Spotlight on Commercials (esp AFN's)

Let me first talk about 2 Korean commercials: One is for a fast food restaurant called Lotteria...it's like a McDonald's but Korean-y (I gather, but I have yet to patron one). Anyway, I just think it's hilarious because it's all about advertising this burger called the "kimchi burger." I have no idea what is said in the commercial, but at the end a chick holds up one of the burgers and yells in this incredible annoying high-pitched voice (reminiscent of the dubbed voices used for the Japanese actress judges on Iron Chef), "Kimchi!!!!" Which reminds me, on the kimchi note (but not the commercial note) we had a Korean tak a picture of us once and they said to us, "Say kimchi!" Haha. :D

Korean commerical #2: It's for a face wash, but it confused the bejeezus out of me the first 10 times or so I saw it. It's your typical face wash commerical what with the Korean chick washing her face and looking all fresh and whatnot, but the voice-over (annoying Korean chick again) keeps saying what sounds like, "Neutrogena sensitive bone cleanser!" First of all, why is it in English, second of all, wtf is a bone cleanser?? I finally figured out that she was supposed to be saying "sensitive foam cleanser." Ahhhh...ok...makes much more sense now...but it still cracks me up when I hear it.

And now for your feature presentation of "AFN 'Commercials'"!

AFN (American Forces Network) commercials can't advertise any products...I guess it has something to do with the fact that all the shows they play they get for free or something. Anyway, so instead of normal commercials they are just military propaganda spots or public service-type announcements that are shot with the quality of local car or lawyer commericals. If even that good. Some are also incredibly bizarre. And they don't exactly paint a pretty picture of our armed forces.

First there's the commercials for AFN Korea itself. One commercial features Shaggy (Jamaican-sounding singer of 'It wasn't Me,' not Shaggy from Scooby Doo) talking in his annoying voice about how great AFN is...and ends it with some assinine statement just so he can get the phrase "It wasn't me" in there. Then there's the one with the members of Quiet Riot singing AFN's praises. That's just funny in itself. Then there's my favorite, which just shows bombs exploding and huge guns shooting to the beat of a Linkin Park song. Cool, let's blow shit up!!! Join the Armed Forces! Kill some gooks! Ugh.

Ok, now on to their PSA-type commercials. The one that I find the most bizarre involves a girl putting on make-up in front of a mirror. Now, she's not doing anything but putting on make-up. Then, words start flashing on the screen. First 'Love.' Then 'Sex.' Then the word flashing starts getting more frantic and the words 'ABORTION' and 'AIDS' are added to the mix. Huh??? She's just putting on make-up! Then the last word flashed up is 'DEATH," with the tagline, "Think about it." Ummm, ok, I'm trying to think about it but wtf? I guess it's just supposed to be promoting safe sex, but 1) it's a little extreme, and 2)she was just putting on make-up. There wasn't even a guy in sight.

Then there's a crap-load of commericals about sexual harassment. What gets me about these commericals is their rationale for not committing sexual harrassment. Never do they mention the fact that it's just plain wrong. But they do say that it should not be tolerated because it "disrupts troop morale and hinders the smooth functioning of the troop." It just seems odd how they discuss it. The fact that there are a bunch of them playing (along with a decent number of domestic abuse commercials) makes you wonder how life is going for women in the military (not like I though it was great for them before seeing these commercials). There's also this one about how prostitution and human trafficking is illegal, so don't do it and report any of these activities that you see. It was a surprise to me to learn that prostitution was against the law in Korea as I've walked down more than one red light district (one in Seoul that was pretty bad and another in Suwon). I guess there's also a huge one in Pyeongtaek right by the subway/train station. But I haven't walked down that street. Anyway, for a place with obvious red light districts it's interesting to note it's illegal.

There's this commerical I just saw that starts with a shot of a coil of chains. It starts being uncoiled as a voice says, "Strength, both physical and mental are of key importance. Any weak link affects readiness." Then the chain breaks apart and shatters and the voice says, "Enough said?" :D

Then there's the doozy I just saw that's pretty much a big Christopher Columbus orgy. I especially hate this commerical because I hate CC. I guess it's because they're telling about when CC Day is, but it's seriously sick how much glory they paint Columbus in. They talk all about his great discoveries and his triumphant return to Spain, etc. Then they mention some Columbus door that's a part of the US capitol building and how it's in honor of CC. It made me either want to puke or throw something at my tv. I did neither, but it took quite a bit for me to hold back. Ugh.

Ok, all for tonight. Sorry no pics, but I haven't taken any recently.