or making new varieties of the original product, and accordingly my lecturer posited the plethora of varieties of Coca-Cola available in the U.S. as a reflection of the greater capitalistic development of its economy (read: saturation of its domestic market) compared to New Zealand’s, which then only had two. Indeed, advertising culture in New Zealand in the late-1990s, he suggested, was only akin to that of the US in the 1950s in its scale and intensity, no matter how brash and “American” New Zealanders regarded it.

It comes as a great surprise then, that even in the U.S. sports drinks are still “wildly skewed towards men”, and only within the last couple of years were drinks developed that took into account their (usually) lower-intensity exercise and dislike of the salty, high-calorie drinks available.

But one seriously wonders if equivalents will ever be available for Korean women. As the following summary of this 2006 study explains:

Diet advertisements in Korean magazines appear to promote more passive dieting methods (e.g., diet pills, aroma therapy, diet crème, or diet drinks) than active dieting methods (e.g., exercise). Results further indicated that women may be misled to believe that dieting is simple, easy, quick, and effective without pain, if they consume the advertised product. This study suggests that there is an urgent need to establish government regulations or policies about diet products and their claims in Korea. Magazine publishers also need to recognize their role in societal well-being and accept some responsibility for advertisements in their magazines.

Korean Diet AdvertismentNaturally, I’ve discussed that study a great deal on the blog (see here for all the links), and it is primarily in that context that I want to examine the burgeoning Korean tea-drink market. But the economics of the industry still matter of course, and so this post is my translation of an article on the subject from the August 2008 edition of IM AD (아이엠애드; Korea’s only remaining advertising magazine), to be used as a resource for that analysis at a later date (or your own).

It’s rather long, so I’ve decided to provide each part in stages over the next week to give readers a better chance to digest them (particularly those interested in the original Korean). As you read this then, I will have just posted part two of three!

블랙빈테라티의 본격 웰빙 마케팅

Full-scale Black Bean Tea Well-being Marketing

음료 시장에서 탄산음료는 서서히 김이 빠지고, 과즙음료는 단맛을 잃었다. 차음료는 백 번을 우려도 남을 만큼 꾸준한 성장을 기록하고 있다. 또 동아오츠카의 블랙빈테라티는 시장에서 검은콩 음료를 새로운 트렌드로 만들어냈다. 그리고 이번에 진행한 온라인 캠페인은 신선한 ‘광고 테라피’라고 불러도 좋다.

While the market for carbonated drinks is slowly losing its fizz over time, and that for fruit drinks is losing its sweetness, the market for tea drinks remains as hot as the first time they are brewed, with the entrance of Donga-Otsuka’s ‘Black Bean Terra’ drink in particular creating a whole new trend. You could call the accompanying online advertisement campaign fresh “Advertisement Therapy” too.

음료 시장의 트랜드 ‘윌빙 + 디이어트’

Drink Market Trends of  “Well-being and Diet”

최근 한국의 음료 시장에는 몇 년 전부터 지속되고 있는 웰빙 트렌드에 맞춰 새로운 브랜드가 끊임없이 등장하고 있다. 소비자의 건강 증시 풍조에 따라 최근 3년간 탄산음료 시장은 6-7%대의 마이너스 성장늘 기록했다. 탄산음료는 2006년 월드컵 특수 등으로 반짝 성장률을 보였지만, 플레이버 음료 및 유성 탄산 브랜드의 매출이 급격히 줄어들면서 현재까지 하향 곡선을 그리고 있다. 과즙음료 또한 2006년 초에 출시된 ‘미녀는 석규를 촣아해’가 인기를 끈 것을 제외하면 대부분 주스 브랜드가 부진에 빠졌다.

Since the beginning of the well-being trend several years ago, new brands taking advantage of it haven’t stopped appearing. In accordance with consumers’ new focus on their health, the consumption of carbonated drinks has decreased 6-7% since 2006, although there was a brief spike in consumption during the 2006 World Cup. The consumption of flavored drinks and milky drinks has shown definite decreases too, and with the exception of the “미녀는 석규를 촣아해” drink popular at the beginning of 2006, the consumption of fruit juice drinks has stagnated.

