Korean corporations sometimes participate in quirky or funny April Fools Day (만우절) gag product releases. Here are a few I found tonight that seemed not to have any info about them in English that you might get a laugh out of.
Updated with a few more products as of April 2nd.
Samyang Foods - Buldak sauce
The iconic Shin Ramyeon brand of ramen promotes packets of the sauce mix. Yup, the same powder packet you get inside the cup ramen, now in a multi-pack without the pesky noodles. So you can mix up a nice warm cup of spicy ramen broth anytime, anywhere. Or snort it or something. I don't know. Luckily, this one is just a gag.
And on the left we have Samyang Foods which makes the famous buldak (불닭) variety of super spicy ramen. Apparently they actually bottled up a version of the sauce (middle bottle) and sold it in a previous event but this year are adding two new varieties: "nuclear" buldak sauce (left bottle) and a "spicy carbonara" sauce (right bottle).
Papa Johns Pizza got in on the fun and really released a limited-time special pizza made with the buldak sauce:
JungoNara, the online used item seller, offered a few gag items up for sale. Two of my favorites were President Trump's autograph written in Korean on sale for $300, and the Park-originating egg for $30,000. I couldn't understand the joke here, so had to ask a buddy to explain. Apparently there's a legend about how the whole Park clan descended from a Silla king named 박혁거세 (Hyeokgeose of Silla) who was born from an egg that popped out of his mother's... wait for it... arm pit. Well now. Anyway you can buy the egg itself, still unopened somehow, over on JungoNara only for April 1st.
Cass promoted three fake beers on their Facebook page: hamburger, pizza, and fried chicken flavors. What most shocks me is that the official Cass account actually responds to commenters. That is some engagement there. Hat tip to u/JRPubEbola for bringing this to our attention.
I don't know if they still make it or not, but there used to be an actual Cass Lemon flavor.
Cinema chain CGV got in on the action with a special reversed combo. Instead of a big tub of popcorn and 2 sodas, you get 2 cups of popcorn and 1 big tub of Coke. This was apparently a real thing.
This is a nice light hearted gag, much better than the controversial "racist" gag they tried last year:
More on that CGV April 1st foreigner promotion
Home Run Ball is another super addictive snack made up of these little puff pastry balls with chocolate spread inside. The texture of these things is hard to describe because to me it is very unique. They are just the right balance between soft and flaky. I can easily devour a couple boxes of these in one go. The April Fools joke here was that they bottled up the chocolate spread itself. This reminds me of those jars of Oreo cream you can get now. Somehow I wouldn't want to eat the chocolate spread devoid of the shell part. Together they are amazing but apart they wouldn't be as good.
Binggrae - Melona and B.B.BIG ice creams
First, Orion's chocolate mushrooms snacks (which are like a cookie stem with chocolate cap) switched to a special promotional "jelly mushrooms" product.
And Binggrae did a swap of two of their most iconic ice cream bars. The normally rectangular Melona bar became round and the normally round B.B.Big bar became rectangular.
The funny thing is, if I'm reading right, both of these products are actually released and a certain number were made promotionally available so grab them while supplies last.
Nongshim Foods produces a snack called Banana Kick which is kind of like a big soft Cheeto except instead of cheesy flavor its banana flavor. It's also the God damned most addictive snack I've ever had. No joke, you know Lays used to say "bet you can't eat just one?" but Banana Kick is the real deal. I have never, never, let an opened bag do anything but be devoured in one sitting. Anyway, hold on to your butts because they're promoting packets of the flavoring powder itself so you can rip into one and just pour it straight into your gut like the animal you are without all that inefficient snacking and chewing. Sadly this one is just a gag too.
The Korean music streaming service Bugs did a quick gag where they claimed to be changing their name from Bugs to Sbug. Hmm.
Hite Jinro - Chamisul soju
These two companies partnered for a soju-toothpaste crossover product gag. Yum. Nothing like the clean burning taste of soju to leave your mouth feeling refreshed and clean.
This isn't technically Korean I guess, but on one of their official English accounts, Samsung promoted their EVO line of solid state hard drives with a gag portraying it as a perfume fragrance in an Instagram video post.
These are just a few that caught my eye. There were other fake promos, like a crossover between Japaghetti and Pakimchi (Black sauce ramen noodles plus spring onion kimchi) called Japakimchi (짜파게티 + 파김치 = 짜파김치).
