In what is reportedly the first television advertisement ever run in North Korea, the Taedong River brewery got nearly two and a half minutes of airtime after a "news" show on Thursday. The spot is about as weird as you might expect: The commercial informs viewers that Taedonggang beer can relieve stress, improve health, and even lengthen your life. The brewer may be making a feint toward Western capitalism here, but it didn't go so far as to claim that drinking beer would get you laid. Too American?
The North Koreans purchased an old Ushers brewery in England in 2000 and moved the whole thing to be reassembled in Pyonyang. Some commenters on the BBC News Web site say the brew tastes pretty good.
Well...what's this mean? Nothing surprising: even the wacky rulers in North Korea know that what Queen Victoria said is true: "Give my people plenty of beer, good beer, and cheap beer, and you will have no revolution among them."
The commercial follows.
4 comments:
Seems a pretty calm and relaxed advertisement from a land so fraught with anger... and then I recognized that it's 5 times as long as most U.S. commercials! Have the N. Koreans been brainwashed so much that their attention spans don't waver after 30 seconds? Or are we just that impatient here in the 'States?
Best post title I've seen in a long time!
Hey Steven-
I'm no economist, but it seems to me that for a commercial to be worthwhile you need a business with a product to sell and customers with a tv on which to watch the commercial and money to spend on the product. Given the current economic state of North Korea, I'm guessing there's plenty of advertising time available...
I saw this news last week and decided to skip it. If only I had thought of the post title "Kim Jong Ale!"
Nice work.
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