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[PPL Round-up] That old friend, PPL

It’s been a busy, PPL-y start to the year of 2020 dramas. I don’t know about you, but I feel like I saw a regular army of product placement wherever I turned. And not only was it terribly consistent, but it was terribly familiar too.

In our last PPL round-up we saw PPL embedded as a way to regulate in-drama stress and tension. In this round-up, though, there’s nothing too flashy — or unique. Instead, I saw many products that I’ve seen before: so many coffees drunk, so many rooms vacuumed, and so many restaurants eaten at, that they all feel like old friends at this point. So, rather than eye roll at the PPL scenes the last few months, it’s felt more like waving to a friend on the other side of the street. Hello, there, Dyson! How are you today?

 
Speaking of Dyson

Product: Dyson’s gorgeous cordless vacuum
Saturation: 10/10
Desirability: I can’t hold back much longer

Is the PPL really working? Is the overexposure to happily vacuuming characters finally getting to me? Or is it because I’m starting to see this vacuum IRL too, like in Target of all places, and at a friend’s house. Either way, it’s becoming less of a drama giggle, and more of a top-of-the-wishlist type situation. Is it normal to want to save up for a vacuum?

In dramaland of late, there’s been no stopping the vacuuming. In Crash Landing on You, when Sohn Ye-jin’s heroine was finally back to South Korea, we got some extended footage of her happily vacuuming her palace-like apartment.

And because the Ducklings were there too, why not use their shock and awe to further elevate the appearance of the Dyson? The Ducklings’ reactions to everyday South Korean life was pretty hilarious, but the wow factor around the Dyson? Accurate.

Lest the vacuuming be left to chaebol heiresses alone, we also saw some on-point cordless Dyson vacuuming happen in Psychopath Diary, where the act of vacuuming was as good for removing crime scene evidence as it was for burning off steam at home (shout out to Yoon Shi-yoon’s vacuuming skills).

Even AI programmers and their girl next door crushes need to vacuum — so we also saw the Dyson at work in the apartment of Yoon Hyun-min’s character in My Holo Love. For a device so universal, I sure wish the price was more affordable.

 
Chicken, chicken, and more chicken

Product: BBQ Olive Chicken
Saturation: 7/10
Desirability: I’ll pass, but I’m not saying they don’t make it look good

Heading back to our Ducklings and Crash Landing on You for more product placement is pretty easy — this crew managed to get in a load of (hilarious) PPL in the drama’s ending episodes. BBQ Olive Chicken was a touchpoint throughout the drama, but the North Korean soldiers and their hearty appetites and sincere awe sure brought that fried chicken to life.

Check out how many times the brand name/logo appears in this scene (above). It’s actually pretty impressive. For some super loud PPL, I have to hand it to Olive Chicken. Not only were our soldiers shown craving, munching, and devouring their fried chicken multiple times, but they fit it into their collective characterization as a) hungry soldiers b) really hungry soldiers and c) in shock over the lifestyle in Seoul.

That same chicken was also the chicken of celebration and unity, when all our characters got together to cheer as one for their country. All chicken aside, this was really sweet.

 
And now it’s time for the subs (no, not that kind)

Product: Subway
Saturation: 9/10
Desirability: Never. Ever.

It just wouldn’t be right for the so-called green menace not to appear in dramaland. Subway has long been notorious as one of the loudest, most ubiquitous, and truly disruptive bits of PPL around. And they did it again.

There was a lot of fast food PPL in Crash Landing on You, which is also where we saw the best (worst?) of Subway recently. From happy munching, to gratuitous sandwich cleavage, to soft drinks galore, Subway was back in a big way.

Conveniently huge store front on the street our characters walk on? Delightful place for a midday meal with colleagues? Wonderfully available takeout for assistants and bodyguards like Hyun Bin? Subways says: yes.

 
Let’s wash it down with some coffee

Product: Nepresso and Nescafe coffee machines and accoutrements
Saturation: 10/10
Desirability: I’ll never turn down a coffee, especially if Joo Ji-hoon is making them

It wouldn’t be a proper PPL round-up without a look at our favorite beverage. It’s funny that lately, Maxim and its instant coffee goodness seems to be taking a backseat to more “sophisticated” coffees like the coffee and espresso machines from Nescafe and Nepresso.