As the article points out, a lot of these gags aren't really just gags but are using Aprils Fools as means of viral marketing. These products generate genuine interest among "modisumers" (consumers who like special modified versions of established products) (모디슈머) and "funsumers" (consumers who love fun quirky special releases) (펀슈머). Boy, do Koreans love coining words. If you ask me it's just the "kidult" (kid + adult, manchild) phenomenon, or else the same wacky trends that made Honey Butter Chips turn into Honey Butter everything. People in consumerist societies derive meaning from the products they buy. Turning April Fools Day into another consumer-focused holiday fits our society perfectly. Anyway, even among the products that are total gags, companies are considering using these April Fools responses as free consumer testing and may end up releasing versions of those products.
Pretty clever marketing. The real "gag" isn't that we fall for goofy products, but that we're being used to spread their brands and promote interest. We make it easy for them. The joke really is on us. But you just read this so now you (and I) are part of it too. Bazinga.
By the way, I had no idea that an old (2008) Google April Fools joke was to release a "saturi" (Korean dialect) translator.
OK one more for fun. I don't know where this came from but I got a nice chuckle out of it. Here's the Google logo redone in the style of the old Naver logo.
Updated with a few more products as of April 2nd.
Korean companies' April Fools Day promotions 2019
Samyang Foods - Buldak sauce
Nongshim Foods - Shin Ramyeon
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| Samyang Buldak sauce and Shin Ramyeon soup packets. Image: Maeil Business |
The iconic Shin Ramyeon brand of ramen promotes packets of the sauce mix. Yup, the same powder packet you get inside the cup ramen, now in a multi-pack without the pesky noodles. So you can mix up a nice warm cup of spicy ramen broth anytime, anywhere. Or snort it or something. I don't know. Luckily, this one is just a gag.
And on the left we have Samyang Foods which makes the famous buldak (불닭) variety of super spicy ramen. Apparently they actually bottled up a version of the sauce (middle bottle) and sold it in a previous event but this year are adding two new varieties: "nuclear" buldak sauce (left bottle) and a "spicy carbonara" sauce (right bottle).
Papa Johns Pizza got in on the fun and really released a limited-time special pizza made with the buldak sauce:
Jungo Nara
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| JungoNara's gag items: Trump autograph and original egg |
JungoNara, the online used item seller, offered a few gag items up for sale. Two of my favorites were President Trump's autograph written in Korean on sale for $300, and the Park-originating egg for $30,000. I couldn't understand the joke here, so had to ask a buddy to explain. Apparently there's a legend about how the whole Park clan descended from a Silla king named 박혁거세 (Hyeokgeose of Silla) who was born from an egg that popped out of his mother's... wait for it... arm pit. Well now. Anyway you can buy the egg itself, still unopened somehow, over on JungoNara only for April 1st.
Oriental Brewery - Cass Fresh
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| Cass in 3 new flavors: hamburger, pizza, chicken |
Cass promoted three fake beers on their Facebook page: hamburger, pizza, and fried chicken flavors. What most shocks me is that the official Cass account actually responds to commenters. That is some engagement there. Hat tip to u/JRPubEbola for bringing this to our attention.
CGV - VGC Combo
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| CGV's VGC combo |
Cinema chain CGV got in on the action with a special reversed combo. Instead of a big tub of popcorn and 2 sodas, you get 2 cups of popcorn and 1 big tub of Coke. This was apparently a real thing.
This is a nice light hearted gag, much better than the controversial "racist" gag they tried last year:
More on that CGV April 1st foreigner promotion
Haitai Group - Home Run Ball
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| Home Run Ball chocolate spread |
Home Run Ball is another super addictive snack made up of these little puff pastry balls with chocolate spread inside. The texture of these things is hard to describe because to me it is very unique. They are just the right balance between soft and flaky. I can easily devour a couple boxes of these in one go. The April Fools joke here was that they bottled up the chocolate spread itself. This reminds me of those jars of Oreo cream you can get now. Somehow I wouldn't want to eat the chocolate spread devoid of the shell part. Together they are amazing but apart they wouldn't be as good.
Binggrae - Melona and B.B.BIG ice creams
Orion - Chocolate mushrooms
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| Orion Jelly Mushrooms and Binggrae Melona and B.B.Big bars. Image: Maeil Business |
First, Orion's chocolate mushrooms snacks (which are like a cookie stem with chocolate cap) switched to a special promotional "jelly mushrooms" product.
