Korean Curiosities: Couples & Cigarettes
Over the course of my many trips visiting South Korea for the past couple of years, I have been fascinated by two very different things….Matching couples’ outfits and Korean cigarette packages. How could I possibly lump these two seemingly unrelated things together into this one post? The two things have nothing in common—one is the cutest thing that always makes me smile, while the other is down right disgusting and could make you gag. Well, probably because over the course of all of my trips there, these were the two things that always captured my curiosity.
Matching couples’ outfits are pretty popular among a younger demographic. It shows the world that you’re a couple, and are dedicated to one another so much you want to become one! (I’m exaggerating, I can’t begin to fully comprehend the ‘why’ of this because the closest I’ve ever been to matching outfits with my partner is coordinating team shirts on a sports game day.) Whatever the reason, I think it’s cute, and it always makes me smile (and sometimes laugh out loud)!
On the opposite end of the spectrum are Korean cigarette packages. There’s no other way to describe them than—they’re gross. They take the basic surgeon general’s warnings to the next level. The packages have graphic images of cancerous tongues, missing teeth, tracheotomy scars, blacked lungs, and insinuate erectile dysfunction! One might think that this graphic marketing would work wonders to stop people from smoking, but I don’t think that’s the case. You see people smoking everywhere in Korea, and unfortunately many of them litter as well. They so generously leave their cigarette packs with their disturbing visuals around for everyone to see so we can all share in the disgust. Proving that sometimes sharing is NOT caring!