Black Bean Thera Tea이처럼 대부분의 탄산/과즙음료가 마이너스 곡선을 그렸던 반면, 차 음료는 시장에서 지속적으로 성장하면서 지난해에도 전년 대비 30%에 달하는 신장세를 기록했다. 2000년을 전후로 녹차 제품은 차 음료 시장을 주도하고 있었다. 지나치게 달거나 자극적인 탄산/과즙 음료에 비해 담백한 맛을 지닌 녹차는 고정적인 소비자층을 형성하면서 2004년 당시 차음료 시장의 80%를 차지할 만큼 인기가 높았다. 하지만 녹차가 가진 떫은 맛은 10~20대 소비자들에게 어필하는 데 한계가 있었다. 또한 웰빙은 물론 다이어트와 미용에 관심이 많은 20대 여성이 시장의 핵심 소비자로 떠오르면서 맛과 성분을 개선한 혼합차를 선보이기 시작했다.

Like this, most carbonated and fruit juice drinks have a minus growth curve, but on the other hand the consumption of tea drinks grew by 30% in 2007. Green tea was the most popular tea drink around 2000. Compared to excessively sweet and stimulating carbonated and fruit juice drinks, consumers began to prefer plain green tea drinks and so a market was formed, comprising 80% of the tea-drink market by 2004. But green tea is very astringent, so it had limited appeal to consumers in their teens and 20s. Hence companies have started to develop new, more pleasant blended tea-drinks to be marketed to women in their 20s, who naturally have a lot of interest in dieting and their appearance.

처음 혼합차 시장에서 두각을 나타낸 것은 남양유업의 ‘몸이 가벼워지는 시간 17차’ 였다. 이후 광독제약이 ‘광동 옥수수수염차’를 내놓으면서 경챙은 가열됐고, 현재 옥수수수염 원료 제품만 30여 가지가 넘는다. 한 가지 눈에 띄는 점은 이들 제품의 공통적인 특징이 노화방지와 피부미용 효과가 있는 한약재를 비롯, L-카르티닌 등 지방 연소 기능이 있는 성분을 첨가해 젊은 여성들에게 폭발적인 호응을 얻고 있다는 사실이다. 또 각 업체들은 여성 연예인들 활용한 스타 마케팅에도 공을 들이고 있다. 이들은 전지현 (남양유업), 김태희 (광동제약)와 김아중 (해태음료) 등의 톱 모델을 자사 브랜드 이미지와 접목시켜 여성 소비자들의 구매욕구를 자극하고 있다.

Originally, Namyang’s “Make Your Body Lighter Time 17 Tea” stood out in the blended tea drink market. But a little later, an intense rivalry developed between that and with Gwangdong’s “Gwangdong Corn Cob Roots” drinks, and now there are as many as 30 products with that ingredient on the market. One noticeable point is that all these products contain both some traditional Korean medicine, which helps to prevent aging and maintain skin’s youthful appearance, and also L-Keratin, which helps to burn fat, both of which make these drinks have a very strong appeal to young women. Each company is putting a lot of effort into using famous stars to market their products, such as Jun Ji-hyun for Namyang, Kim Tae Hee for GwangDong, Kim Ah-joong for Haetai, and each hopes to have them and their images firmly associated with their brands by consumers.

독자적인 시장을 형성한 검은콩 음료

A Market for Black Bean Drinks Has Been Formed

외연의 확대는 여기서 그치지 않은다. 지난해부터는 곡물과 한약재 등을 섞은 혼합차 시장에서 검은콩이라는 단일 원료를 부각시킨 제품들이 출시되디 시작했다.

This market has not stopped expanding, and from last year, companies have started developing new blended tea drinks mixed with grains and/or Korean medicinal products. It was in this context that drinks with black beans as the sole ingredient were launched.

지난해 5월 해태음료는 검은콩을 ㅇ뤈료로 한 ‘차온 까만콩차(이하 까만 콩차)’를 선보였다. 한때 일화의 ‘햇살 가득한 까만콩차’가 브랜드명과 용기 디자인 흡사해 미투 (me too) 마케팅 논쟁이 일었을 정도로 검은콩 음료는 단기간에 시장에서 영역을 확장해나갔다.

Jun Ji-hyun Son Dam-bi Tea Advertisments( Source )

The market share of Black Bean drinks has increased rapidly, resulting in many cases of “me too marketing”. Haetai’s “Cha-eon Dark Black Bean Tea” (Dark Bean Tea) for instance, introduced last May, was quickly involved in heated competition with Ilhwa’s similar-sounding “Dark Bean Tea full of Sunshine,” which even had a similar design of bottle too.

