One of the messages was from Seo Sang-hee, a Korad representative who appeared in the CNN.com article that ran on this topic. An excerpt:
A Korad official, Seo Sang-hee, confirmed the ad was meant to invoke a Nazi soldier and Hitler, which she said symbolize "revolution" in keeping with the lotion's "revolutionary" dual functions.
Seo said the commercial was not designed to promote Hitler, but rather the idea that the cosmetics will succeed in both East and West, which Hitler failed to do.
Are you kidding me? Why not just use Rain? *cough* Anyway, here are the two messages I received. They are in Korean, so they're off limits to a lot of us. They refer to "Solitary" or "SolitaryThrush," the name I used on youtube (from Whitman). I've taken out cell phone numbers, but that's it. Editorializing to follow.
From Seo Sang-hee:
안녕하세요,
Solitary님께서 올리신 동영상 <코리아나 화장품 -- 녹두 28앰플> 광고를 대행하고 있는 광고대행사 KORAD에서 본 동영상과 관련하여 Solitary님께 아래와 같이 협조를 의뢰 드리고자 합니다.
Solitary님께서 올리신 동영상 <코리아나 화장품 -- 녹두 28앰플> 광고 파일과 관련하여
해당 기업인 코리아나 화장품의 기업 이미지에 부정적인 영향을 미칠 수 있는 소지가 있음을 알려드립니다.
먼저, Solitary님께서 올리신 광고는 현재 방영되고 있는 광고물 제작 이전에 만들어진 제작물입니다. 방송 광고로 온 에어 하기에는 부적합한 부분이 있어 사전에 이를 수정한 광고물로 현재 방송되고 있음에도 불구하고 현재 온라인 상에서 유포되어 있는 해당 동영상으로 인해 현재 광고주가 곤란한 상황이 발생하였습니다. 구체적으로, 이스라엘 대사관으로부터 '독일군의 유태인 학살'과 관련된 부정적 이미지의 역사적 인물을 광고에서 표현 대상물로 활용함으로써 유태계 국민들의 정서에 부정적 영향을 미치는 결과를 초래하였다는 항의를 받고 있습니다.
이는 광고의 본 제작 의도와는 전혀 다른 방향으로 광고를 해석하는데 따른 결과이며, 이로 인하여 특정 기업(코리아나 화장품)의 이미지에 매우 부정적으로 작용할 수 없음을 알려드리는 바입니다.
Solitary님의 의도와는 무관하여 올리신 동영상으로 인하여 발생되는 이와 같은 문제가 확대되지 않도록 혜량하여 주실 것을 부탁드립니다.
더불어 이와 관련하여 자세한 사항에 대해서는 아래 연락처로 문의하여 주시기 바랍니다.
문의) KORAD 서상희 부장
And from one of the folks in charge of the ad campaign:
안녕하세요?
저는 코리아나화장품의 '녹두28앰플'광고를 대행하고 있는
광고대행사 코래드의 원현정입니다.
죄송한 말씀입니다만
SolitaryThrush님께서 4월3일 올려주신 코리아나 화장품의
'녹두28앰플' TV CF와 관련하여 삭제를 요청드립니다.
카피 내용중 부적절한 문구가 있어
현재 수정된 카피로 CATV에서 방영중에 있습니다.
문제가 된 카피는 '히틀러도 동과서를 다 갖지는 못했다'로
현재는'그 누구도 동과서를 다 갖지는 못했다'로
변경되었습니다.
이와 관련, 유태계 관련 단체로 부터 항의가 접수 된바
신속히 해당 동영상을 삭제하여 주실것을 부탁드리오니
협조하여 주시기 바랍니다.
문의)
코래드 캠10팀
[number deleted]
원현정
I've decided to post them because I find them timely and newsworthy, and because I find some disconnect between the uproar and the response. The "uproar" isn't happening in Korea among Koreans, or even in Asia, but rather among a small minority of foreigners here, a special interest group, and overseas media outlets. Haven't seen any mention yet in the media over here. I suspect that most Koreans would find nothing wrong with the ad at all, and simply rewording the text, which is splashed over a woman clearly made up to resemble a Nazi officer, is not a satisfactory response in the least. Moreover, has there been any response made in English---to reach a global audience---aside from the translation provided in the CNN article?
I don't recall much change happening after the protests of the Nazi bars and the bestselling comic book "Far Countries, Near Countries." Nazi bars are still around, and the comic books are still in circulation and as popular as ever. And those are bigger and more flagrant displays of National Socialism and anti-Semitism than these 30-second ads. All the while, Koreans criticize textbooks sympathetic to Japanese occupation, or become furious whenever a Japanese politician visits the Yazakuni Shrine, or get involved in massive campaigns to alter maps or "correct" history. Not to belittle those first two issues---I totally belittle the third---but how about a little perspective, and a little awareness that the man who failed in the cosmetics business is the same one who was allied to those cursed Japanese. But in all seriousness, the lack of perspective and the extreme lack of sensitivity to world history is staggering. I wish I could say this was an isolated bout of ignorance, but as we've seen, this is something that comes up again and again and again. Whether it is anti-Semetic and racist comic books (here and here), or likening the burning of a national treasure to the September 11th attacks, or running a humorous advertisement with bin Laden's likeness shortly after 9/11/01, or the use of blackface to emphasize the ugliness of a singing group, or the relentless scapegoating of foreign English teachers, or more "run of the mill" racist jabs found in the newspapers with regularity (like this or this or this), the negative views held by some Koreans toward foreigners and foreign cultures is something that needs to be examined in earnest.
