/Photo = TVN Wednesday and Thursday drama’Goddess Advent’ capture
High school girls eating instant hot pot, which can only be found on fastball websites, at outdoor tables in Korean convenience stores. The irrational PPL of the Chinese brand in tvN’s Wednesday and Thursday drama’The Goddess Advent’ is controversial. Viewers who pretended to be unaware of the delivery box and the billboard at the bus stop with’cloudy eyes’ raised the question, “Is this a Korean drama set in Korea?” to the appearance of the characters eating instant hot pot at the outdoor table of a convenience store.
In particular, the hot pot is not universally sold in Korea. This product was sold for 20,000 won through overseas direct buying sites. In addition to this scene, the Chinese color of’Goddess Advent’, such as’Jingdong’, a Chinese e-commerce company, and red lanterns that are hard to see on Korean streets, can be seen not only in PPL, but also in various scenes.
“I am not in a position to hide the Chinese capital”
/Photo = Getty Image Bank
After the controversy erupted, the drama producers expressed their bitterness and said, “It is an unavoidable reality.” In particular, as content competition intensifies and drama production costs increase, indirect advertisements and sponsorships are not in a situation where they will not be rejected. It is not “it is said that it is Chinese capital”, but “it is not in a position to hide Chinese capital.”
In particular, SBS’Romantic Doctor Kim Sa-bu’ season 2, which hit the jackpot last year with an audience rating exceeding 20%, is difficult to make a profit by simply making a drama based on the audience rating so that the word “expected to lose a deficit” comes out at the SBS audience committee meeting. Even if the viewership is good, it is a loss, and if the viewership is not good, it can cause a loss of 400 million won per episode.
Therefore, the overseas market has to be minded from the planning stage, and production itself is difficult without large capital and investment. “It is a reality that it is difficult for producers to ignore the scenes and settings that are required by companies that paid for money.”
“It’s not about PPL, it’s about impractical settings
‘Goddess Advent’ featuring Chinese characters and red lanterns in an alley with Seoul in the background/Photo = TVN Wednesday and Thursday drama’Goddess Advent’ capture
‘The Goddess Advent’ is not the first time that Chinese capital paid money for a Korean drama. In 2014, SBS’Three Days’ made a restaurant reservation, but the Chinese app Taobao appeared, and in 2016 tvN’Goblin’, a product of Chinese cocktail brand RIO appeared.
Nevertheless, what became a problem with the’goddess’ advent’ was the far-off reality. Excessive PPL in dramas has always been the subject of criticism. In addition, the recent historical distortion of the’Northeast Project’, as well as Kimchi and Hanbok, as well as independence activists such as Yun Dong-ju, are their own.
Popular antipathy was directly linked to the ratings. ‘Goddess Advent’, which recorded 3.6% (Nielsen Korea, based on paid platform) at the time of its first broadcast, rose to 3.9% in the controversial 7th broadcast. However, shortly after the criticism grew, the number of episodes broadcasted dropped to 2.9%.
Chinese companies,’why?’
/Photo = TVN Wednesday and Thursday drama’Goddess Advent’ capture
‘Jingdong.com’ (DJ.COM), a major sponsor of’Goddess Advent’, does not provide official services in Korea. The reason why Chinese companies advertise products that are neither officially released nor available in Korea is because they are conscious of the global popularity of Korean dramas.
It has already been widely known that Aichi has become the mainstream OTT platform in China by broadcasting’My Love from the Star’ and’Descendants of the Sun’ in China. Consumption of Korean content in China with ‘Han-Ryeong’ was officially banned, but Chinese people are still consuming Korean content in real time by bypassing through VPNs. MBC’What do you do when you play?’ Lee Hyo-ri’s remarks on’Mao’ and SBS’s’Running Man’ in Taiwan were controversial through SNS in China right after the broadcast, because Korean content is still gaining great popularity.
In addition, as Korean dramas are gaining high popularity overseas through Netflix, etc., they are supporting production of Korean dramas to strengthen their global influence.
In fact,’Goddess’ Advent’ was an antipathy to Korean viewers, but in China, reactions such as “I am proud”, “This is the power of China”, and “I feel like watching a Chinese drama” came out.
/Photo = Online community capture
There are also voices of concern about the deterioration of the quality of the content due to the false sweep of Chinese capital. In particular, the voice of “You must act wisely” as Taiwan’s popular culture content production, which was active until the early 2000s, was absorbed into Chinese capital, and the Disney movie’Mulan’, in which Chinese capital was invested in Hollywood, was controversial. Is coming out.
Reporter Kim So-yeon, Hankyung.com [email protected]
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