And Binggrae did a swap of two of their most iconic ice cream bars. The normally rectangular Melona bar became round and the normally round B.B.Big bar became rectangular.
The funny thing is, if I'm reading right, both of these products are actually released and a certain number were made promotionally available so grab them while supplies last.
Nongshim Foods - Banana Kick
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| Banana Kick flavor powder. Image: Insight |
NHN Bugs
그동안 많은 사랑을 주셨던 벅스가
이름을 변경하게 되었습니다.
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10년 넘게 정든 이름을 바꾼다는 것이 아쉽기도 하지만
큰 변화가 필요한 시점이라고 생각하고 내린 결정이니
많은 응원 부탁드립니다.
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바뀌게 될 이름은 '스벅(sbug)' 입니다.
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전 세계 최고의 커피...아니 음악 브랜드가 되려는
스벅의 모습을 기대해주세요!
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.
.
.
.
.
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#만우절
Posted by 벅스 on Sunday, March 31, 2019
The Korean music streaming service Bugs did a quick gag where they claimed to be changing their name from Bugs to Sbug. Hmm.
Hite Jinro - Chamisul soju
LG Perioe toothpaste
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| Soju flavor toothpaste |
These two companies partnered for a soju-toothpaste crossover product gag. Yum. Nothing like the clean burning taste of soju to leave your mouth feeling refreshed and clean.
페리오 직원들이 양취해버린 상품
★참이슬XLG페리오 #19금치약 탄생★
술 먹고 집에만 가면 씻기 귀찮아 진다구요?!
게으른 어른들을 위한 19금 #참이슬치약
이제 참이슬을 치약으로도 만나보세요~!
@친구야, 이 치약 사야 하는 거 아니니?
#참이슬치약으로_양취하자
#19擒_사로잡을금_치약
#LG페리오의18가지건강성분 + #깨끗한참이슬
#치약빨고만든상품
Posted by 하이트진로 on Sunday, March 31, 2019
Vegemil soy milk ice cream
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| Vegemil soymilk ice cream cone |
Vegemil, which produces a popular soy milk (the black sesame variety is much tastier if you ask me), claimed to be releasing this product: an ice cream cone product made from 100% soybean milk. Funnily enough, people apparently went crazy hoping that this was a real product so we might just end up seeing it.
올 여름을 강타👊할 #신제품 출.시.!!
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47년만에 드디어 공개~
100% 콩으로 만든 #베지밀콘🍦
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이제 아이스크림도 건강하게😜 #베지밀 로 선택하세요!!
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#4월1일한정판매
#베지밀_차가운맛🥶
Posted by 정식품 on Sunday, March 31, 2019
Samsung - Samsung EVO SSD
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| Samsung Evo fragrance. Image: Samsung Memory Instagram |
This isn't technically Korean I guess, but on one of their official English accounts, Samsung promoted their EVO line of solid state hard drives with a gag portraying it as a perfume fragrance in an Instagram video post.
Conclusion
These are just a few that caught my eye. There were other fake promos, like a crossover between Japaghetti and Pakimchi (Black sauce ramen noodles plus spring onion kimchi) called Japakimchi (짜파게티 + 파김치 = 짜파김치).
As the article points out, a lot of these gags aren't really just gags but are using Aprils Fools as means of viral marketing. These products generate genuine interest among "modisumers" (consumers who like special modified versions of established products) (모디슈머) and "funsumers" (consumers who love fun quirky special releases) (펀슈머). Boy, do Koreans love coining words. If you ask me it's just the "kidult" (kid + adult, manchild) phenomenon, or else the same wacky trends that made Honey Butter Chips turn into Honey Butter everything. People in consumerist societies derive meaning from the products they buy. Turning April Fools Day into another consumer-focused holiday fits our society perfectly. Anyway, even among the products that are total gags, companies are considering using these April Fools responses as free consumer testing and may end up releasing versions of those products.
Pretty clever marketing. The real "gag" isn't that we fall for goofy products, but that we're being used to spread their brands and promote interest. We make it easy for them. The joke really is on us. But you just read this so now you (and I) are part of it too. Bazinga.
Bonus
OK one more for fun. I don't know where this came from but I got a nice chuckle out of it. Here's the Google logo redone in the style of the old Naver logo.
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| Naverized Google logo. Image: hyuni_s2 |
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