Odds and Ends: Queen of the things
by javabeans
javabeans: This week, we have to talk about this hilarious trailer that gummimochi sent our way, for Queen of Sword (kal-eh-yuh-wang).
girlfriday: It stars Kim Sung-ryung, of Heirs, King’s Wrath, and The Target.
javabeans: At first you’re thinking, “This is cool. Is it a video game? An epic animated crossover action film?”
girlfriday: I was thinking dark fairytale like Maleficent. Here, you watch.
javabeans: It provides one of those gradual awakenings, in terms of how it takes the entire course of the video for you to get an inkling that maybe you’re wrong, and it’s not a trailer for a movie. Or a drama. Or a video game. Maybe it’s something different altogether?
girlfriday: Maybe it’s a commercial for something???
javabeans: And yet, even then you’re not thinking, “Food products! Yes, that’s it!” You’re thinking, “Oh I don’t know, maybe cosmetics? Ren Faire tickets? Cosplay experience packages?”
girlfriday: Sometimes the Korean commercials for banks or lines of credit can get creative, so maybe you think it’s something unexpected like that.
javabeans: Let me tell you what I didn’t think it would be. A COMMERCIAL FOR CURRY. First of all, there’s no curry in it. Or rice. Or eating.
girlfriday: BUT… there is a pun! Queen of Sword [kal-eh-yuh-wang] is REALLY Queen of Curry [ka-reh-yuh-wang].
javabeans: Insert world’s biggest badum-ching here.
girlfriday: It’s especially funny in that narrator’s accent.
javabeans: And the “Not in IMAX, not in 3D, only in 2D!”
girlfriday: Because you have to get the curry to experience the 3D version?
javabeans: I sure hope so. Talk about a cheeky promo strategy. It’s on par with Namja Ramyun (man noodles, or also if you are a man). Or really, even Namja Kimchi, which doesn’t have a pun but was just funny.
girlfriday: All those namja foods are funny, also because they sound vaguely pornographic. But Queen of Curry really takes the cake for clever, almost to the point of being too smart to actually sell your intended product.
javabeans: Totally! It’s like that famous “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing” commercial, which everyone remembers for the plates of spaghetti and doesn’t remember as an ad for Alka Seltzer. Apparently this is Queen of Curry’s MO, because here’s a commercial they released last year, and I’m kicking myself for not seeing it sooner.
girlfriday: This one isn’t as immediately funny (they’re linking famous queens throughout history to their secret love of curry), but then it gets increasingly ridiculous, and it’s pretty awesome. Here, at least, there is curry pictured, just inserted into famous works of art.
javabeans: “Here is the card representing the queen. In her hand, she holds the symbol of her power, a flower. But what about her other hand? Today, we will focus our attention on this startling secret. In truth, the collar at the card’s halfway point betrays the traces of curry. [Premium Curry Pattern] … Painted on walls, written on papyrus, and on countless artifacts, traces can be seen of the queen’s love of curry.”
girlfriday: It’s such History Channel grandeur.
javabeans: The best part is all the Youtube comments that are all, “Wut. I just watched the whole thing and it was a commercial?!”
girlfriday: I want to meet this ad team, because they’re probably nutty but geniuses.
javabeans: I feel like they’re the kind of people who prank you so subtly that you don’t realize you’re being pranked.
girlfriday: Well it sure beats the straight version. Mmm, curry!
javabeans: Now I want all my ads to entertain but confuse me about which products they’re selling. Why tell me what you want me to buy when I can guess?
girlfriday: It reminds me of that really crazy ad stunt a while back for this fake bottled water called Outhouse Springs. My friends and I would see these giant billboards advertising “America’s 1st Recycled Water,” with slogans like, “It’s not #2, it’s #1!” Ewwww. It did have us guessing what the hell the ads were for, since it couldn’t have actually been for water.
javabeans: Or so you hoped. At least this product is actually palatable.
girlfriday: Yes, once you figure out what the heck they’re selling. If I run out and buy curry now, will they make a 3D sequel?
javabeans: I think that’s your job. Heat, stir, and serve.