As a coffee nerd, daily drinker of espresso drinks, and owner of one of these very machines, I get a real kick out of seeing espresso a’brewing in the law offices of Song & Kim in Hyena. Our heroine, played by Kim Hye-soo, sure made her Nespresso latte look appealing.

But then again, I never mind coffee PPL. It either makes me want coffee, or makes me want coffee. Of course, there are different levels of this.

There’s the un-PPL glory of Seo Kang-joon making his beautiful Chemex brew (not pictured) — and then there’s the bang-you-over-the-head PPL for the coffee chain Angel-in-us, like we saw in Crash Landing on You. All coffee is welcome. But not all coffee is equal.

 
When beer makes a surprising PPL appearance

Product: Hite beer
Saturation: 3/10
Desirability: Holo makes it look pretty staggering

It’s interesting that for all the bottles of soju drunk during a drama (that would make for some good trivia, huh?), there’s very little PPL around beer, comparatively. Maybe that’s why Hite’s product placement in My Holo Love stood out to me.

I have to say I’m not much of a beer connoisseur, but they do tell me that Hite’s beer is pretty… run of the mill? Well, I like it, and so did Go Sung-hee. The loneliness and isolation of her character and illness was illustrated to us by the sad crackings open of beer cans.

But when the AI Holo enters her life, she gains a drinking buddy, a companion, and so much more. Their little scenes together were actually quite adorable. And if Holo’s experience drinking (or even fake-drinking) beer isn’t just about the best and most exaggerated PPL around, I don’t know what is.

 
A forest of electronics

Product: Everything with a plug
Saturation: 7/10
Desirability: Depends which one we’re talking about

Even though Forest was supposed to be about a mystical and possibly magical forest, what we got instead (in addition to a nonsensical plot, of course) was electronics.

Forest used its forest of electronics to point out the dissonance between hero Park Hae-jin’s posh city life in Seoul, and the new one he was encountering in… the forest.

A special PPL shout-out goes to the wireless speakers that were responsible for so much watering can singing, and shirtless mayhem. If this drama taught us anything, it’s that you need to be careful where you blast your music.

 
And now we get to the sweets

Product: Godiva and Hershey’s Kit Kat chocolate
Saturation: 6/10
Desirability: After vacuums and coffee, chocolate is my third weakness

Finally, chocolate reaches dramaland. Chocolate has been there, surely (shout out to Lee Soo-kyung’s desk drawer of chocolate in Let’s Eat), but now it’s here in rare PPL form.

A drama named Chocolate has to have some chocolate in it, right? And really, what better avenue for some pretty thematic PPL than to have chocolate product placement? Well, Godiva stepped up to the plate and delivered. Chocolate. Lots of chocolate. But in addition to PPL, it also became a metaphor in the drama, and something of a comfort to the heroine played by Ha Ji-won. And I don’t know about you, but I agree.

The refuge of chocolate as a sweet treat was also given a pretty funny moment in Crash Landing on You, where this time Hershey’s Kit Kat took the stage. When in Switzerland… go into a tacky gift shop and buy Kit Kats? I guess.

I might have chosen a different forum in which to purchase my chocolate, but the Crash Landing on You epilogues with both Sohn Ye-jin and Seo Ji-hye’s characters “eating their feelings” with some chocolate bars sure were funny. “It improves your mood when you’re angry or depressed,” shared our heroine. Exactly.

 
Self-care corner

Product: Laneige, Sooryehan, Vanau, Manyo Factory
Saturation: 8/10
Desirability: Just tell me how I can get my skin to look like that

If there’s an actress with a contract as a model/spokesperson for a cosmetics or skincare company, there’s a 100% chance that said products will appear in their latest drama. These scenes of beauty rituals, skincare, and self-care, are usually loud and obvious (and even a little gratuitous), but sometimes a drama just hits it right.

