Now we return to our featured program...
The other day I went to COEX, the biggest mall in Seoul and most likely in all of Korea. Actually, it's kind of disappointing, despite all of the hype. One would expect that a mall of this caliber would be stunning and slick. In fact, when I visited Fukuoka, a fairly large city in Japan (but nowhere as big as Seoul), I was quite taken with Canal City, a five story shopping complex and one of the major tourist attractions there. Canal City has an innovative design, comprising several buildings connected by walkways that leap across space and separated by fountains and winding waterways below.
COEX, however, is vaguely futuristic in the most boring possible sense. As you roam the confusing halls, you can't help wondering whether you've strayed onto the set of a seventies sci-fi thriller. And sadly, it's rather hard to stray off. If it weren't for the occasional signs, the halls look almost identical and lack any distinguishing features to indicate which part of the mall you happen to be in.
While in the mall, I found a striking advertisement for one of Nike's most recent products - the Dunk line of shoes. Perhaps this has become trendy lately, but I'd never seen the like - an advertisement disguised as a comic book, or better yet a comic book whose theme and purpose are advertisement. Not product placement so much as comic replacement. I've translated one page for your commercial edification.
Have you seen marketing of this sort before? It's strange because it doesn't seem to really work either on an artistic level or on a commercial level. The story - dull; the advertising - ignored. The only plus I can find is that it gave me a chance to do a bit of (admittedly simple) translation.
