pictureobsession:

big bang 2nd hite cf

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I still can’t get over the fact that teen idols are advertising alcohol.  I also don’t get why Seung Ri isn’t in this commercial since he is now Korean age 20, and the drinking age is 19 (Western age 17-18)?  And what is with G-Dragon looking like a 16 year old girl lately?

This is an advertiser’s wet dream: one of the most popular songs in Korea now was created to promote a new phone, the Lollipop.  I think the song was first in the commercial, but now it’s playing all over the place.

It seems like advertising works a lot differently here, and there actually is a lot less here than in the States.  I think this is surprising because Koreans are super-consumers and love buying new stuff.  There aren’t that many billboards or ambient ads, and there are hardly any ads in magazines.  On TV, the commercials are usually pushed to the end of shows so they don’t interrupt the programming, and there is virtually no product placement.  BUT they do use celebrity endorsement like crazy.  The Boys Over Flowers boys are literally the only people used in ads it seems like, and Big Bang even advertises beer (this would be like NSync in a Budweiser commercial, it’s weird).

I don’t know if it’s just easier to convince Koreans to buy crap they don’t need, or if advertising is still a developing concept here, or if there are just less brands/competition, but it’s strange living in such a capitalist country without being attacked by ads.

This commercial is cute, and those phones are really cool (as are most Korean cellphones).  American phones are going to seem quite lame when I go back.