In the collection of recent dramas, PPL giant Crash Landing on You did their skincare PPL integration best. And why? Because it was written in perfectly to go along with the heroine’s personality.

The “picky princess” was pretty darn picky when it came to her skincare, and we saw her use a nice Manyo Factory ampoule, among other items. And later, when back in Seoul, she restored her skin to its proper youthful condition with the help of the Vanau facial toning device.

Less thoughtful skincare integrations came from Romantic Doctor Teacher Kim 2 and I’ll Find You on a Beautiful Day. In the former, it was guaranteed that Lee Sung-kyung would give a few moments to Laneige, for whom she’s been the model for a few years, and very successfully. So, she had some abrupt skincare moments — but we also caught Laneige products in her locker, pocket, and more. Because that’s what you do.

I’ll Find You on a Beautiful Day is interesting in being relatively PPL free (so far — and I hope I didn’t just jinx us with a forthcoming scene wherein Subway sandwiches are devoured by the book club, ugh!). But, that being said, Park Min-young is representing LG’s pricey skincare line Sooryehan. So, she has to have some beauty moments while preparing for work, and we’re treated to shots of her dressing table, and her beauty regime. (Park Min-young is also responsible for some jewelry PPL in this drama, but for me, jewelry PPL is probably some of the most boring around, so I usually ignore it, forcibly.)

 
Honorable mention

As usual, I like to wrap up with some honorable mention PPL moments — whether they win the randomness award, the Most Hated award, or a moment of audible cringing. In this round-up, though, the honorable mention is for a relative newbie on the PPL scene: Auntie Anne’s.

I don’t recall seeing much Auntie Anne’s around dramaland, so when they popped up in Hyena, it was pretty much the strangest place to see it. Haute coffee? Works. Luxury cars? Makes sense. But soft pretzels and cinnamon sticks? I’m confused.

However, the pretzels are on the loose. We saw our heroine and her assistant enjoying them in her posh office, and later, our hero (played by Joo Ji-hoon) went to an actual Auntie Anne’s sit-down store to eat with his colleague! This floored me.

Where I come from, I’m used to Auntie Anne’s as the wafting goodness you only find in the local mall, and can smell from a good ten storefronts down. And, sadly, it has always smelled better than it tastes. But if Joo Ji-hoon wanted to go there? Count me in. In fact, I’m already sitting there waiting.

 
Until next time

And that, my friends, is all the PPL fit to print from the last few months of dramaland. Well, I’m sure there’s loads more actually, but one cannot be in all dramas at once. So, this is the PPL that I found in the shows I’ve watched.

Product placement continues to range from either that hilariously incongruous moment you know is pure advertising, to the slick and subtle presence of a product that burrows into your brain. I find PPL to be a fun part of adventuring in dramaland, and as ever, I look forward to what lies ahead for us, and what the drama gods think we need to buy. Or eat.

 
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i'm not ashamed to say that the dyson ppl got to me and i got myself one. works like a charm so no regrets..heehee

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I want one too. But, people say its expensive. I never really looked it up, so is it really that expensive? Just curious.

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Well the cheapest I got was for $400 otherwise the new brands of Dyson are $700+

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Wow pretty expensive. Thanks for the info.

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They are fairly expensive - you can check prices on Amazon. But to be fair, they are also pretty good vacuums.

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I checked them. Yes, expensive indeed. It goes from 350€ to 670€. The DYSON V11 looks so awesome. I will definately buy one for myself when I have my own house.

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Same. Another victim!!
It’s amazing btw :)

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Totally non-related fun fact about Dyson: There is a YouTube channel that makes ultra-high speed videos of things blowing up or destructing in various ways. For their spinning record (at something like 14,000 RPM) they used Dyson motors. https://youtu.be/n-DTjpde9-0

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I enjoyed my Dyson for a year or two... then it was ineffective. Did not last long.

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I think Hyena wins best integration of PPL. Even though Auntie Anne’s is random, it works. The foaming coffee, the delicious-looking melted cheese, the Mercedes. Everything’s had just the right of color and dash as the drama itself, so there’s not been that “and now we pause the action for a commercial shill” that often happens elsewhere. Again, kudos to the writing and acting team, who even make obligatory PPL seem enticing.

