Korean Job Discussion Forums

[whome?]

So one thing that has fascinated me in my time here is the power K-stars seem to have over the general populace. It's a bit disturbing, actually.

I remember maybe 3 years ago there was a commercial for a laptop with clips from a Rain video. The ad was 30 seconds, 25 seconds were of rain dancing. Maybe 5 second shot of the laptop. Not a single laptop Spec mentioned in the entire ad. He now advertises chicken, tous les jours, and who knows what else.

Kim Yuna did ads for cars before she was old enough to drive in Korea. Seriously... how can that influence ANYONE?!?!? Wow, Kim Yuna is drinking that brand of Milk! I want some too!--- she doesn't live here and probably has that milk once a year. But it's what gives her the strength she needs to do her jumps! --- I've had totally insane conversations with otherwise rational students over Kim Yuna doing ads for milk she can't possibly drink, and how they switched the milk they drink because of the ads.

Does anyone else find these ads ridiculous? Does anything like them happen in your home country. AND.... are you actually influenced by celebrity endorsements/ads either in Korea or in your home country?

[kalbitang]

Considering Americans are some of the most brainwashed, materialistic buying machines ever produced by the Hollywood/MTV/US Thought Control Industry, I don't think the influence of Korean celeb endorsements are all that surprising.

[eamo]

I'd also say that the worship of celebrity is something imported from the west...

.....although, in saying that, Korean celebrities are quite shameless compared to their western counterparts.

All the top Korean celebrities live for TV commercials. That's their bread and butter. I mean the elite top 10. In fact, Koreans tell me that fame is measured here by the amount of prestigious commercials one can get.

The 'A' list actors/singers in the west tend to reject commercials as they would be over-exposed and lose a lot of image credibility. No such problem here in Korea.

[warren pease]

[antoniothegreat]

it's that whole lack of logic thing here.

Instead, they just follow the leader.

Sometimes, in Korea, you just can't ask why.

[vaticanhotline]

[bobbyhanlon]

i know one minor celebrity, she got paid pretty well for endorsing some ginseng-based drink that she never tasted in her entire life. good for her though.. it would be called 'selling out' in the west but the thing about korea is that its a small market, and over-saturated with celebrities. those at the top of the pyramid make huge money, but most of the rank-and-file b-listers just make a living.

as far as the biggest stars are concerned, well, they're already making crappy pop songs and appearing in 드라마, so its not like they have any artistic integrity to compromise. with a few exceptions (like 심은하) they're all happy to play the game, and are made into stars because of that.

[Xuanzang]

[bassexpander]

The stars don't have control. They are controlled.


Korean business and media still attempt to be a slave-oriented society. I was listening to some interesting stuff about baseball contracts on TBS-eFM tonight. A player can't leave a team unless the new team pays them triple that player's wage, among other things.

It's kind of like the release letter thing. Employers want to feel big, as if they own you.

Moon Gun Young said she didn't make a cent until she was 18. She was in a slave labor contract.

[PeteJB]

I am also a victim of this brainwashing. Damn, gotta check my fav celeb news..

[kalbitang]

Hopefully, the Korean media can keep cranking out films and celebs whose allure resonates across Asia and Europe. Even if shallow, it'll be good to get some balance in mainstream world cinema.

The US/Australia/England are hopeless cases for Asian media in my opinion as there's still an extremely widespread anti-Asian bias among the average citizen as well as inside the Industry -- tending to denigrate, demean, and objectify Asian characters in 95% of all portrayals.

[Hyeon Een]

[whome?]

I agree that it certainly does appear to be some real earnings involved for K-stars, but that doesn't explain why there are earnings. I mean, what is it that makes them such powerful marketers?

I can name two celebrities from commercials in North America: Shatner in priceline ads, and Zeta Jones in Sprint. Right now I am drawing a blank on any others. I remember those two because it is so rare, rather than it being effective. And I don't use sprint and Ive never used priceline.

So earnings aside, why are Koreans so enamoured with celebrities to the point that they will base what kind of ramen they buy on whether girls generation does a song for it?

[VFRinterceptor]

There's a car commercial for one of those tiny boxy cars like a Matiz or a Morning, something, and the jingle in the commercial sounds like Ben Folds.

[Tycho Brahe]