But, I'd be very surprised if anything comes of this. Coreana serves domestic customers primarily, just like the Hitler bars and those comic books, so worldwide outrage will have little effect on the company itself, but would rather sully (perhaps) the image of the country that produces and condones such material. Moreover, nothing usually happens when foreigners---who "don't understand Korean culture" anyway---have anything negative to say about Korea. All the more bizarre an attitude considering how hypersensitive South Korea is to its image overseas. These types of headlines aren't good for anybody over here . . . I just wish Koreans didn't have to be guilted into being more historically or globally aware, or always had to be explicitly told that things like the Holocaust and slavery were terrible things and are kinda sensitive issues for a lot of people, or that things like nigger, black face, or the stereotype of the powerful, omnipotent Jew aren't things you really should be playing around with.
Anyway, the ads will stay up until somebody takes them down.
6 comments:
Right. An ad months in the planning and execution, an ad aproved, edited, and reviewed by dozens of people, with a budget probably totalling a couple hundred thousand dollars, and now, with the understanding that they were totally out of line, they want people to take it upon themselves to prevent others from seeing it.
I don't see your point. I think people should see the advertisements. Or, at least I don't think people should be barred from seeing them. Even if they drop this ad, it's still historically relevant, and is still an important piece of evidence. I don't think they came to any understanding about being out of line. I think they perhaps understand that people don't like the ad, but I've seen nothing showing an apology, a reckoning, or an attempt at atonement.
I love the tone they take, the pathetic 'Let's not make this any bigger than it already is' attitude they cop, like it's your job to pitch in and bury this story. Disgusting and surprisingly optimistic. Don't take them down. In fact, let us know if they come down, I'm sure plenty of people in K-blogland would repost them to the point where the videos have an indelible web presence
Brian,
I think you misinterpreted shinsano's comment. Actually, I think he's agreeing with what you say in the post.
James.
As ill-advised, and in poor taste, as the ads may be, they should be allowed to air in any democratic society that values free speech. In the U.S., we have more than just the hate mongering Neo Nazis/Aryan Nation fools, but many other pathetic, self-serving groups and individuals as well. Even so-called pillars of society like the Rev. Jerimiah Wright sow the seeds of inflammatory dissent while preaching about the love of god, but thanks to the “mostly” free flow of information we are able to make up our own minds about much of this nonsense.
I just didn't realize how poor my public school education really was or how hindered it was by my own government while I was in school. None of my textbooks even hinted at the following. http://www.skycitygallery.com/japan/japan.html#unit731 Then, I had no clue that the U.S. brought many of these criminals (former members of Unit 731) back to help develop our own WMD program. Not exactly something to be proud of. The fact that these murderers lived good lives in our country after what they did and at taxpayer expense should be common knowledge, but very few even know of this.
We even have major publications keeping the truth from the masses. http://www.time.com/time/time100/poc/home.html I nearly choked on my cereal when I saw that headline early that morning. I find Adolph Hitler to be absolutely despicable and one truly deranged person, but not to be the man of the century was a crime in itself. His atrocious actions did more to shape the world that most 20th Century people lived in than anyone else on the planet. Without him, the U.S. and Russia would never have become so powerful, millions wouldn't have suffered and perished horribly, and FDR wouldn't have allowed thousands of U.S. citizens to die at Pearl Harbor in order to get the U.S. away from its isolationist stance and into the war. FDR, thanks to that devil Hitler, only cost me my uncle and my grandmother's first-born. http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=408 Hard to believe that people so easily vilify the current president, yet worship FDR for doing pretty much the same thing. Keeping Hitler off the cover was the other extreme we gone to, that of political correctness.
It doesn't help that in our new electronic world, we get our news and information in 10-30 second sound bytes without getting all the relevant and pertinent facts or that it comes from newsmedia with their own political agendas. But damn, I know more about the lives of Paris, Brad, Angelina, George, Britney, Milley, and now Beckham and Posh, than I do about those people occupying important seats in Washington who control the future of my country. Who is to blame now that the average person can't name even a few of our Congressmen, Senators, or cabinet members, much less any of the Supreme Court Justices? Those are some pretty poor priorities that the media has helped instill in us, and they have the gall to complain about the poor choices that are made come election time. Are they actually poor choices or only poor in the plans of their agendas?
So, in coming from this so-called open, and truth-based, education system that has numerous flaws in it, I really wonder what kids growing up in Asian countries are learning in their history classes other that extreme nationalism thanks to re-writing of history and the blatant omissions in their texts. At least I can find other avenues to the truth, but in many Asian countries, even sources like the internet are blocked. Yet, even in my country of birth with all of its numerous resources, very few will spend the time searching out truth, they have more important things to do like refusing to accept responsibility for their own lots in life while blaming everyone from the president to the that jerk who just pulled into their parking space at Wal-mart before they could. No one likes to be forced to walk their lazy, fat bodies a few extra feet to the door when a cold one and the game are waiting on the big screen back at home.
Maybe if these commercials get one person to go in search of the truth, they will serve some good after all.
Yeah, I was agreeing with Brian (thx James). My point was that it's pretty amazing that Coreana, after putting a lot of time and effort into making the ad, would turn to a blog to censor their own ad because they fucked up.
I think people should see the advertisements. I don't think they should be broadcast on regular Korean television, as I think jawick is suggesting, because that validates the view. Sure, someone might see that and want to research the truth, but countless others will be further desensitised.
Post a Comment