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I think so too! Especially how they kept mentioning that the red Mercedes was hired, and how obviously thrilled JGJ looked at now having luxury coffee always at hand. Hyena definitely wins!

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Everytime I hear of PPL and its randomness, I remember that scene from Because This is My First Life.

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They were really on point with their PPL integration and like everything looked so good and yummy...That pizza and coffee!!!

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The talking car from Sangyong that was on Episode 11 of I Will Come You on a Beautiful Day is my submission!

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Also how about tourism destinations? Most of the first episode of Unique! Chef Moon was a product placement for the Gold Coast. Too bad they selected a very low rated drama that happened to air during the Coronavirus crisis to target Korean tourism dollars.

http://www.dramabeans.com/members/moonbean/activity/982334/

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I find jewellery PPL weird as the pieces are always so bland. I realise they’re meant to be tasteful but to me they just come over as ordinary.

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Agree. I clearly noticed Park Min-young's PPL jewerly in Weather, but I thought it was boring. Though I love some sunglasses PPL, loved them of IU's Hotel del Luna. Really wanted to buy every single sunglasses she wore on that show.

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And most jewelry is not something that stands out - not like it is big and noisy like a vacuum or fancy coffee machine. I doubt that most is even recognizable to most viewers unless they show it being bought in a brand store.

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There are many bland pieces but there are a few that stood for me as I adored Pak Min Young's various collor earings in Her Private life and the Sun necklace in My Master's Sun and the key necklace that Yoo Seung Ho used in Missing You,the ring from You from Another Star...Oh and i actually also like the lipsticks,i adored Cheon Song Yi lipsticks jajja

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I've lived 20 years in a house along a dusty highway so vacuums were basically foreign to me. Until last year when we moved to the city and we had one of those loud, chunky vacuums, then I remember seeing Dyson in a lot of dramas and now I just want to buy one once this lockdown is over

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To paraphrase Roseanne Barr, I'm waiting for Dyson to come out with a riding model. ;-)

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A little bit of TMI: Kit Kat is only made under license by The Hershey Company only in the USA and is produced globally by Nestlé. After watching that Kit Kat epilogue in CLOY, my sister (who happens to work on Nestlé) had to buy A LOT of Kit Kat packs (6 bars per pack; she probably bought 8 packs or more, which she never shared with anyone) on their employee store, because the show made her crave for it.

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@sensationalfantasy liar song,
I hadn't eaten a Kit Kat in as long as I could remember, but found myself tracking down the dark chocolate and mint varieties online. (I can't stand milk chocolate.) CLOY's PPL worked. ROFLMAO at passing up exquisite Swiss chocolate in lieu of Kit Kat, which is a chocolate-covered cookie. On the other hand, I'll never be in the market for a fancy schmancy luxury car or a ridiculously-expensive vacuum cleaner. An affordable candy treat is within reach of many more drama watchers.

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i love a kitkat, but even so...when I was (very briefly) in Switzerland no way I was buying something I could get back home! I went for the cheapest available Swiss chocolate in the convenience store - the brand was ‘Tourist’, which I still find amusing 😄

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The brand is Frey and Tourist is the name of one of their product range.

Frey's chocolate is really good and not too expensive (less than Cailler, Lindt, Camille Bloch,etc.), so you chose pretty well :)

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Interesting! I remember wishing we’d bought more afterwards so it must have been pretty good 😄

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One exception would be in Japan, where there are literally hundreds of various varieties and flavors of Kit Kat, though usually only about 40-50 or so are available at any one time, and some are regional only (like one I got a box of is only available at the Kit Kat store at the airport).

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@windsun,
My mind boggled at the Kit Kat flavors available in Japan. It was like going to the Coca Cola Museum in Atlanta, Georgia and tasting some of the wild and crazy flavors that are only available overseas. ;-)

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I had some pineapple Coke in Taiwan a while back, but my last trip could not find any. Maybe it was just a trial thing. I liked it better than regular Coke.