까만콩차보다 한 달 앞서 동아오츠카가 론칭한 ‘블랙빈테라티’ 역시 블랙음료 시장을 빠르게 장악했다. 100% 검은콩을 우려냈음을 강조함과 동시에 차카테킨과 L-카르티닌을 함유한 제품 특징으로 기존차 음료의 핵심 타깃인 20 대 여성을 확보한다.

Donga-Otsuka’s “Black Bean Terra Tea” was launched one month before Dark Black Bean Tea, and also quickly established a foothold in the market. It is made entirely of the juices from crushed and squeezed black beans, and its catechin and L-keratin make it especially appealing to its core market of women in their twenties.

사실 무주공산과 다름없던 블랙음료 시장에서 결과적으로 ‘생존’과 ‘성공’을 동시에 달성한 브랜드는 까만콩차와 블랙빈테라티 뿐이라고 할 수 있다. 이 둘은 제품의 내외적인 측면에서 대동소이하면서도 명확한 차이를 보이며 경쟁하고 있다. 까만콩차가 국산 서리태만을 사용하는데 비해 블랙빈테라티 서리태와 서목태를 섞어 맛이 서로 다르다.

Actually, the black bean drink was entirely new, and so the only brands which came to survive and succeed were Dark Black Bean Tea and Black Bean Terra Tea. These two products are very similar, but do have some differences. Dark Black Bean Tea is made from Korean seoritae beans, which are blue inside, while Black Bean Terra Tea is made from seoritae beans and seomogtae (Rhynchosia Nulubilis) beans, and so they taste different.

Ji Hyun-woo Tea또 까만콩차와 영화배우 정우성과 지현우를 CF 모델로 선정해 고정 타깃인 여성뿐 아니라 차 음료시장에서 소외되다시피 했던 남성들을 아울렀던 반면, 블랙빈테라티는 이효리를 브랜드 모델로 선정해 젊은 여성층에게 제품 홍보와 마케팅을 집중시컸던 점 역시 차이를 봉ㄴ다. 물론 오프라인 여역을 토대로 한 무료 시음행사와 가종 이벤트 전략은 두 제품 외에 대부분의 음료 브랜드에서도 볼 수 있는 전통적인 프로모션 형태이다.

Also, Dark Black Bean Tea has used Jung Woo-sung and Ji Hyun-woo (right) in its commercials, indicating that its target consumers are not just women but also men who reject the notion that only women drink tea drinks. On the other hand, Black Bean Terra Tera has used Lee Hyori to market itself exclusively to young women. Of course, just like for other drinks, offline they are also used to market their products in various free-drinking events and so on (end).

보이는 라디오, 끌리는 캠페인

Visual Radio: A Campaign That Draws You In

Lee Hyori Black Bean Tea Online Campaign

( Source )

이번 블랙빈테라티의 온라인 캠페인 (블랙빈FM 이벤트)은 브랜드 론칭 1년여 만에 처음 진행된 것이다. 이전까지는 웹사이트 내에서의 자체 홍보 외에 TV CF와 오프라인 프로므션 위주로 마케팅을 실시했다. 온라인 캠페인을 담당했던 다츠커뮤니케이션의 허정 대리는 “블랙빈테라티의 경쟁 브랜드는 크게 차 음료와 검은콩 음료로 분류된다. 하지만 17차를 비롯한 대부분이 스타마케팅에 의지해 온라인에서는 이밴트와 제품 자체의 홍보에 주력했다면, 블락빈테라티 캠페인은 코어 타깃은 1929여성들이 즐길 수 있는 다양한 콘텐츠를 만들어 자연스럽게 브랜드 인지도를 높이는 것이 목적”이라고 설명했다.

While the Black Bean Terra Tea drink was launched over a year ago, “this Black Bean FM Event” was the first time it has had a big online campaign; previously, minor website promotions, television commercials, and offline promotions were the main methods of promoting the drink. As Heo-jeong, representative for Dartz Communications (in charge of the online campaign) explained, “Black Bean Thera Tea’s competing brands can be categorized into either tea-drinks or black-bean drinks. But while most (including 17 tea) concentrated their efforts on either star-marketing, online events, and promotions of the products itself, the aim of Black Bean Terra Tea’s campaign was to focus on more varied events, so as to better increase brand awareness among its core target of 19-29 year old women.”

