Odds and Ends: Star-spangled barbecue
by javabeans
javabeans: Happy Fourth of July, for everyone for whom that means anything! And by “means anything” I’m mostly referring to meat and beer, I think.
girlfriday: Hey, where I come from, meat and beer are things worth celebrating. Not that anyone really needs an excuse to fire up the grill and drink beer. Are you doing anything fun for the holiday?
javabeans: It’s funny that we’re talking about it in the future when it’ll be in the past by the time this goes up.
girlfriday: Side effect of wormhole travel.
javabeans: It makes me want to answer in the… is it past perfect? Future perfect? I will have done something interesting, unless I will have ended up deciding not to go out after all.
girlfriday: I’m on strike because my mom called and left me a message that she’s hosting a huge family barbecue and forgot to invite me.
javabeans: Gasp. Mo~om! And after they’re always pestering us to come home more often?
girlfriday: I know! So now I’m debating whether or not to be a brat about it on principle, or just cave and go eat delicious food.
javabeans: Is that really a choice? You can be a brat when you’re eighty. Go eat! I mean, unless YOU want to go out and buy lots of meat and grill it yourself, that is.
girlfriday: Well that just sounds tiring and completely unrealistic. Sigh, I’ll probably go, but I’m going to pout about it! …while stuffing my face with Korean ribs.
javabeans: That’s better than me. I’m getting a temporary roommate for the next month, so I’ll spend my holiday cleaning things that have maybe never been cleaned before. Turns out shame trumps lazy.
girlfriday: But only just barely.
javabeans: Yes, that’s true, there’s a limit. As in, fine, I’ll put on some pants, but they will be ugly pants. I can only be bothered to care so much.
girlfriday: You already lost me at “wearing pants.”
javabeans: This may be the time to look into muumuus.
girlfriday: Hey, you’re being a good friend and letting your friend stay with you. The least they could do in return is deal with a parade of ugly house clothing.
javabeans: Let’s be real here. It might not be a parade, it might be the same ugly house clothing day after day. I don’t even understand how all those drama heroines flit from one home to another (you know, the Candys who get evicted and go from friend’s couch to jjimjilbang to classroom) and still manage to wear something new every day.
girlfriday: Dude, in You’re All Surrounded, Go Ara lives in a freaking tent on the roof of the police precinct, and she still manages to wear different PJs every night.
javabeans: I almost expect her to have a new tent every night, each one with a spiffy new feature. I have to admit, product placement has gotten to such a ridiculous point that now I find it straight-up entertaining seeing how each drama works in the nonsensical outdoorwear promo, or iced latte pitch.
girlfriday: I know, it’s like a game!
javabeans: Like in Gap-dong when they would take a minute out of their intense serial killer hunt every day to stop and very conspicuously eat fried chicken. I mean, it’s one thing if you’re a cute trendy drama and there’s a chicken shop in the show, but c’mon, serial killer thriller! I’m pretty sure that at a couple points the serial killer himself took time out to eat some fried chicken. That was weird.
girlfriday: To be fair, there were a LOT of weird things about that show, and chicken wasn’t even on my radar until you pointed it out.
javabeans: That’s true, in the scheme of complaints it’s probably way down on the list. Oh, KBS’s weekend fixation with Droptop coffee cracks me up. Mostly because I’ve been watching KBS weekend dramas for the past couple of years and it’s the same deal in every single show. By now they even have water pipes in that damn cafe emblazoned with the logo.
girlfriday: I don’t know why, but Subway is for me the strangest of the food PPL things, because it’s so blatant and it feels out of context, even though I get that sandwiches are normal food.
javabeans: Yes, Subway! Beloved by doctors and prime ministers’ wives the country over. I do think it’s weirder when we have the same brand in the U.S., and it has a different image here than in Korea. I remember the days when dramas thought Dunkin Donuts was so cool, and Baskin Robbins, and I was like, “Really? Those?”
girlfriday: Yeah like Pizza Hut and stuff. It’s like Fast-Food Bizarro Land.
javabeans: And TGI Fridays! Lemme tell you, when that’s the fancy restaurant your chaebol hero runs in Secret, where they hold all sorts of corporate events, it’s definitely strange.
girlfriday: Pwahaha. I think it takes a certain talent to integrate the product placement in a way that isn’t off-putting, and often the best way isn’t trying to hide it, because that’s actually more obvious than just calling attention to it.
javabeans: I Hear Your Voice had some of the best and worst examples, because sometimes you just groaned when they launched into iced beverage service hour, and yet sometimes just watching Lee Bo-young do something made me want to buy that home coffee-making pod thing.
girlfriday: I still totally want one of those.
javabeans: Isn’t that an ingenious tactic: Make a product people want to use, and then people will want to buy it!
girlfriday: And maybe, just maybe, it’s cool enough or delicious-looking enough that you don’t really need its logo emblazoned on it to make people notice?
javabeans: I know! Let your product stand on its merits! Sell good things! Don’t worry about tricking people into buying your stuff!
girlfriday: Annnnd maybe this is why we don’t sell things.