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I loved the minty kit Kats.. Had it once and then went on treasure hunt for the regular ones could never satisfy me.. 😋

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@raekaddict,
Yes, I like the dark chocolate & mint duos made by Hershey. I kind of wonder whether the minty freshness is the same as the ones made by Nestle -- but not enough to conduct a proper taste test. Pumpkin Pie flavor sounds a bit too far out for me. I like the spices, but cannot stand the pumpkin.

https://www.hersheys.com/kitkat/en_us/home.html

Limited edition flavors:
https://www.hersheys.com/kitkat/en_us/products.html?filters=kitkat-products-chocolatetype-limitededition

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Dark chocolate kit Kats are divine those are the only ones that I buy... Along with mint

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I made a candy Kahoots quiz for my library last week and one of the random facts was about kitkat candy. Maybe PPL got to me? Ha!

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Haha since I'm not in the US the mention of "hershey's kitkat" (rather than nestle) puzzled me so I had to look it up.

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Thanks for the explanation. I was really puzzled by Hershey’s Kit Kat.

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When I was young, I was scout and Nestlé often gave us food for our camp. For one camp, they gave us Kit Kat (between other stuff) and our chiefs gave us Kit Kat for every snacks or price of game... At the end of the 2 weeks camp, I couldn't eat Kit Kat anymore :p

I didn't eat Kit Kat during a long time and even now, it's not my first choice.

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The appearance of Auntie Anne’s did puzzle me! Never knew a ppl was needed. What I want to eat now though is Pizza Avolo! They have good stuff and watching Hyena makes me want to fly to SK just to eat Pizza Avolo!

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Pizza PPL always makes me hungry unlike the fried chicken PPL.

And where is the famous tea for diet PPL? I remember that many dramas were flooded with tea PPL last year

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With the quarantine/stay home/lockdown in our city, getting a pizza has become a challenge. I love chicken but it doesn't really make me wanna eat it if I see one.

Come to think of it, not much tea this year.

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Yes, I feel you. It's been a while she I've ate pizza. These are hard times indeed.

I think the one drama with massive fried chicken PPL is Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo. It was a joy to see them eat their fried chicken.

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I found Park Min-young's recent jewelry PPL in I'LL FIND YOU ON A BEAUTIFUL DAY to be clunky and out of left field. It looked out of place to see her get dolled up with sparkly stuff when dressing in her sensible layers of sweaters to go to work at the bookstore. All I could think was that the rhinestones or crystals would get snagged on the knitwear. If she were going on a date, it would not have been so jarring. Which is not to say that just because she lives in the sticks she shouldn't wear jewelry. It was just too fancy and too random for occasion. Then again, I'm not much of a jewelry person, so maybe I'm not the target audience.

On the other hand, when Eun-seob bought Hae-won a nice pair of snow boots quite a while ago, that struck me as a seamless bit of PPL that was totally in keeping with his thoughtful personality -- and the city slicker's needs. He'd also gotten her a pair of hiking boots early on because her sneakers had insufficient treads and would get easily waterlogged in wet weather in the hilly rural environment. All I could think of was the superstition that buying shoes for a lover would make them run away. Interestingly, that didn't stop Eun-seob. Which made him even more endearing than he already was.

Most hilarious PPL so far: Hwi's $300 high-tech bicycle seat that she carts with her so no one will steal it. -- Or is she just bragging about her trophy from Oppa?

Other random PPL: LED lighting, courtesy of book club member Bae Geun-sang. All the books that are quoted in this show -- and featured in NOBODY KNOWS and HYENA -- strike me as PPL. Does the steam iron with which Hae-won's father attempted to brain Auntie count as small appliance PPL -- or murder weapon PPL? ;-)

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All I could think of was the superstition that buying shoes for a lover would make them run away. Ahhh, so that's the reason they always buy shoes in sageuks?

