TY - JOUR
T1 - What's for Sale? Selling Songs and K-pop Idols in Korean Commercials
AU - Maliangkaij, Roald
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - Music has the potential to stir feelings on both conscious and subconscious levels.
Because audiences learn how to interpret musical clues, it does not matter whether
the original intent of a piece of music bears any relation to the medium or narrative in
which it is newly embedded. When it is used in a movie viewed by people other than the
intended audience, however, music can disrupt the narrative flow. Where its purpose
is to promote, as in commercials, music must therefore align well with its target
audience. Alignment is behind the three key features of music in television
commercials that Claudia Bullerjahn (2006) identifies: motivation, opportunity, and
ability. While the first and second features relate to the use of music to attract and to
convey information, respectively, the third relates to the use of music to help the
target audience digest the information on account of a good “fit.†But how do these
features play out in TV commercials in South Korea, where celebrities, including K-pop
idols, dominate the advertising world? Do the images that celebrities portray
correspond with the commercials’ music and target audience? In this study I explore
the combined use of music and K-pop idols in South Korean commercials since 2009
and examine how advertisers ensure the commercial message is clear and
persuasive. I argue that when a popular K-pop idol endorses many different products,
rather than resulting in overexposure, this has a cumulative effect on the efficacy of
the individual marketing campaigns.
AB - Music has the potential to stir feelings on both conscious and subconscious levels.
Because audiences learn how to interpret musical clues, it does not matter whether
the original intent of a piece of music bears any relation to the medium or narrative in
which it is newly embedded. When it is used in a movie viewed by people other than the
intended audience, however, music can disrupt the narrative flow. Where its purpose
is to promote, as in commercials, music must therefore align well with its target
audience. Alignment is behind the three key features of music in television
commercials that Claudia Bullerjahn (2006) identifies: motivation, opportunity, and
ability. While the first and second features relate to the use of music to attract and to
convey information, respectively, the third relates to the use of music to help the
target audience digest the information on account of a good “fit.†But how do these
features play out in TV commercials in South Korea, where celebrities, including K-pop
idols, dominate the advertising world? Do the images that celebrities portray
correspond with the commercials’ music and target audience? In this study I explore
the combined use of music and K-pop idols in South Korean commercials since 2009
and examine how advertisers ensure the commercial message is clear and
persuasive. I argue that when a popular K-pop idol endorses many different products,
rather than resulting in overexposure, this has a cumulative effect on the efficacy of
the individual marketing campaigns.
U2 - 10.1353/ks.2018.0036
DO - 10.1353/ks.2018.0036
M3 - Article
VL - 46
SP - 167
EP - 194
JO - Korean Studies
JF - Korean Studies
SN - 0145-840X
ER -