I'm not sure if my favorite part is "fuck fuck motherfucker" or "맛있겠다 nigger." Pizza Etang commercials have gotten the attention of bloggers before for their quirkiness and word-play. The above video, if you didn't watch it yet, plays out like a comic book, mimics the speech of an old-school Kung Fu movie, and has implied swearing that is supposed to be a mispronunciation of the Korean words in the speech bubbles. The above-linked East Windup Chronicle post points us to some deconstruction of an earlier Pizza Etang commercial from Slice:
This video features South Korean rapper Mr. Tyfoon appearing in a commercial for the Asian pizza chain Pizza Etang, where he combines West Coast gangsta rap flair with Konglish, a mashup of Korean and English. Here’s the Wikipedia definition of Konglish: “The words, having initially been taken from English language, are either actual English words in Korean context, or are made from a combination of Korean and English words.”
It may sound incredibly similar to English, but it’s decidedly not. Context helped, but still, my mind reeled, trying to keep up but only recognizing a word or two; I felt like I had a broken Babel Fish in my ear. Mr. Tyfoon’s unique, contemporary speaking style is so new and radically different from traditional Korean that even my native Korean friends living in the U.S. couldn’t figure it out.
At times they are also implying Korean curse words. If you're like me, you don't want "fuck fuck motherfucker" or "nigger" in a commercial, implied or otherwise. It's another example of stripping English of its meaning by rendering it ridiculous.
The video above is a minute-long version; you can find a thirty-second version here. Thanks to a reader for the e-mail submission.
7 comments:
Where was this shown? It sounds like some audible Korean-language profanity is in there, too.
Is this something that actually didn't show up in any mainstream media format but it's making the rounds in a viral way so people will do exactly what we're doing, which is talk about it? :$
no, it's been showing regularly on korean tv.
Really? Wow.
Cable or broadcast? That makes a different in the US, and I think Korea may have based its cable-broadcast separation on similar guidelines. If this is really on TV, I'm guessing it must be cable.
If it's regular broadcast TV, it's a sign that Korean networks may be headed down the road toward cultural pornification, following in the footsteps of Fox Television and Burger King.
Wow.
The Korean profanity that I heard is actually that fairly common (for kids) permutation of the Chinese expression for 'Did you eat?' which, in Chinese, is supposed to sound something like 'Ni Siu Fal Lom Ah?' If you're familiar with Korean swear words, use your imagination. Apparently, this is not the usual expression that is used in Chinese, but why let facts get in the way of good fun?
For something a little raunchier check out this Korean udon commercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IFCPWv5n2Y
I saw a :15 commercial on TV just now, and it cut out all the cursing. Either they did it b/c they always make :15 versions of commercials, or because of concerns over cursing. I vote for the former.
"'Ni Siu Fal Lom Ah"
Ack! Not even close. Ni chi fan le ma? or in non-Pinyin closely approximating the actual pronunciation, Nee chur fahn luh mah?. To my ears, which comprehend both Chinese and Korean, the actual Chinese expression does not sound close to any Korean cuss word.
As for the use of English swear words in general, Koreans just don't find them offensive and genuinely don't realize that we English-speakers do when they are used in inappropriate contexts. I once had a sweet, respectful, modest college student begin her midterm exam with the words, "Oh fuck, what do I write?" Before passing back the exams at the next lesson, I had a descriptive, non-judgmental chat about four-letter words.
I know it's an ancient post, but _you_ are not close, either!
Without tone marks, the pinyin should be "Ni chi bao le ma?" which means, "Have you eaten enough?" or "Are you full?" It's said about as commonly as you would use those phrases in English.
The joke is that it sounds like "Ni ssibal omma," (where "ni" is used instead of "neo" for "you" in some dialects) which means "You f*ck your mother."
There.
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