실제로 블랙빈 FM이벤트는 이름에서 드러나듯 라디오 동영상과 CM송을 캠페인의 킬러 콘텐츠로 활용하고 있다. 보이는 라디오는 브랜드 모델인 이효리가 DJ로 출연해 미용과 패션, 다이트 등의 다양한 소재로 진행하는 형식으로 구성돼 있으며, 유저들은 라디오를 ‘시청’하면서 댓글을 등록할 수 있다. 때문에 TV광고 제작 당시에 이미 촬영됐었던 이 영상은 마치 사이트에서 실시간으로 유저들과 대화를 나누는 듯한 인상을 주기도 한다. 허정 대리는 “사이트의 커뮤니케션 콘셉트가 ‘젊은 여성들끼리 수다를 떠는것’이었기 때문에 그들의 주된 관심사를 이효리는 통해 전달함으로써 자연스럽게 브랜드와 모델레 대한 호감도가 증가할 수 있었다”고 말했다.

As is obvious from the name, the Black Bean FM Event’s killer content was the use of radio, videos, and advertising jingles, or a “visual radio.” In addition to model Lee Hyori performing as its DJ, it also consisted of information about various things such as beauty, fashion, and dieting (and so on), which users could register and leave comments about. As Heo-jeong explains, the choice of Lee Hyori as a model naturally encouraged discussion of these topics among young-women – the core of the site’s communication concept – and because of this, a Black Bean FM Event video that gives the impression of Lee Hyori interacting with the user was produced for the website in advance of the TV commercials. Thus, the strategy greatly increased the chances for brand recognition to rise amongst young women.

CM송을 활용한 ‘블랙빈테라티 CM송 콘테스트’ 이벤트 또한 눈에 띄는 부분이다. 최근 CM송을 활용한 이동통신사 광고가 화제를 모으고 있지만, 음료 광고에서는 보기 드문 사례이기 때문이다. 이미 TV 광고와 사이트의 인트로를 통해 CM의 원곡을 감상한 유저들은 이벤트 페이지에서 힙합과 R&B, 트로트 등 4가지 버전의 CM송을 모두 감상한 후 순위를 매긴다. 이벤트에 참여한 유저들은 추첨을 통해 경품을 지급받게 되며, 동영상을 다운로드 또는 스크랩해 미니홈피와 블로그 등에 등록한 경우 재차 경품 기회가 제공된다. 허 데리는 “블랙빈테라티의 CM송을 버전별로 반복 감상함으로써 소비자들에게 브랜드와 제품에 대한 긍정적인 이미지를 형성하게 된다”고 설명하며 “콘테스트 동영상의 다운로드/스크랩을 유도한 전략은 소비자들 스스로 웹사이트의 홍보는 물론 블랙빈 FM과 이벤트 내용을 바이럴하는 ‘MGM (Member Get Member, 일명 ‘권유마케팅’으로 불리며 고객을 통해 또 다른 신규 고객을 확보하는 마케팅 방법)’ 효과를 거둘 수 있었다”고 덧붙였다. 이외에도 지난 5월 1일부터 한달간 진행했던 ‘CF모델 까메오 이벤트’ 역시 소비자들의 적극적인 참여를 유도했다.

The “Black Bean Terra Tea Advertising Song Contest” event was also a prominent feature of the website. While using advertising jingles is common for advertisements on mobile phones, it is very rare for tea-drinks. But here, users who have had already heard the jingles used in Black Bean Terra Tea’s TV advertisements and website could listen to different versions of them in different music styles such as hip-hop, R&B, trot, and so on, and personally rank them. They could also enter into a lottery and win prizes, and increase the number the times they entered by downloading videos and posting them on their blogs and websites. As Heo-jeong explained, “through being able to listen to the various versions of the jingles, users acquired a positive image of the brand and the product” and ” the viral PR strategy of getting consumers themselves to download and post videos to their own websites, known as ‘MGM,’ (Member Get Member, also called ‘Persuasive Marketing,’ a method by which customers attract new customers themselves) was very effective.” Besides this, from May the 1st there was also a month-long ‘Commercial Model Cameo Event’ which similarly encouraged consumers to actively participate (end).

And the third and final part, which discusses cross-media marketing, will hopefully be up later this week. In the meantime, if this post has piqued your interest in gendered advertising in Korea, then you may also enjoy this post on the evolving images of women in soju advertisments.

