Living in Korea has meant having many stories about many different things. one of the first things that you notice about Korea, mainly because it is everywhere, is the advertising. I’ve written elsewhere about some of it, but now that I’m out of Korea, I thought I’d put down some final thoughts about the advertising.
First and foremost, Korean advertising is everywhere. Even the toilet paper holder in my bathroom had a small ad on it.
Some of the advertising is quite pretty. There’s a billboard on the Gangnam side of the Han river, facing north. You see it when you cross the Hannam bridge. This billboard is large, very colourful and changes through about thirty seconds of hardwired animation. It isn’t an LCD, it is a bunch of overlaid neon tubes that continually play out different shape. It was best seen at night and I never had an opportunity to get a good picture of it. It was for LG, I think (for all the times I looked at it, I don’t remember now.).
In this article I’ve linked to a bunch of photos, not quite random, as most have to do with advertising or vending machines. There’s the MSG is good for you advertisement. That one’s quite fun. Not sure how it is good for you but it promotes “Wellthy Food.”
Then there’s the lingerie store where in true Korean style they’ve confused the “L” and “R” sounds and written it “Ringerie.” There was a bar near my first apartment called “Ugly” and apparently for the longest time there was one in Gangnam called “Shithouse” although attempts on my part to find it failed. There was another in that area called “Tomstone.” It was western-themed bar so I guess they just lost the silent “b.”
My favourite name for a story is the one pictured to the right. I don’t want to write out it’s name in case this site gets blocked for profanity. You canread it clearer by clicking on the link. And, No, they don't sell naughty toys or anything the remotest profane.
Other photos on this page include a book vending machine, a coffee vending machine (not really special I guess) and a store that only sells umbrellas. I also have a picture somewhere of the subway gas mask depots, small glass closets full of masks in case there was a terrorist attack on the subway (apparently it happened once).
I’m sure that there were other memorable advertisements or commerce that I’ll think of later. maybe I’ll update this page then.
