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Of every two commercials on the airwaves today, one is using football to sell you something. It's still two months till the World Cup, but advertisers have already gone World Cup crazy.
Kicking off the year, it was a commercial for Samsung Electronics' Pavv televisions spot featuring Coaches Dick Advocaat and Guus Hiddink, and since then most brands has taken a ride on the World Cup bandwagon. It's not just the official World Cup sponsors: beverage companies, cosmetics makers, financial institutions and even the domestic pig farmers association have all run ads based on the World Cup theme.
Among these, KTF and SK Telecom have been going head-to-head in a clash of the telecommunications giants.
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Park Ji-sung and Lee Young-pyo in an SK Telecom commercial
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KTF has the edge after securing the official sponsorship of the Red Devils, a distinction it tirelessly publicizes. In February, an ad that showed a newborn baby with its umbilical cord still attached and announced the arrival of the newest Red Devil (the Korean National Team's group of supporters), stirred up emotions. A reality-show style ad shows a Red Devil in Seoul's busiest district, Myeongdong, holding a megaphone and shouting "Dae-han-min-gook".
SK telecom roped in Yoon Do-hyun, who became a sensation during the 2002 World Cup and has again managed to draw attention after rewriting the national anthem to a pounding rock beat. Even though there was controversy over the use of the anthem, it no doubt succeeded in catching the eye of the public. The company released the second spot in a series where Korea's two English Premier Leaguers, Park Ji-sung and Lee Young-pyo, appear against the background of bustling streets in London while the Korean national anthem rings out through the streets.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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