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Gladiator
Joined: 23 May 2003
Location: Seoul
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 Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2007 5:11 pm Post subject: Does anyone remember the Meg Ryan controversy in Korea? |
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A question for the long timers I think.
During my first stint in Korea in 96-97 I vaguely remember Meg Ryan going from hero(ine) to zero in Koreans' estimation for some disparaging remarks she made about the country during a televised interview somewhere. I cannot remember the exact context. I think it may have been during a promotional visit to Seoul to do interviews and talk up one of her films of the time (like French Kiss for instance). I don't know whether the interviewer was American or Korean, but the remarks she made upset Koreans en masse (or knowing the Korean media, they probably made a capital case out of it anyway) sufficiently for her to lose a lucrative shampoo endorsement contract with a Korean company.
Can anyone remember when this was?
Can anyone recall exactly what Ryan said?
I'd be interested to know because I've looked on the internet and found nothing. It didn't quite create the vitriolic response of Ohnogate or the Jay Leno 'dog eater' joke but it wasn't a storm in a teacup either. The very mention of her name caused murmurs of hostility from students in my hagwon for months. |
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Harpeau
Joined: 01 Feb 2003
Location: Coquitlam, BC
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| Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2007 5:40 pm Post subject: |
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| Yes, I remember that 97-98 I believe. She was in a Korean shampoo commercial called something like "Sassy n Nice". She found Korea a very big pill and had difficulty choking it down. After she returned to the USA, she went on Letterman and trashed Korea. Suddenly, she was public enemy #1. BTW, I love Meg Ryan~ she's the bomb! |
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Mr Crowley
Joined: 23 Mar 2006
Location: Suwon
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| Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2007 5:47 pm Post subject: |
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| What did she say? |
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the_beaver
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2007 5:49 pm Post subject: |
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She didn't trash Korea. One of the reasons it was so funny is that people went ballistic over such an innocuous remark.
She was on Letterman who asked her what she was up to lately.
David: So I heard you had a weird experience somewhere in Asia?
Meg: Yeah, i was shooting a commercial in this small Asian country and the name of the product was "sexymild!" and then they put me in a nun outfit and made me run around with this little boy and say "I love little boys"
Not a word there to merit the response she got, but sexymild refused to pay her until she apologized. |
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Gladiator
Joined: 23 May 2003
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2007 6:17 pm Post subject: Shampoo |
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| Thanks for that Beaver. It was a curious incident for sure. Perhaps the 'small Asian country' part caused umbrage, considering the reaction to that James Bond film which 'dared' to depict a Korean farmer using an ox years later. |
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SuperFly
Joined: 09 Jul 2003
Location: In the doghouse
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| Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2008 8:17 pm Post subject: |
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Christ, I remember that.  |
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cdninkorea
Joined: 27 Jan 2006
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2008 8:20 pm Post subject: Re: Shampoo |
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| Gladiator wrote: |
| Thanks for that Beaver. It was a curious incident for sure. Perhaps the 'small Asian country' part caused umbrage, considering the reaction to that James Bond film which 'dared' to depict a Korean farmer using an ox years later. |
Which Bond movie? |
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Beej
Joined: 05 Mar 2005
Location: Eungam Loop
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| Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2008 8:30 pm Post subject: |
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Years later Koreans screamed for Jay Leno's head because he made a joke about Koreans and dog eating.
Are dogs eaten in Korea or not? If the anser is yes, then STFU Korea. |
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mindmetoo
Joined: 02 Feb 2004
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Landros
Joined: 19 Oct 2007
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| Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2008 8:41 pm Post subject: lol |
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| yeah it was the sexy mild remark. I thought she said something about the name being stupid. |
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Smee
Joined: 24 Dec 2004
Location: Jeollanam-do
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| Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2008 8:43 pm Post subject: |
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You can see how distorted it got even among English-speaking Asian-Americans:
http://greenfertility.blogspot.com/2007/02/little-dishing-from-fertilitybitch-meg.html
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The people I saw most regularly in ads were Sly Stallone, Brooke Shields, and Meg Ryan. Koreans loooooooove Meg Ryan because she is "cute." And the strange product she endorsed and most likely never used was a soap called Sexy-Mild. The ads, print and TV, were everywhere. I can't remember the exact details of the imbrogilio as it was over ten years ago, but I think she was on Letterman or some other TV talk show back in the good ol' US of A, and the host, justifiably, was needling her a little for being such an overseas shill, and she said something to the effect of (and I paraphrase), "Well, if the people in China or Japan or whatever are so dumb they buy the products just because my face is on it, that's their problem. Plus, it smells bad in China." At least, this is how my Korean colleagues (many of whom have excellent English comprehension skills) recounted it to me.
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How on earth can what Meg Ryan said be reasonably construed as anti-Korean? Yeah, I know that "reason" doesn't factor into it when it comes to Korea.
And it kills me when Asian-Americans on Asiafinest or on other sites complain about how white people may or may not be representing Asian culture. Jesus, turn on a TV now . . . you've got English monkeys dancing around, you've got dramas making a mockery of Paris and Prague, there's a black guy doing a dance and a rap in a commercial for black bean juice, and you've got three different pastors doing their best Ted Haggard impersonation. And that's not when they're even trying to be offensive or controversial.
