In the episode that aired on Sunday, March 14, a scene showed the two lead characters – Vincenzo (Song Joong-ki) and Hong Cha-young (Jeon Yeo-bin) – having instant bibimbap cups together. But as the camera zoomed in on the cups, the brand of the show’s Chinese sponsor, Zihaiguo, became visible.
The product placement backfired, with many Korean viewers slamming the network for featuring a Chinese version of the Korean dish.Such criticism comes in light of the recently rekindled cultural feud over kimchi between Korea and China. Recently, Chinese state-owned media outlet Global Times claimed the Korean staple side-dish is a variation on the Chinese pickled vegetable dish called pao cai, prompting anger among some Koreans.
Chinese YouTuber Li Ziqi also drew ire when she used the hashtags #ChineseFood and #ChineseCuisine in a video of herself preparing pickled vegetables that looked similar to kimchi.
“What is this Chinese bibimbap product placement? Now they [Chinese] are going to argue that bibimbap is a Chinese dish,” a viewer wrote online.
Why are ramyeon noodles an invitation for sex in K-dramas?Another viewer wrote, “If the network just sells placement to Chinese companies for quick money, wouldn’t [foreign] people who watch this series think bibimbap’s Chinese food? This is a serious issue … I know money is important but this is taking it too far.”
Other viewers defended TVN for its effort to cover the 20 billion won (US$17.6 million) budget of the show.
“Maybe [the network] had no choice because Chinese companies were giving so much money to buy product placement,” another person wrote.
This is not the first time TVN has raised local viewers’ collective ire through controversial product placement deals with Chinese companies.
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This article originally appeared on Korea Times.
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