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Posted in Korean Advertisements, Korean Men's Body Images, Korean Women's Body Images Tagged: 17차, Black Bean Therapy, Donga-Otsuka, 다이어트, 동아오츠카, 블랙빈테라티, 이효리, 차, Lee Hyori, Tea
  

 

UEE in Orange


UEE Heart Wallpaper Soju Cool( Source )

With apologies to those readers that have come to expect more serious posts on this blog, but I thought this was an exceptionally cute picture of UEE (유이)!

Yes, even I need to let my hair down on occasion. And of course I’m well aware that it’s part and parcel of Lotte’s marketing of its new Cheoum Cheoreom Cool (처음처럼 쿨) brand of soju to women, which strangely uses the sexual availability of, well, women as its main theme, and that both it and others in the series have been extensively photoshopped. Despite her resulting rather alien-looking legs though, I think she looks simply incredible in the orange top, and hope it becomes fashionable.

Have any Korea-based readers seen it in real life yet?

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Posted in Korean Advertisements Tagged: Cheoum Cheoreom Cool, 소주, 유이, 처음처럼 쿨, Soju, UEE

Korea Baseball 6

22 Aug 2009, I spend all day riding in trains to get from the south coast of Korea up to Seoul and down to Incheon for a little baseball enjoyment.

The Couch

Our search for a couch had ground to a halt. The prices on Furniture Mountain had generally started at 800,000 won (£421/$688) for anything comfortable, and this seemed high compared to some of the local stores we'd visited, so we resolved to try again later.

Unfortunately the first opportunity which really arose was the one Sunday in three when a lot of stores seem to be closed, which meant our browsing choices were limited, and when we arrived at the store where we'd bought our desks, the owner was nowhere to be found even though it was open. I tried out the couches and the office chairs, waited, went outside, stared up and down the street, and marvelled at the evident lack of crime - or fear of it- which allowed a business owner to desert his premises on a regular basis. I suspected he was out delivering to a customer.

He returned ten minutes later and we asked about the item we were interested in - 680,000 won (£358/$585), which was an improvement on the Furniture Mountain prices, but not so much that we could do a deal there and then - we would return with an ajumma to battle the store owner. Fast forward 30 minutes and Korean Mother is sat with us in the store, loudly disbelieving the expense of the item. I'd seen this before when buying furniture for our apartment the first time we lived here, but some of the amusement value had been replaced with embarrassment. 'Apparently' she knew people at the factory and there was no way 680,000 won was a fair price. The store owner seemed as taken aback by this revelation as everyone else was. The battle ebbed and flowed and I stepped outside for a while so I could cringe in private.

When I returned the price had dropped to 500,000 won (£263/$430) and Korean Mother was promising to come back and buy everything else we needed from him, to which the store owner replied in an exasperated voice "What difference does it make when you're leaving me with no margin?!" The deal was done and the couch will be delivered tomorrow.

As we left Korean Mother thanked him and said "We'll come back later for some bookcases." to which I heard the desperate reply "No! Please don't!" I think he might have actually meant it.

About 20 minutes after we'd arrived home Korean Mother phoned up the store owner. The day before she'd bought some artwork which needed hanging on the wall - would the owner bring his drill and do it for her while he was here? What struck me as a completely outrageous request was simply met with "Yes, OK" at the other end of the phone, because this is how things can be done in Korea, or maybe he just wanted it to all be over.

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Oh My Land

He made a new friend, but their friendship didn't last long.



Look up and very closely and you'll see the most ridiculous game of cat and mouse. Maybe it was all that mountain fresh air, or maybe it was that the rocks were too inviting, or maybe just because he can -but for one reason or another Rhylon climbed up the rocks ... which inspired the old Korean man to do the same. It was entertaining.







you just take pictures of doorknobs and rope

here fish, fishy, fishy

halloween 100

Creeps


Somehow we managed to end up in the little town in the middle of the mountains that surround Busan called Oh My Land (that's it's actual name. No seriously, it's called Oh My Land) ... and their kimchi was amazing.

Seoul, Itaewon (Hanam-dong) - Itaewon Land (이태원랜드) Jjimjilbang & Boolgama

Itaewon is a tough area for jjimjilbang or saunas.  I recently went out there and just resorted to the Happy Day spa near Hongdae.  I don't even care to try out the love motels in Itaewon, since there are so many seedy areas around there.  So, I vowed to search for some places you can utilize next time you're in this popular shopping and night-life district.