Last edited by Smee on Wed Jan 02, 2008 3:44 am; edited 1 time in total |
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RACETRAITOR
Joined: 24 Oct 2005
Location: Seoul, South Korea
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| Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2008 8:52 pm Post subject: Re: Shampoo |
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| cdninkorea wrote: |
| Gladiator wrote: |
| Thanks for that Beaver. It was a curious incident for sure. Perhaps the 'small Asian country' part caused umbrage, considering the reaction to that James Bond film which 'dared' to depict a Korean farmer using an ox years later. |
Which Bond movie? |
That was Die Another Day.
However, if you've ever read the original novel of Goldfinger, you know that's not the worst thing James Bond/Ian Fleming/random 21st century James Bond director has said about Koreans. I'm looking for a site that contains the exact passage, where Bond basically calls Koreans the worst, most vicious people in the world.
EDIT:
" ... it happens that I am a rich man, very rich man, and the richer the man the more he needs protection. The ordinary bodyguard or detective is usually a retired policeman. Such men are valueless Their reactions are slow, their methods old-fashioned, and they are open to bribery. Moreover, they have a respect for human life. That is no good if I wish to stay alive The Koreans have no such feelings. That is why the Japanese employed them as guards for their prison camps during the war. They are the cruelest, most ruthless people in the world. My own staff are hand-picked for these qualities. They have served me well. I have no complaints. Nor have they. They are well paid and well fed and housed. When they want women, street women are brought down from London, well remunerated for their services and sent back. The women are not much to look at, but they are white and that is all the Koreans ask � to submit the white race to the grossest indignities. There are sometimes accidents but -" the pale eyes gazed blankly down the table � "money is an effective winding-sheet."
Bond smiled.
"You like the aphorism? It is my own." |
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Young FRANKenstein
Joined: 02 Oct 2006
Location: Castle Frankenstein (that's FRONKensteen)
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| Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2008 5:57 am Post subject: |
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| the_beaver wrote: |
She didn't trash Korea. One of the reasons it was so funny is that people went ballistic over such an innocuous remark.
She was on Letterman who asked her what she was up to lately.
David: So I heard you had a weird experience somewhere in Asia?
Meg: Yeah, i was shooting a commercial in this small Asian country and the name of the product was "sexymild!" and then they put me in a nun outfit and made me run around with this little boy and say "I love little boys"
Not a word there to merit the response she got, but sexymild refused to pay her until she apologized. |
I remember seeing that, too.
(1) She didn't mention Korea by name (oh, waitaminnit... they were insulted when she said SMALL Asian country)
(2) it was for a commercial that was never seen (to my knowledge) outside of Korea
(3) The comments were made on a show that was not even televised in Korean (maybe AFN)
Mole hill. ---> Mountain. |
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Smee
Joined: 24 Dec 2004
Location: Jeollanam-do
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| Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2008 6:05 am Post subject: Re: Shampoo |
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| RACETRAITOR wrote: |
| cdninkorea wrote: |
| Gladiator wrote: |
| Thanks for that Beaver. It was a curious incident for sure. Perhaps the 'small Asian country' part caused umbrage, considering the reaction to that James Bond film which 'dared' to depict a Korean farmer using an ox years later. |
Which Bond movie? |
That was Die Another Day.
However, if you've ever read the original novel of Goldfinger, you know that's not the worst thing James Bond/Ian Fleming/random 21st century James Bond director has said about Koreans. I'm looking for a site that contains the exact passage, where Bond basically calls Koreans the worst, most vicious people in the world.
EDIT:
" ... it happens that I am a rich man, very rich man, and the richer the man the more he needs protection. The ordinary bodyguard or detective is usually a retired policeman. Such men are valueless Their reactions are slow, their methods old-fashioned, and they are open to bribery. Moreover, they have a respect for human life. That is no good if I wish to stay alive The Koreans have no such feelings. That is why the Japanese employed them as guards for their prison camps during the war. They are the cruelest, most ruthless people in the world. My own staff are hand-picked for these qualities. They have served me well. I have no complaints. Nor have they. They are well paid and well fed and housed. When they want women, street women are brought down from London, well remunerated for their services and sent back. The women are not much to look at, but they are white and that is all the Koreans ask � to submit the white race to the grossest indignities. There are sometimes accidents but -" the pale eyes gazed blankly down the table � "money is an effective winding-sheet."
Bond smiled.
"You like the aphorism? It is my own." |
Terrible. Because as everyone knows, Koreans didn't work as prison guards, weren't convicted of war crimes, and didn't earn a reputation for unsurpassed cruelty in Southeast Asia. |
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gypsyfish
Joined: 17 Jan 2003
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2008 7:37 am Post subject: |
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As I remember it, she said that she did a commercial for Sexymild (pronounced shexymild) and Letterman started riffing on it. She kind of agreed it was a weird name but didn't slam it, or anything.
When it hit the fan in Korea, Sexymild went ape shit and dropped her, causing her to lose a bundle.
She make an apology where she made a deep bow with her mea culpa. She looked like hell in the clip I saw, no make up and a real grim expression. It was all for naught, though, Sexymild held firm and she lost a bunch of jack for basically nothing.
Do they even make Sexymild shampoo anymore? |
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