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Tags: conversation post, Odds and Ends
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1 anier
July 6, 2014 at 4:29 AM
Happy 4th girls! Hope you had a good one.
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2 MO
July 6, 2014 at 5:07 AM
I'm losing weight now and this tempted me to eat some food...
(Not anyone's fault, seriously.)
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3 Wag_a_Muffin
July 6, 2014 at 5:40 AM
I had this pithy comment already to type here, but then I felt compelled to (instead) sit down and eat a subway sandwich followed by milk cow dessert.
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4 Kender
July 6, 2014 at 5:40 AM
Hahahaha! Oh the product placement. I live in Ilsan, where almost everything is filmed, and I've been to a lot of those shops and cafes, often entirely by accident. Nearly every restaurant around here has an "as seen on [show name]" sign somewhere, sometimes even on posters outside. Heck, the cafe on the corner in front of my house where I catch the bus has a new filming crew every other week.
But as for image, TGI Fridays is definitely "fancy" here. I tried to go with my friend once because I was homesick for American food and thought "What could be more American than TGIF?" So we trekked over to the top floor of the Lotte Department Store one night and were informed that we'd have to wait an hour and a half (!!!) before we could be seated. There were people happily waiting in the lobby for their chance to eat "fancy" Western food. We laughed and went to get Taco Bell instead.
And I know that Subway! I had lunch there the other week. I even sat at that table...
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5 Sasaeng
July 6, 2014 at 5:43 AM
we're celebrating independence day in my country today! (6th)
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6 coby
July 6, 2014 at 5:45 AM
Happy 4th! I remember when I was in Philippines that when you had Subway for lunch its like WOW! I'm also wondering Do Koreans really like/prefer sandwiches
But I like to have that handy projector of Eun Dae-gu!
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omo
July 6, 2014 at 6:13 AM
Oh...I love that cool projector of Eun Dae-gu too.... Most of the time, I just laughed at the PPL, but this one... I want it!
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missasoen
July 6, 2014 at 6:16 AM
yeah, i was like" I want that one too" when i saw the mini projector. Is that the mini wifi projector that daegu has? if well that's pretty pricey for a micro stuff
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boholanna
July 6, 2014 at 7:22 PM
Me, too! Anyone know what brand it is?
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7 kanz
July 6, 2014 at 5:51 AM
LOL at PPL moments at dramaland.
MBC's A New Leaf smoothly incorporated it to the drama without hampering the story and throw some ridiculous excuse. While SBS and KBS dramas are really blatant on PPL. Ex: GG14Days, Good Doctor, Prime Minister and I, YAAS, etc. I always sigh when they show Blackyak store or Subway or Fried Chicken PPL.
There's also quite unique CF that use drama story and incorporate it into their own CF. Like Northcape CF Empress Ki 650 years later. They use characters from EK and then create the CF as continuation to the drama story. Although it's sageuk it got ads from Northcape, outdoorwear company. Then there's blatant PPL in the last episode of Gu Family Book. I thought watching sageuk means I would never see the latest smartphone or car and I was wrong. LOL
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Gidget
July 6, 2014 at 10:55 PM
In PMI, what I really latched on to wasn't Subway, it was the range in the kitchen. But the name was covered. Spent a couple of hours on Google trying to figure out the right adjectives to get me to the brand, but no luck. Fortunately, the same product line showed up again in INR3. They must have had PPL in place, because the brand name wasn't blocked out. Went to the manufacturer's US website. Strike out. Design line not offered. Went to international website. Jackpot!
I'll be importing it for the remodel of a 1940's beach cottage.
In this case, it's a textbook example of what GF and JB were saying... if a product is good it'll sell itself. And for the blindly persistent, even if the brand name is covered up. ;-)
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8 abiha
July 6, 2014 at 6:57 AM
oh my miho and woonga on the same post.
so much nostalgia from my grlfriend is a gumiho .
tempted to watch it again and now curious how many of the stuff flaunted there were actually ppl .
since i know better now wonder if it will make a differance of a drama i love so much
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9 mary
July 6, 2014 at 7:17 AM
Kinda curious what Korean ribs taste like.
