EXPRESS

written by 20721 Lee Eunsoo In the movie Transformer 3 , the main character, Sam, wears a t-shirt by the Chinese clothing brand called Meters/Bonwe. One of the robots drinks Chinese Shuhua brand milk. A Chinese computer brand called Lenovo changed into a robot. Have you guys ever seen Chinese words or Chinese foods appearing unnaturally in movies or television shows? Product placement is a type of marketing where the brand of a product or service appears in the story of a movie, television or any entertainment content. This marketing is called embedded marketing, which allows consumers to look at the brand’s product indirectly and more naturally, so it can lead to the consumer’s attitude change. Many Chinese products are out of context in many foreign media. Audiences worldwide will see Chinese words or lifestyle products appear in English movies such as Hollywood blockbusters. Chinese producers often use this embedded marketing to allow consumers of the contents to naturally experienc...

written by 10206 Kim Eunsung Think of what you do before you go to bed. Most people are scrolling down the small screen, giggling. What pops up on your feed is made to match your taste and attract you. You play some videos that you would like to watch. Maybe you might click the like button if you liked it. A girl who is a huge fan of K-pop opens YouTube on her phone. Her feed will show videos about K-pop idols, lyrics of a song or a TV show where her favorite idol group appears. On her TikTok, it might show edits of the idol. She will push the like buttons on these videos and maybe subscribe to those pages. Have you ever thought about how the contents you see on your feed perfectly match your taste? That’s because AI algorithms have learned what you like based on your watch history. Before AI algorithms and streaming services existed, you had to switch and scroll through videos by yourself in order to find a show that you would like. However, these days, most of us do not switch channe...

written by 10421 Lee Jian “Maybe this is what happens when you grow up. You feel less joy,” Joy states in Inside Out 2 . Older people gradually think deeper than when they were young. They first experience diverse emotions through this process. Adolescence may be the time to learn how to deal with these emotions. Inside Out 2 is an animated film by Pixar depicting a teenage girl experiencing puberty. The film used the technique of visual imagery, sound design and directions to express one’s emotions and create sympathetic feelings for audiences of all ages. Pixar is well known for its innovative expressions of unique ideas in animations. The unusual approach made the previous film, Inside Out , a big hit. Inside Out 2 was no exception. The animation used visual elements such as colors that could represent different emotions effectively. Joy, for example, is represented with bright yellow and blue, symbolizing optimism and brightness. A new emotion like Anxiety is depicted with an ene...

written by 20125 Choi Seoyeon Why did the program change? This is because the viewers’ perceptions vastly influence the programs, especially Korean dating programs. We Got Married is a fictional dating program about married celebrity couples that was broadcast in 2008. On the program, a man and woman who were popular stars fictitiously dating each other appeared. Generally, many viewers cheered for their relationship and enjoyed their dating life. Also, these fans have various levels of approval with them. Some viewers even want them to become a real couple. However, the viewership changed from regular people into idol fans because of who the celebrities were. Idol’s fans are sensitive and reactive. K-pop idols have global popularity now. Some groups even target overseas countries. They perform on the bigger world stages so they can have a wonderful career globally compared to past idols. They couldn’t perform like now because their position in the universal music market was so small. ...

written by 20714 Ryu Hajin Idol fandoms have now become a solid part of the K-pop music scene. NCTzen, the NCT fandom, is doing fan labor for the growth of idols beyond just fan activities. As a result, the fandom culture surrounding idols is changing rapidly. This change is having a big impact not only on the way fans are active but also on the way they consume and create idol content. Idol fandom is becoming an increasingly industrialized consumption culture in that fans who used to focus simply on consuming idols are now performing a kind of labor for their success and development. Idol Fandom’s Playbor Fairy Tale As the idol industry develops, fandom activities become increasingly laborious. When there is an idol’s comeback or the release of a new album, fans go beyond just listening to music. In addition, they help by carrying out various strategic activities for the idol’s success. Fans actively search for idols on portal sites or rank them in search rankings. They also share rel...

written by 10202 Kim Nayeon In recent years, K-pop has become more popular and diversified. It has also become a global phenomenon beyond Korea, and many K-pop artists have big fandoms. The rise of foreign fandoms has brought K-pop into the mainstream of many countries outside of Korea. This has caused the industry to expand and led to many large and small changes. A few years ago, music used to have a universal structure of introduction-verse-chorus. “Lovesick Girls” by BLACKPINK first sets the mood with a strong beat sound in the introduction. Then, the verse evokes emotion with a strong, energetic melody. In the chorus, there is a catchy part with an emotional explosion, causing the climax of the song. But nowadays, it is trendy to have shortened introductions or mix the order of structural elements. Twice’s “Fancy” has a short introduction of eight seconds. It’s ambiguous what the verse is and what the climax is, thus making it dynamic with its unpredictability. In the early days o...

written by 20714 Ryu Hajin Do you prefer long videos or short videos? These days, various types of content, such as long-form and short-form, are receiving much attention. Among them, let’s look at the short-form, a video content about the MZ generation seeking freedom and fun. Short-form is a video trend that reflects the public’s consumption of content using mobile devices anytime, anywhere, with short videos of less than 1 to 10 minutes. What is the clear difference between long-form and short-form marketing? Long-form content is content that you take your time to enjoy slowly, while short-form content is easily accessible and quickly consumed in your busy daily life. Long-form content is mainly consumed by platforms such as YouTube and Netflix, while short-form content thrives on platforms like Instagram and TikTok, allowing for fast content consumption.  In recent years, most of the content that viewers consume is short-form, such as YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels and TikTok...