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Tags: CFs, conversation post, Odds and Ends
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1 Lizzie
June 7, 2014 at 4:40 AM
LOL…my reaction to the 1st video was my reaction to watching a Geico commercial…"how does THAT relate to the product you're selling??? but oh well, whatever, it was entertaining, dumb, or just brow-raising, etc." But for the 1st video above, i really thought it was a preview of some sort of historical anime/drama (a Korean Queen Elizabeth?? LOL)…I never expect it to be a commercial advertising curry…love it, though, including the 2nd video below it, ROFL…
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2 Aneleh
June 7, 2014 at 5:05 AM
This is what happens when you push your creativeness to its last possible limit. But I actually like the result. And I'd totally buy that curry.
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3 divyrus
June 7, 2014 at 6:10 AM
Thanks for the laugh at end of a depressing week !
Now I totally want all my ads to be this way !!!
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chocolander
June 7, 2014 at 6:55 AM
Oh right, forgot to add, now I will never look at the Queen of Spades in the same way again. Pfft, her curry collar! :)
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chocolander
June 7, 2014 at 6:56 AM
Oops sorry divyrus, I wasn't replying you, I was gonna make it a follow up comment to mine below
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4 chocolander
June 7, 2014 at 6:53 AM
O.O wow that was seriously creative! :) now I'm getting the munchies for curry~~~
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5 djeedjes
June 7, 2014 at 7:14 AM
that's a very creative ads...and the curry looks delicious, even though I don't like curry at all.
Korean ads are indeed interesting....have you ever seen the one with Si Jisub promoting bra?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jhf-jHC6o4A
I mean, what SJS has to do with bra, and why he looks so blissful, does he wear Vivien too? And girls, are you going to buy bra just because SJS endorsed it?
But then I have friend who asked me to buy her Innisfree products just because Lee Minho is the model. I asked her whether the packaging has LMH pic on it, and nope, I just feel like I need to buy because oppa said it's good.
If you're interested with ads, I personally think that Thailand has many interesting, with brilliant ideas CFs.
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Mieosa
June 7, 2014 at 9:45 AM
HILARIOUS! So Ji Sub smiling right after the bra, I bet he's thinking "omg im actually doing this commercial".
Thanks for this great vid!
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risa
June 7, 2014 at 9:48 AM
That bra commercial is really funny. Somehow it seems very So Ji Sub.
I'm the opposite of you~ I love curry, but the instant variety doesn't look very appealing to me. I so miss the Pakistani hole-in-the-wall curry houses I used to frequent when I lived in Yorkshire (England)~ they had the best curries ever.
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windsun33
June 7, 2014 at 11:10 AM
I totally scoff at celebrity endorsements, because they tend to turn me off the product if they have any effect at all. But obviously I am not all people, as they have been proven to sell even products totally unrelated.
And yes, Thai has some really good commercials, especially some of the Thai Life Insurance ones.
As far as curry goes, pretty much the only type I can eat is the Japanese style.
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KDaddict
June 7, 2014 at 6:39 PM
Talking about bra commercials, have you folks seen this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0bC__I-Lqs
Wouldn't you buy it for the effect?
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dkaoru
June 7, 2014 at 9:08 PM
huhahahahaha thankts for the video link, this made my day hahahaha I was thinking oh when "she" wipes her make up now she's gonna look ugly... hahahahahahhahaha
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6 JC
June 7, 2014 at 7:36 AM
Thank you for this! I think those curry ads made my day. :'D
And man, I could watch the ad for Namja Ramyun forever.
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7 risa
June 7, 2014 at 9:40 AM
LOL @ the Outhouse Springs water campaign. If anyone else is curious about it, here's the scoop: http://www.lighthousedigest.com/digest/StoryPage.cfm?StoryKey=1817 I can't remember which drama it was, but I remember cracking up at some subs that kept referring to a guesthouse or something as an outhouse.
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8 windsun33
June 7, 2014 at 11:02 AM
Japan has done a few cute bra commercials over the years also, and some of the Vietnam KFC commercials are also pretty good, like http://youtu.be/KzL9E9PbhW0
Asian commercials - even when sexy - seem to be a lot more subtle than most European TV ads, which can often be severely in-your-face.
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9 Ace
June 7, 2014 at 11:07 AM
Darn it! I was already hungry for a midnight snack and am now munching popcorn as a result, but now I'm hungry watching that 2nd vid even though it was not as good as the first one. Love SK CFs.
