The current trend of evolving PPL in “Business Proposal”: “They must have read the situation”
Is this what an evolving PPL is like? In addition to the fun plot line, the “Business Proposal” PPL plan, which definitely has read the current trend, is receiving favorable reviews.
For a while, PPL (indirect advertising through product placement) has become a problem rather than the content of TV drama, and there have often been situations where issues have happened. tvN’s “Jiri-san” had drawn high expectations even before the broadcast due to the collaboration between star writer Kim Eun-hee and popular actor Jeon Ji-hyun. But was the anticipation its poison? Many PPLs, which do not match the background of the drama, caused discomfort to its viewers. Prior to that, “True Beauty” and “Vincenzo” also received many complaints from viewers as they PPL Chinese products that are not even sold in Korea, or SBS “The King: The Lord of Eternity” cut off the flow of its stories as various PPLs were explicitly poured out.
It is by no means a good sign for a work to have negative issues arise not through its drama-related details but through the PPL. Ironically, SBS’s Monday-Tuesday drama “Business Proposal” (scripted by Han Seol-hee and Hong Bo-hee, directed by Park Sun-ho) is receiving favorable responses regarding its PPL amid growing viewer antipathy toward PPL in dramas in many ways.
“Business Proposal” adheres to the method of melting the products into the characters and their background to the extent that some people do not recognize it as PPL. The product was naturally exposed to viewers at all times, setting the company where the two main characters work as a food company. In the scene where the male protagonist Kang Tae-moo (Ahn Hyo-seop) explained the product to his overseas buyers, he openly showed the product and even explained it in detail, but it naturally appeared like a scene to highlight the male protagonist’s ability.
In addition, as there was a lot of anger toward Chinese products due to the “cultural digest process” that the entire nation of South Korea was angry over earlier, the reaction to this seems to have reduced the reluctance to promote domestic corporate products such as “kimchi.” In addition, netizens are responding positively to the fact that the production team melted Korea into their products by emphasizing “Korean” pots and “Korean” dumplings.
Already, “Business Proposal” is a highly acclaimed work that is successful among the comedic performances of actors and drama remakes of webtoons. On top of that, its clever production of using PPL as a device is also gaining popularity.