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@flyingcolours Fly Colours,
I often consider the shoe-buying scenes in sageuks to be foreshadowing of separation or difficulties. It certainly played out that way in MY COUNTRY when Hwi bought new shoes that were too big for kid sis. ;-)

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Saw several comments about Hwi carting the bikeseat around, and I have to say that it looks like common sense to me if you have an expensive one... you frequently see bikes without seat in some European cities. Besides, people do that all the time as an extra safety measure (first and foremost, get yourself a good lock) to avoid their bike from being stolen

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Yes, people often will take the seat with them if it's expensive.

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Ohhh my those hiking winter boots!!!! I want those!!!!!!! I wonder how much they cost.

Not to mention their awesome coats. Love them so much!!! They look so warm and comfy!!!

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I admit that I looked up the boots, but the reviews weren't great. They're Uggs.

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Oh I see. But they were stunning indeed. I never buy expensive shoes, except Adidas or Timberland. I've got some nice mountain boots from Berg and they were cheap.

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@ndlessjoie mugyuljoie,
Those Uggs are reminiscent of my 25-30 y.o. Canadian Sorel boots with washable removable felt liners that my buddy in Illinois introduced me to. The only downside is the mid-calf height when digging the car out of deep snow drifts. The traction is superb. I later found Muck Boots that fit the bill. I don't require arctic insulation in NJ, but definitely need waterproof construction, non-skid soles, and a comfy fit. Voila. They're multi-season, great for gardening, and comfortable for walking.

The only leather work/hiking boots I've ever owned are by Red Wing -- which still offers 3 women's models. I got an insulated 8" pair with nice, deep non-slip treads, and my feet thought they'd died and gone to heaven. No more popsicle toes -- and they were comfy enough to walk for miles and miles on hard city sidewalks and work in the garden. They can be re-soled and overhauled, too, so you save money in the long run. I've had mine for 20 years -- and bought a second, un-insulated 6" pair for summer. I don't give a rap about fashion. My Red Wings look sharp and take good care of my tootsies. They've been an excellent investment that never goes out of style.

Rant Warning: This is part of my life-long personal protest against planned-obsolescence and the shoddily-made, overpriced high-fashion clothing foisted off on women. Hrmph! -- However, I will also cop to owning gorgeous pairs of scarlet and lavender high heels that killed my feet when I was young and stupid. Hence my preference for "sensible" shoes later in life. ;-)

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I love Danners. They've worked well for me hiking in the Cascades and Olympics.

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Regarding the jewelery PPL it wouldn't seem so artificial if she just put on the jewelery instead of first carrying all those large pink boxes on screen (containing only one necklace and one pair of earrings) before putting it on. How many of those boxes did she bring in her small suitcase? And if so, where did she pack the heaps and heaps of winter wear that she is displaying throughout the series (I want to buy all those sweaters, jackets and woolen skirts, by the way)?

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@marylou lately,
Yep, the original jewelry packaging was one of the things that set me off because it was so large in comparison to the contents. In fairness, they probably have to show the advertiser's trademark color. If it were Tiffany blue, I'd have recognized it right off the bat.

I could imagine Hae-won shopping for winter clothes in town, so it doesn't bother me that she has more clothing than should have fit in the suitcase. I think she was also helping herself to the closet in her room at grandma's house. Maybe that's where she stashed her out-of-season clothes if there weren't much room in her digs in Seoul. Could she have been borrowing some of Auntie's duds?

The Magical Wardrobe Suitcase Award goes to Ji-ho in BECAUSE THIS LIFE IS OUR FIRST. For someone who was supposed to be so strapped for money, she had way more trendy clothing than would have fit in her suitcase, even if she had two. It was ludicrous.

One of my prime beefs about the use of suitcases in Kdramas is that very often they seem to be empty, and the actors don't struggle with the weight enough to convince me that they've crammed their worldly possessions into them.

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OK, that could be possible, her rummaging through her aunt's and grandma's clothes additionally to some shopping in town.

The only people who realistically struggle with their luggage are the poor ajumonis pulling their huge trolleys of card boxes up the hills of Seoul :)

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Park Min-young's jewelry in I'll Find You on a Beautiful Day? Every time I saw that blend, I was thinking about IU (She is the spokeperson, in fact) ... Am I in the wrong place?

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Oh wow, I just googled the brand that they both seem to endorse, I think for that price I'd rather get me some Dyson.