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10 windsun33
June 7, 2014 at 11:49 AM
This Vietnamese commercial is one of the most WTF ones - it took a few seconds to sink in http://youtu.be/o3NEtsgeHDs
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Sabreena
June 7, 2014 at 4:34 PM
That most certainly was WTF
Thanks for the share
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Kokare
June 10, 2014 at 10:01 PM
OMG. What in the world?????? I had to really laugh out loud at the craziness of this commercial.
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11 Ek Ladhki Thi is Kim Eun-sooks no 1 fan
June 7, 2014 at 1:49 PM
Wang.Ji.Won! That second ad actually made me want to buy Curry even though I kinda hate it. That first ad was too funny, I kept thinking 'what?!' And in the second ad, wasn't that Choi Ji-woo's voice? Immediately she said 'is this...' I recalled her dead-pan 'is this an order' face in Suspicious Housekeeper.
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12 kanz
June 7, 2014 at 3:35 PM
I still don't understand the movie trailer. I don't know what to expect from the movie.
Have to say SK CFs are really creative. I see a CF about bank and it's not involving bank or money at all.
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Ek Ladhki Thi is Kim Eun-sooks no 1 fan
June 7, 2014 at 3:45 PM
It's actually not a movie trailer, it's a Curry CF.
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13 PPasun
June 7, 2014 at 3:49 PM
A new Chinese film is promoting itself by naming itself "Heirs from Another Star." I cracked up when some netizens suggested that they also come up with "You Who are Heirs," "That Winter I Heard Your Voice," "Hotel King Is All Surrounded" "The Moon Embracing Master's Sun" etc. etc. Someone also suggested that they name the male lead Do Tan.
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Do Tan
June 7, 2014 at 6:44 PM
My name may be Do Tan but I can do you too.
;)
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14 Julia the Berkshire Beanie
June 7, 2014 at 5:16 PM
It is all your fault I had curry for dinner. 나는 오뚜기 3분 카레를 저녁 식사로 먹었다. (Probably wrong Korean, but I am trying to get to the point where I can form sentences.)
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15 dal
June 7, 2014 at 8:04 PM
OMG the "Woman of Sword" got me. lol I thought it was a movie or drama or cartoon show when it said “Not in IMAX, not in 3D, only in 2D!” ....haha......
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16 dkaoru
June 7, 2014 at 9:18 PM
This is definitely the best Curry ad ever.
But I don't have any desire to eat curry after watching it...
I do wonder is anyone gonna make that queen of word anime? It looks interesting. Someone should make that otherwise am left with all these questions, is the Queen trying to take power from the King? Was she a princess who wants to be a Queen? Who's her knight? hahahahhaa
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17 143512
June 8, 2014 at 1:22 PM
Hmm...I wonder if this has anything to do with the ridiculous curry product placement in Doctor Stranger. You know the bit where Hoon keeps fantasizing about how tasty curry wrapped in seaweed is and the viewers are all like 'wtf is even going on right now?'.
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18 Melbeanie
June 9, 2014 at 3:31 AM
Lol! Hmm, so the curry company actually approved of this ad? They're actually willing to pay for quite a sum for this? Will it actually help sell the product when the product itself is not shown and people are left thinking what the hell was that? Ah, but there is the pun. But what if the simple-minded couldn't get the pun? So the targeted consumers would just be, well, those who can get it? But well, the animated ad really looked intriguing (and funny - not in iMax...). So probably, they banked on the intrigue and people would tend to research on it, then voila, "Man, it's just a curry ad, unbelievable! Uh, what brand is that, I wonder? Well, I better try it". Gawd, I guess it is an effective ad after all. Maybe, they really are geniuses.
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19 Rovi
June 9, 2014 at 11:44 AM
By the way this CF plays with words, this totally reminds me of the skit in "Gag Concert" named "Tell the Story", where one of the cast, Kim Jimin, plays with words then tells her catchphrase, "Please try to understand my words at one go". Foreign audiences (especially relying on KBS World's sometimes low-standard subs) wouldn't usually understand or get the joke, but when you have a trained ear for Korean you'd laugh.
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