클레멘스는 불고기 광고에 대한 이해와 출처를 알아내기 위해 광고 하단에 쓰여있던 웹사이트 (ForTheNextGeneration.com)를 방문했지만 혼란이 가중되기만 했다고 밝혔다.
문제는 사이트 구성에 있었다. 우리에겐 익숙한 위안부, 독도 문제지만 한국에 대한 이해가 떨어지는 외국인에게는 서로 동떨어진 주제인 케이팝(K-pop), 2018 평창 동계올림픽, 한글 홍보 등이 망라되어있는 사이트 구성이 설득력을 잃었다.
그는 사이트를 둘러본 후 “불고기 광고가 한국 음식과 음료를 알리기 위한 홍보 시리즈의 하나라는 것을 깨달았지만 아직도 이 웹사이트가 왜 ‘위안부’와 ‘한-일간 영토 분쟁’에 대한 섹션을 포함하고 있는지 이해할 수 없다”고 전했다.
인터넷 검색으로 서경덕 교수의 트위터 계정을 발견한 클레멘스는 서 교수가 포스팅한 기사들을 통해 그가 뉴욕 타임스퀘어에 비빔밥 광고를 게재했으며 이번 불고기 광고비용의 후원사가 치킨마루라는 사실을 알게 됐다고 전했다.
그는 이 모든 사실을 추적으로 찾아낸 단서들을 통해 알아가야 만 했던 것에 아쉬움을 토로하면서 “보도에 따르면 올해 서 교수가 이집트와 카자흐스탄으로 한국 음식 홍보를 확대할 계획을 가지고 있는 것 같다. 아마 이번 불고기 광고는 아랍이나 카자흐스탄에서 더 잘 통할 것 같다”고 말했다.
<관련 영문 기사>
U.S. media says bulgogi ad on NYT ‘disorienting’
From Korea’s easternmost islets of Dokdo to the country’s popular dish bulgogi, a series of national items have been the subjects of high-profile ads that Sungshin Women’s University professor Seo Kyung-duk ran in various U.S. media outlets.
But his costly promotional campaign seems to have failed to drive home his heartfelt messages to some of the American audience due to hard-to-grasp content and confusing storytelling methods.
U.S. National Public Radio on Friday criticized Seo’s ad for bulgogi, grilled marinated beef, printed in The New York Times, saying it confused the audience with what the reporter deemed poorly written promotional copy.
“What was with the promotion of a national dish rather than a brand? … it would be like Justin Timberlake appearing in a British newspaper ad touting the great taste of hamburgers,” NPR senior editor Luis Clemens wrote in an article posted online last Friday.
The bulgogi ad with baseball player Choo Shin-soo as a model is part of a promotional series to advertise Korean culture and food by Seo, who is known as a “Korea PR Expert” among Koreans since he first placed a full-page ad in The New York Times in 2005 on Dokdo.
But like many who saw the advertisement without background information on the campaign, Clemens said he had difficulty understanding the concept and finding a connection between Choo and bulgogi.
“I was baffled…Was the ad seriously promoting grilled, marinated beef as an essential part of a spring training regimen? Is that why a Texas Rangers outfielder Choo Shin-soo was inviting us all to try bulgogi?” Clemens said.
He also wrote that it was “weird” to see copy that seemed to be written by a non-native speaker of English.
“‘Spring’s here and I’m ready to play!’ Who says that? Why the exclamation point?” he wrote.
A website listed at the bottom of the ad, FortheNextGeneration.com, which is supposed to provide more information about the campaign, led to greater confusion, according to the NPR report.
The main page of the archive-style website features three categories -- hot topic, Korean culture and world issues -- which broke down into three sections for each.
For example, the hot topic section was divided into Dokdo and the East Sea, Goguryeo and Balhae, and comfort women, with each page showing links to related articles and previously published advertisements.
Clemens pointed out the incoherent categorization of the website by saying, “I still didn’t understand why the website contains sections on comfort women and the territorial dispute between Japan and Korea.”
He added that he contacted the email and phone numbers listed on the site for more information but failed to reach anyone.
By Park Han-na (
hnpark@heraldcorp.com)