The first of these entries is Itaewon Land (이태원랜드) just south of the Itaewon station. If you walk straight out of exit 3, take your second right and you'll be staring at Hilltop Yeogwan (힐탑여관).  There will be a large set of stairs up to a traditional Korean building front.   The 5-story Itaewon Land houses basic jjimjilbang rooms (salt, yellow soil, charcoal, ice...) and a nice-looking sauna with wooden baths as well as tile ones.  You'll also find the standard PC room, singing rooms, DVD room, sports massage, restaurant, cafe, and sleeping rooms.  Finally, their website claims 13 small-group meeting or party rooms.




서울시 용산구 한남동 732-20
Seoul, Yongsan Gu, Hanam-dong 732-20
Open 24 hours a day
02-749-4122



Rates: 10,000 won

Wikimapia of Itaewon Land Jjimjilbang

Heat: Who Needs it?

I'm going to preface this post with the two following points:

1) I have a tendency to label everything that I don't understand as dumb. Flawed, but this is how I'm wired.
2) All of the other people that I know in Korea (three) are able to heat their apartment whenever they please.

Onward:

It went down to 2 degrees Celcius the other night. For those of you not familiar with how Busan works, this qualifies as mother fucking cold. Essentially, Busan waited until the 1st of November to turn on Autumn. Just last week, I was wearing a skirt and no sweater. Last week.

Being mother fucking cold, I decided that it was time to retire the air conditioner and turn on the heat. Having a heated floor is more or less my favourite thing about Korea. Unfortunately, my floor's failure to cooperate killed my buzz. Six hours and no dice; it was still mother fucking cold.

Anger began to set in. I cursed at Korea in my head several times before doing the productive thing and whining about it on facebook. I then contemplated cursing at myself for not knowing what the words on my heating control mean (really, there's no excuse for that at this point), before retiring that idea on account of absurdity (it's never my fault). Finally, I made a last ditch effort to push all of the buttons on heating control until presto! It worked. It turns out that I had left the shower-timer on and could have avoided the anger phase entirely had I known that was what that button did.

This is how I do Tuesdays.

The next day I spoke to a friend of mine, who was complaining about the heat in her building. It turns out that she's not an idiot, and the her building is actually broken. The rules, which apply to every unfortunate apartment in her broken building, are as follows:

1) The heat will only work between the hours of 4-6am, and 8-10pm.
2) If you wish to preset the heating control so that it is ready to go at those times, should you not be home or alert when it's time to flick the switch, you must pay for gas during the time that it wasn't actually working.
3) If you aren't available during the 4 hours that the building allows you to heat your apartment, and you don't preset the heating control, you may as well open all of your windows and hope that a warm gust of air blows in, because your apartment is going to be mother fucking cold. Buy a hat.

"That is too dumb to be true", was the only possible response. Part of my brain died as she explained that her fiance, who is Korean, had argued the matter at length with the building manager, to no avail. Not only is it true, but it's not just a matter of Random Foreigner Not Getting It (as is occasionally the case with yours truly).

Since hearing of this, I have made a point of complaining about it several times a day. Frankly, I don't have any of my own shit to complain about this week and don't feel entirely whole unless I do. This serves as an appropriate substitute until trouble finds me again.




Question from a reader: your rights and the swine flu

A reader writes in with a question many teachers have been wondering about: the swine flu and our rights.

Do you have any idea about what are our rights when it comes to swine flu? Like for example, my friend got sick, and her school made her go to the hospital, where they injected her with multiple things--she has no idea what--and then gave her several unknown drugs to take. A week or so later, she still had a cough, so they made her go back to the hospital, where they gave her Tamiflu, and her school ordered her to take it. I'm not sure how much you know about influenza or Tamiflu.....but that was the most illogical move imaginable. She even got tested for swine flu, and the test says she doesn't have it!

So if I get sick, and my school tries to make me go to the hospital, I will freak out. I will not let them inject me with anything, I will not take any random drugs they gave me, I will not take Tamiflu. I'm not against medical treatment or anything, I have a pretty standard view of it, but nothing cures the flu except Tamiflu if given at the very beginning--and it should only really be given to the most high-risk patients, given the bad side-effects--and of course Tylenol to keep the fever down. Will I get deported if I don't let them inject me with things? Can your school order you to take drugs? I'm so scared!