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jomo143
July 6, 2014 at 7:51 AM
Whose?
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oozzeee
July 6, 2014 at 9:18 AM
Bwahahaha!!.. Do we even need to ask?
And yes, PPL.. I was blind to them before, but now that I watch, I always wander if the stuff they're using is PPL or not...
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mary
July 6, 2014 at 10:34 AM
*giggling* EXACTLY.
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jomo143
July 6, 2014 at 11:26 AM
Then, mmmmmmmm...imagining with you.
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Kiara
July 6, 2014 at 8:39 AM
Oh gosh! My favorite is the Korean short ribs (kalbi) with asian pear marinate. It's sweet and juicy with a subtle fruity taste. DE-licious and it smells yummy too.
If you want to try it just buy the ribs that is already marinated. If you like it then you can learn to make your own marinate which will taste even better.
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mary
July 6, 2014 at 11:39 AM
I wasn't thinking about food but your description made me hungry! *gulp*
Maybe I'll check the Korean mini-mart near my workplace. I think there's a sauces section there. (I usually just buy cookies and ice cream hehe)
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10 divyrus
July 6, 2014 at 7:31 AM
Happy 4th girls ! Eat a lot and do that upside down leg shaky thing ! :D
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11 Hugepuffball
July 6, 2014 at 7:40 AM
Yeah, I was thinking the other day, I don't know who the guys REAL parents are yet(duh) and I don't know anything about his plan to somehow overtake his dad(?)/terrible baddie while pushing away the only one he's ever loved... But I know who does the security on his house and what instant rice he uses! (Actually I saw the brand of rice in an asian market last weekend and squealed so I guess it's working...)
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12 jomo143
July 6, 2014 at 7:51 AM
It keeps coming, doesn't it?
I had to make a sour face at a scene in Golden Cross where they sat down to about a quart of grapefruit juice each at dal.komm coffee. Who can stomach that much - at least without makgeoli mixed in. Yummm!
It used to drive me nuts when nobody drank their tiny cup of tea or coffee, but at least I know nobody spent $8.00 on it.
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13 Marina
July 6, 2014 at 8:04 AM
Happy 4th. Hope you are having nice long weekend. It's not really all about beer and barbecue, just like Christmas isn't about presents. It's supposed be about freedom not to pay taxes to the king and being left alone by the powerful nobles with British accent. And look where we are now: paying taxes for everything we touch and being trumped all over by the new nobility - politicians. OK. Enough with my Tea Party rant.
Forget fried chicken, and the Subway, (one was even bought by the second female lead in Big Man) and all the countless coffee shops. Every Kdrama is a commercial for beer and soju. And I thought my native land, Belarus, is #1 most intoxicated country in the world. I swear I thought it was S. Korea. :)
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14 Marina
July 6, 2014 at 8:22 AM
I forgot to include the link to the Most Drunk Countries article. Here it is:
http://www.realtytoday.com/articles/5795/20140514/who-names-world-s-drunk-countries-map.htm
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15 canxi
July 6, 2014 at 9:35 AM
My fave PPL moments are the ones where they are advertising juice or something and the label is so obviously in your face.
Another is shampoo or skin products. I forget which drama it was but one of the characters used the hair product and was like "How is it? Is my hair really shiny and nice??" and her friend was like "Oh...wow! It really does look nice. What is that??" and it was smack in the middle of some completely unrelated topic. Hilarious.
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16 windsun33
July 6, 2014 at 10:23 AM
On the other end, Japanese dramas seem almost devoid of PPL, or I just am not very observant. Even when they use a computer, instead of Google they put up something like Goggle or MyTube.
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canxi
July 6, 2014 at 10:28 AM
I think they get sponsors and they give credit. Like you see the whole jumble of product names in the middle of the episode or right before/in the theme song, lol. Maybe if they get the right people, the money just comes to them, lol.
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The Real CZ
July 6, 2014 at 8:54 PM
J-dramas have commercials and take 15 seconds right after commercial breaks to show the sponsors.
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17 acquii
July 6, 2014 at 10:31 AM
Hahha... PPL placement when discussed in this manner is simply hilarious. Should start a tally count!
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18 faeee
July 6, 2014 at 10:48 AM
will you be recapping, 'marriage not dating'?
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Lisa@SD
July 6, 2014 at 1:32 PM
So far I like it better than Fated to Love You. I am enjoying it a lot. I wish there were more comments and viewers for this series. I hadn't seen anything with Han Groo before. She is doing a good job.
