So I was doing my routine rounds among the various KPOP sites out there on teh internets and I came across this interesting little ad that made me do a double take.

Exactly what message am I supposed to get out of this? Of course, I recognized the individuals in the banner as members of the mega KPOP group SNSD but even still… it all seemed out of context.

What if I weren’t so familiar with the latest KPOP world and I saw this ad? Then all I would see are 5 attractive young girls beckoning me to “Come to Seoul! GO”. Is this what a tourist can expect in the capital of South Korea? Beautiful women waiting at the airport to welcome me and wait on me hand and foot?

Of course clicking the banner clears things up a little bit as I’m able to see this ad is focused on one small part of the Korean tourism campaign, the yearly Seoul Dream Concert series. And suddenly it all makes a litte more sense but then another question came to mind, how do the other 4 members who were cut from the ad feel about their exclusion? Were they too ugly to trick and intrigue the average web surfer to navigate to the Seoul Dream Concert youtube page? Did the advertisement agency think they simply weren’t good enough to include in this crudely photoshopped montage meant to superficially represent an entire nation’s appeal?

Oh well sucks to be them.

And let’s be real… if they wanted to use half of SNSD’s likeness to bring in tourism, were those REALLY the best photos they could find?

I swear some dude at the ad firm let his middle school aged nephew run this campagin. It’s so mediocre and confusing that I actually want to go to Seoul less now.

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