written by 20215 Lee Shi Hyeon On the surface, the animated Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and the live-action The Little Mermaid may seem to share some similarities as reimaginings of familiar stories in popular culture.  However, beneath the surface, the films took vastly different approaches in their attempts to bring diversity and inclusivity to the silver screen.  While one faltered in its execution due to controversy, the other soared to new artistic heights and critical acclaim through its kaleidoscopic visuals and nuanced storytelling. Spider-Verse’s Inclusive Web In Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse , audiences are reintroduced to Miles Morales, a teenager of Afro-Latino descent who took on the mantle of Spider-Man.  Rather than replacing Peter Parker, the original Spider-Man who appeared in 1962, Miles exists alongside other iterations of Spider-Man in a parallel universe. By bringing together Spider-People of different genders, ethnicities and backgroun...

written by 10718 Lee Eun Soo Nowadays, we see many TV shows related to music and dance, such as Street Woman Fighter and America’s Got Talent .  We need to know that all musicians try to show and pass across their messages to us. We feel emotions in different ways in music and dance, unlike the speech. Dance Dancing shows have not been a popular topic. But in Korea, a dancing show called Street Woman Fighter was broadcasted, and it changed the dancing field. A foreign team from New Zealand showed their popular sport, rugby, in their dance performances. When the dancers were fired up, they said, “Let’s fight with our dance moves, not just our movements.”  This was the point where all the viewers felt that these dancers were really passionate about dancing. We could feel it by just watching TV even though we, the viewers and dancers were far apart. Dancing is known to send valuable and precious messages. Dancing has a unique power expressed with body movements through the rhyt...

written by 10226 Choi Seo Yeon These days, K-pop is popular globally.  There are various reasons why it’s trendy. K-pop songs have great rhythm and are catchy.  In addition, K-pop performances are always performed on a huge scale and show excellent skill. The idols often communicate with their fans through SNS. Its effect is that they can become friendly and have emotional empathy for each other. They even console some fans. Nowadays, K-pop has become an important industry. Its influence in marketing is increasing. Everyone thinks idols are cool, but it’s very difficult to become one. You need many abilities to succeed.  There is a TV program that shows the process of becoming an idol. It is an idol survival program. The program gathers trainees who compete in various missions. The trainees who join the survival program get ranked periodically, and all voting is done by the audience.  High-ranking trainees can debut, and low-ranking ones are eliminated. This program ...

written by 20103 Kim Geun Yeong K-pop has rapidly become one of Korea’s leading industries and the international image of the country. As a result, K-pop seems to have become a natural part of teenagers’ lives. Teens are particularly sensitive to aesthetic elements compared to other age groups. Therefore, idols become objects of imitation by fans and wannabes.  The effect of imitation is not just about copying. It also comes with a sense of satisfaction gained by emulating those figures. Experts attribute the increased focus on adolescents’ appearance to the development of social media. On platforms like Kakao, Facebook and Instagram, there is an abundance of photos showcasing glamorous appearances accompanied by praise.  When teens see these, they compare their own looks and experience a sense of relative inferiority. Beautifully adorned idols have become the standard of beauty and even influence what teenagers imitate. Fashion trends also have a similar effect. By emulating ...

written by 10813 Ryu Ha Jin In recent years, the discussion about the reliability of news media has heated up. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the amount of fake news in the media had increased.  For example, a lot of fake news about the COVID-19 vaccine said it has a high mortality rate and can spread the virus. But in reality, it is a safe vaccine approved after rigorous clinical trials. This highlighted the importance of reliable and accurate public health information and led to more active discussions on what information should be trusted and how to judge the reliability of news. How Fake News Spreads Social media platforms are an important medium for the rapid spread of fake news and are used by individuals to easily share and spread news. Social media algorithms spread fake news because they consider preferences to provide users with a variety of content. Some websites organize and promote fake news or incendiary information. These websites often try to stimulate people’s curio...

  written by 20416 Lee Min Jeong Now, more than ever, all companies and industries are turning their attention to social media. As a result, social media is now an essential part of our lives. In the movie Search , released in 2018, a father finds a decisive clue in his daughter’s social media platforms such as Google, YouTube and Facebook to find his missing daughter. Like this, social media also provides clues to criminal cases that cannot be found in real life. It is a double-edged sword that someone can track their information through social media like the movie Search . We can find information about the missing person on social media platforms. It is easy to collect information, which means that your data can be easily exposed. In this point, social media may be considered harmful in that information is unintentionally exposed, and others can easily steal it. It is essential to focus on these aspects, but we should not forget the advantages of social media. Social media has ch...

   written by 20111 Shin Da Jung “ History has failed us, but no matter. ” The Gamble: Pachinko Pachinko is a Japanese gambling machine. By law, pachinko is classified as a game since gambling is illegal. However, most Japanese consider pachinko to be gambling. Because pachinko was not as well-recognized or considered gambling, only a few people wanted to run it. Therefore, the Koreans in Japan, who could not get a job in the mainstream society due to discrimination, mainly operated pachinko.   The Novel: Pachinko  Pachinko addresses the Korean residents in Japan who struggle to earn their living amid discrimination and their desperate lives surrounding the pachinko business. Pachinko is a feature-length novel written by Korean-American author Lee Min Jin. It was published in the United States in 2017.  Pachinko has been very popular since its publication. It was selected as “Book of the Year 10” by the New York Times and BBC in 2017 and was nominated for t...