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JJK
July 6, 2014 at 2:35 PM
Watched it without knowing what the show is going to be about and it turned out to be unexpectedly good. I am new to Han Groo too - she kinda gave me an f(x) Krystal's vibe initially but her solid acting is winning me over.
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jusash
July 6, 2014 at 11:00 PM
Me too = liking Marriage Without Dating, more than Fated To Love you. 2 episodes of that whizzed by quickly, in comparison even 1 episode of Fated was hard to digest.
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Chandler
July 7, 2014 at 12:49 AM
It's definitely my favorite rom-com of the bunch!!! :) Though it is a shame, it's understandable that, with all the recent shows, this one would be hard to pick up. It's getting some attention over at Musing's of a Twinkie so we can discuss it there. There's no full recaps, but it features musings on each episode etc., and is a good place to comment about the show.
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19 sartorius
July 6, 2014 at 10:49 AM
my feels~~~ the top pic makes me wanna go rewatch my girlfriend is a gumiho!
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thursdaynexxt
July 7, 2014 at 2:49 AM
Yes!! Just looking at that pic makes me crave some nice kalbi ...
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20 Noelle
July 6, 2014 at 11:45 AM
I didn't get to barbecue but I got to drink beer so still a win.
Happy belated 4th.
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21 Chandler
July 6, 2014 at 12:09 PM
Mmmmm BBQ & beer. Yup, that pretty much sums up my 4th. I kept telling myself I should go watch fireworks or something, but I got a fire going outside and that was festive enough for me :)
I've always wondered at the increase in more blatant product placement over the last few years. I'm trying to think of a drama back in 2007 that had such intrusive product placement and I can't really think of any. Does anyone know why it's changed so much?
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Lisa@SD
July 6, 2014 at 1:44 PM
To help pay for production costs. Perhaps due to ratings, or other factors, some don't have enough funds to pay staff and actors Drama production companies are independent. If they get to sell them abroad, they might recuperate costs andeven make a profit. Have you watched King of Dramas or the The World That They Live In? They portray what it is like behind the scenes of drama productions.
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Chandler
July 6, 2014 at 7:57 PM
Thanks! Yes, I've seen King of Dramas and I am aware that that's why they do it, but I guess my question is more how they avoided having so much product placement in earlier dramas. Because rewatching an old favorite and then catching an ep of one of the latest dramas can be pretty jarring.
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22 Kailani
July 6, 2014 at 12:52 PM
Happy 4th to those who celebrated!
& I miss your podcasts! You should do a new one, I'm sure you have plenty to talk about :)
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23 wildfly
July 6, 2014 at 1:27 PM
Love you both :)
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24 August
July 6, 2014 at 4:15 PM
Nice 4th of July picture selection with Mi-Ho (played by Shin Min-A). Further down in the post was the added bonus of seeing Lee Seung-Gi's picture. Definitely a fan of My Girlfriend is a Nine-Tailed Fox.
Since the topic of this post ventured into past and recent PPL, I fully expected a shout-out and picture of the scene in Episode 2 of Fated to Love with Jang Hyuk on the bed in Calvin Klein underwear.
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Lizzy4e
July 7, 2014 at 7:35 AM
Oh gosh! completely missed the BRAND of underware, I was too busy looking at what the underware was packaging. (hee, yep, that was a double entendre, tee hee)
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25 Ennayra
July 6, 2014 at 7:12 PM
Is it bad that I didn't even notice all the fried chicken in Gap Dong? Thanks to dramas, I do have the impression that everyone really likes fried chicken in South Korea though.
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26 Chhavi
July 6, 2014 at 11:03 PM
Totally agree with the KBS's-Droptop-Cafe-love.....the cafe's interior design always makes me scratching my head.....
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27 August
July 7, 2014 at 6:36 AM
I really liked the Cartier PPL in the 2013 Kdrama When a Man Loves with Song Seung-Heon. The jewelry was absolutely gorgeous and fit within the actual story-line.
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28 fiske
July 7, 2014 at 8:08 AM
From my first trip to Korea, I think Pizza Hut was on the list of strangest things I saw. First I thought I was going to be kicked out for not having fancy enough clothes. Then my carefully google translated "cheese pizza" left the waitresses stumped. I then paid about $10 for one of those pizza's I got for free from Pizza Hut with Book-It as a kid. They also put a bow on the box and gave me sweet pickels.
While in the US when in Pizza Hut the concerns are more along the lines of, why are there no lights in here? Will the building collapse?
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