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I also bought a Dyson last week. My vacuum died 10 days ago.
And ever since it arrive I have been asking myself why didn't I get one earlier.

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Really, is it that great?

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It's greater than my old Rowenta (which I really loved) but the Dyson is light, makes almost not noise and has swallowed dirt from places I would have sworn were totally clean. I was astonished, believe me!

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Oh my, it really sounds like an amazing vacuum cleaner. How much did it cost you? Did you order it online?

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I ordered it online on the Dyson official website. It only took a day and a half to deliver. They are not cheap (from 329 to 649 Euros in Spain), but the minute I used it I didn't regret the money.
I decided to buy it as because of Covid I'm I don't think I can travel abroad this year, so... what's money for?

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Spotted a Tassimo coffee machine in A piece of your mind! Was taken aback that it wasn't a Nespresso 😋

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I was taken aback on how a variety of coffee named "Mexico" could make such a washy coffee. I know in Korea coffee is more the American kind, and believe me, I love American coffee (our "puchero" coffee), but I like BLACK coffee not brownish tea.

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Totally noticed that too, but didn't want to come off as a coffee snob... 🤣 🤣

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I could only think about this: if someone from Mexico sees this... no, they'd better not be watching this...

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Know what you mean, I also feel personally aggravated when I see coffee that doesn't meet my expectations, lol. Its funny how people feel so strongly about coffee. Lived in different places, and everywhere people have their own idea of what a good coffee is - and some were simply unacceptable in my eyes, sorry Eastern German turkish coffee 😋

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😂😂Im from Mexico and we have very good coffee, Starbucks has a “Mexico” coffee, but it is very strong

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The American coffee is strong? I for one always wonder how Koreans adore so much Americanos/Iced Americanos for ex that i find washed water,they drink it with so much bliss i always take some sec to wonder what if it's actually good jajja...Confess i like strong coffee,that one were u can't see the inside of the cup to fully understand their delight jjaja

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On the contrary, American Coffee is very light and it's normally filtered, so it has mainly double quantity of water. I guess it's more similar to tea than to coffee (as I usually take it).

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I'm guilty of ordering Subway delivery and buying Kitkat during my weekly grocery shopping because of Korean dramas... So far, I don't want a Dyson vacuum yet, but their Airwrap has been in my wishlist for some time now. I googled that Nespresso machine in Crash Landing On You but that model is not available in my country-Malaysia, yet.

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I'm rewatching Legend of the Blue Sea, and I must say that it's one of those dramas loaded with PPL. The heroine must learn about the human world, so why not show her the world through PPL?

But for me the best dramas with PPL inserted in the storyline will be always Touch Your Heart and Be Melodramatic. PPL was really not an extra but part of these two dramas as a supportive character.

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Be Melodramatic's antics and how it made the PPL so much fun was hilarious to watch!

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Anytime I think if PPL, Be Melo is what comes to mind, so freaking brilliant.

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I became 'allergic' to PPL after its probable 1st appearance in my life via Demolition man, back in 1993 and Taco Bell being the last remaining chain restaurant in the world. Sounds familiar, doesn't it, Subway?

How interesting to see the manner by which mind manipulation through motion picture evolved from invisible subliminal messages into this blatant form that has now "normalized" in this day and age.

Btw the penultimate screenshot showed the store's name to be "Auntie Anne's", yet @missvictrix wrote "Aunt Annie’s" instead a few times. Wondering - could it be a Freudian slip influenced by a female relative called Annie or Anne or a young lady in Green Gables ? :-D

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Whoops! Oh, but I do love Anne with an E ^^

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Product: Subway
Saturation: 9/10
Desirability: Never. Ever.

I feel this.

Fried chicken PPL worked on me because when I eventually go to SK, I'm going to hunt down all those places. A new one I'm interested in is EggDrop. It looks good for toast.

Dyson and IU's cars are out of my price range so I'll just have to settle for food.

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I actually had EggDrop for the first time a few months ago, and it was pretty good. And one has just opened in my town!

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Egg Drop looks amazing. I bookmarked it for reference.