And one of my coworkers was sick today at school, with a fever even, but she was afraid to say anything or ask to go home because she feared everyone would flip out and probably ask her to stay home from work for weeks--even if she doesn't have the flu--and she's probably right! But if she does have the flu, well she probably infected a bunch of people at school today because she didn't go home. Does anyone else have these same fears?

I see a couple other bloggers have beaten me to the punch - HT to Brian in Jeollanam-do and Ask the Expat :)

While I'm far from a legal expert, the first thing I would say regarding this particular issue is that it's not precisely a legal problem, but a social issue with side effects and consequences bound to outlast the current paranoia. It's true that swine flu has become a problem in Korea - I see the students coming in with masks everyday, and getting stuck with an ear thermometer isn't exactly my idea of fun.

What rights do you have? Legally and academically speaking you have 95% of the same rights as a Korean; there's that law about not getting involved in political stuff, and there may be some specific rules as far as your visa goes. Since your rights seem to fly out the window as soon as the proclamation to protect them has been announced, let's move out of that world as well.

If you find yourself in a situation where you're being told to do something or being treated differently because of a sickness (real or perceived), the very first thing to do is ask questions. Understand what's going on - and dig in your heels until you figure it out. Good questions include:
  • What do you need me to do?
  • Where do I need to go?
  • How much will this cost?
If you're not feeling well and want to go home, but the school won't let you:
  • What does our contract say about sick days?
  • Would you prefer I possibly spread swine flu to our students?
If you're at the doctor's office:
  • What is that drug / what are you giving me?
  • Are there any side effects?
  • How much will this cost?
  • When will we have the results?
If you're not feeling well, simply saying 'I don't feel well' isn't enough - and it really doesn't hurt to be careful. Getting a checkup is a reasonable precaution, and getting tested or getting a medicine shouldn't cost you much of anything - the government is supposedly stepping up to the plate in that respect. It's best not to assume, though.

As for questions about the swine flu vaccine, its effectiveness and dangers, I'm not yet convinced it's not the safest or best science in the world. Is it better than getting the swine flu or risking an infection? Probably. Is it worth forcing a vaccine / medicine on a teacher for the sake of public health and keeping a school running smoothly? From a society's standpoint, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few (and yes, that's a Star Trek reference). Being made to take treatment for a disease you have sounds draconian, but it has as much to do with perception than actual science.

Creative Commons License © Chris Backe - 2009

 

Tarantino

With the exception of Death Proof, I've seen EVERY Quentin Tarantino movie in the theater.  In 1992, my old LA gf, the last white girl I ever dated, took me to see Reservoir Dogs.  My LA pal and I saw Pulp Fiction in 1994 in Century City,  In 1998 while home for vacation from the ROK I saw Jackie Brown with my brother and ex-wife (they snuck in beers, and as is commonly the case when beers are snuck into a movie house, they left early to smoke cigs and drink more.  I abstained and enjoyed).  The first Kill Bill I saw in LA, again on vacation, this time with my 11 year old nephew, their son -- its release coincideded with another vacation in LA from the ROK.  The second Kill Bill I saw in Fukuoka, Japan. 

And Inglorious Basterds I just saw last night in Seoul at Technomart.  I got out the East Seoul bus terminal and went straight up to see what was playing.  I haven't been in a 'city' with a real cinema for 5 months.  What luck.  I'm back in the ROK for a few days before continuing my journey which will lead me back to LA, where I shall reside permanently, until something better comes along.

I first heard of this movie, Inglorious Basterds, when Showbiz Tharp posted the trailer on his blogsite many months ago.  I'd known that QT had been working on a WW II film.  I'd heard in an interview that he started writing it before the Kill Bill series but I had no idea that it was coming out, nor that it starred Brad Pitt as Lieutenant Aldo Raines.

A lot of people are going to bash this movie.  Perhaps they already have.  I've heard lots of negativtiy about it, and all's I can say to these people is -- Try and make a better movie!

I loved it.  I could go into why but I won't.  The man has never made a bad movie.  And he never will.  And me, I'm going to have endure another day of Seoul.  Think I'll go see it again. 

"I'm a mushroom cloud layin' motherfucker, motherfucker!"


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