South Korea's Effective Use of Celebrity Endorsement

         South Korea is one of the developed countries out there, and like any developed country, it is overflowing with businesses and companies, both big and small. America is also a developed country, overflowing with businesses and companies, both big and small. Various products in both countries are typically marketed very effectively. However, I feel that there's one advertising tactic that America could take up on.

        It's celebrity endorsement. In South Korea, you flip on a T.V. and like T.V. that we Americans are used to, you may land on a channel broadcasting at the moment a commercial or a series of commercials. But instead of an unfamiliar model endorsing the product, you will see a singer, actor/actress, a popular athlete or a very well-known model flashing the endorsed product at the camera. You turn on the television here in U.S., and yes you may very well see a commercial and the case is opposite to that of South Korea. Celebrity endorsements are rare and you just see a bunch of models, who most of the time are portrayed as regular people.

Korean Figure Skater and Olympics Gold Metalist Kim Yuna - Maeil Milk CF screenshot

Korean actor Byung Hun Lee - Vega Secret Note Phone CF screenshot

         

          I understand that South Korea is a lot smaller country than America, so the local commercials here probably can't hire Hollywood stars, but why can't big name companies use more celebrity endorsements? Celebrity endorsements, at least I found, are very effective. I know lots of fans who buy certain products just because their favorite star endorsed it, and I admit to being one of them. 

         Of course, I'm not ruling out that America never uses celebrity endorsements. But I feel like the very rare times I see an actress is for cosmetics and very rarely clothes. It's not a stretch to say that every big name company in Korea uses a celebrity for promoting their new products. Why can't America? Wouldn't it be good for the fans, the starts, and also the companies who probably profits the most out of the three here?

         Another disclaimer, I'm not a hater to all the models that are used for advertisements, but it is nice to see a celebrity I like on T.V. other than for just their movies or shows. Not only on T.V., but when I'm shopping, I can't help but be drawn to a product that an actress I know have endorsed.

          In addition, when it comes to celebrity endorsements, the styles of the two countries are also different. For America, the company seems to merely hire a celebrity to be the face of their product for the duration of the promotion. Of course, people are smart so they hire one who is appropriate for the advertisement and one who is popular. But like I said earlier, I normally only see American celebrities endorsing cosmetics or clothes. Hardly do they do commercials for food, drinks, cars, phones (I really want to see a Hollywood star endorse a cell phone!), and lots of other things. 

          But then again, Americans are consumers so without the use of celebrity endorsements, people continue to buy the newest iPods, eat what they want, select the make-up they like, all for various other reasons rather than their favorite star has endorsed it. But don't misunderstand - it's not like Koreans are so shallow that they're motivated to eat, wear, and beautify only according to who endorsed the products. But it is true that Koreans do a good job of "celebritizing", meaning, if you're just another athlete but of course you're extraordinary at the sport you play, hence Kim Yuna, then people will naturally love you and then you will receive all these love calls to endorse this and that, be on this show, photoshoot for that magazine... It was interesting to see during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver how, unlike of the other Asian figure skaters, Kim Yuna's face was clearest of moles and her teeth were straightened. It's because even before the 2010 Winter Olympics, her popularity has been growing and she's been on television numerous times for both performing and for, you guessed it, commercial films. So she is a star and is very much treated like one, she gets all the beautifying that any other star receives. The Korean citizens' power of "celebritizing."

         So like I said, America is a lot bigger country where local commercials are a lot more prominent than in South Korea, how ever, when it comes to advertising on the national level, using celebrity endorsements would not be a bad switch. Not at all.

K-pop boy group TEEN TOP endorsing Sketcher's LIV

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