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Just saw Eggdrop on Korean Englishman today and it looked good. On the forever growing list of places to try should I ever get to Korea.

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I want to get the one Rev Chris had because everyone wanted that one.

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When I went to SK couple years ago, before I realize the permanent BBQ Ovile Chiken PPL, I ate it, and it was tasted so damn good. It suits my taste who likes her food sweet and spicy. It is the korean flavor that I remembered when I went back to my country. Think about I used to eat chiken from KFC and McD, and bamm Olive chiken. Ha ha ha And the price is affordable for my backpacker poor ass' pocket.

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Talking about the PPL giant Crash Landing on You, I actually find the car PPL in the drama very odd. Everybody know something about North Korea knows their top officials love Mercedes instead of Jaguar--they even made a replica through reverse engineering, and Kim Jong-un recently bought 2 by breaking the trade embargo. Maybe they should trade that with Itaewon Class?

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As well Land Rover. In case you don't know, Jaguar and Land Rover are under the same company, Jaguar Land Rover, a British company which owned by Tata Motor, an Indian company of cheap cars headquarters in Mumbai.

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Something not mentioned is clothing, even though most dramas are full of PPL clothing lines. Much of it has no obvious brand name so wondered how it was helping the brand but then I found out that there are various sites that track all the fashionista stuff in kdramas.

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Another unnoticable PPL is furniture. Sometimes I love seeing those lovely sofas, beds...Most apartments in kdramas have stunning interior designs.

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@kathia, now that you mention furniture, in A piece of your mind's last episode the leads browse a furniture website because "he needs to decorate his studio"... Didn't catch the brand, but those shelves looked cool

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Ohhh indeed! I'm gonna check it out.

Kdramas have also online PPL, where they browse to buy some things online. As well as apps. But the current season of ongoing kdrama don't have much of online websites PPL.

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Just noticed also that a bunch of those various plush toys and the like are PPL, like this one https://www.amazon.com/Helen-sky-Secretary-Cartoon-Children-Birthday/dp/B07HFCPRDP?ref_=fsclp_pl_dp_15

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My current favourite random PPL of this year is actually the ETIQA mask in Itaewon Class. Yi-seo wearing a mask was not out of the ordinary for me. But, Yiseo handing her spare mask to Geun-soo did not feel quite as natural. I did googled the mask at the end of the episode though, so it worked on me. (Don't we all need masks nowadays anyway?)

On the other hand, I'm a sucker for all unhealthy food. Especially fried chicken. And that fried hanging tteokbokki from awhile back?

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"...gratuitous sandwich cleavage" has got to be my favorite phrase of the past two months, at least.

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Still, I'd rather have PPL than commercial breaks. Except for Subway, which as you said: NEVER, EVER.
On the other hand, I loved Fermentation Family because it was all Korean food, traditional Korean food (well, mostly). I love kdramas partially because of the Korean food, not western style junk.

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So 🤭what does PPL stand for?

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Product placement - the drama characters use a product that is being advertised.

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I did buy a Dyson because of those PPL in dramaland. Otherwise there is no way I'd buy vacuum cleaner that expensive. But i must admit that it's worth it and every time I clean the house I feel like in the dramaland lol

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Guess I'm gonna have some Godiva chocolate.

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Just want to say I love this PPL round-up series! :)

I thought I couldn't justify getting a Dyson for my small apartment. Then I see Nan-do in My Holo Love having a Dyson and it looks like we have similarly-sized apartments. I just really want a Dyson...

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Just popping to say I DID buy Godiva chocolate and if I were a offered a job in kdrama land I'd more than gladly PPL the heck out of Godiva chocolates cuz it was SO GOOD. if anyone's wondering it was dark chocolate sea salt. I need some more.

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I totally bought the PPL earrings from "because this life is my first" - I love them (wore them today!) And I've had more compliments on them than any other jewelry I've ever bought. Got them 2 years ago? Last week I ordered a pair of Stone Henge earrings from Secretary Kim PPL 🤷🏼‍♀️. So that's my second pricey ppl earrings 😊

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