Bibimbap to be advertised in New York Times Square

A Korean publicist and a television show team will jointly advertise the popular Korean dish bibimbap once again on a New York Times Square screen starting Tuesday.

The advertisement jointly ordered by Seo Kyoung-duk, professor at Seoul-based Sungshin Women’s University, and a crew from an MBC entertainment program will run 500 times from Dec. 24 until early next month.

The ad will be placed right beside the “Visit Korea” billboard ad.

Last month in the same square, he ran a 60-second video of the Korean dish made of steamed rice mixed with meat, fresh vegetables and hot sauce.

“Times Square is a place visited by a lot of travelers from around the world,” Seo told reporters. “On Christmas and New Year’s Eve, the square has about 30 million pedestrians. The publicity effect will multiply during the holidays.”

On Dec. 11, the professor placed a billboard advert titled “Visit Korea,” sponsored by Korean pop singer Kim Jang-hoon. The ad is a picture of an international yachting race held around the Dokdo islets.

Seo and Kim plan to build an exclusive billboard for the promotion of Korea on the square.

So far, Seo has advertised the Dokdo islets, the East Sea and the Korean song of “Arirang” as well as bibimbap in Times Square.

By Chun Sung-woo (swchun@heraldcorp.com)