Major soju manufacturers have recently been engaged in a brawl over Jinro’s preemptive marketing copy: “We do not add sugar to our products!” Doosan, the runner-up producer, has come up with its own comparative advertisement: “Who on earth adds sugar, then?” Seen above are, from left, the ads of Jinro, Doosan and Sunyang Soju. / Korea Times

By Ryu Jin
Staff Reporter

``We do not add sugar to our products!'' Jinro and Doosan Liquor BG, the country's No. 1 and No. 2 soju makers, are currently battling it out over this seemingly simple marketing copy.

While Jinro, the front-runner enjoying a market share of over 50 percent with the famous ``Chamisul,'' is on the defensive this time, Doosan and even a couple of minor manufacturers such as Sunyang Soju have joined forces to escalate the ``soju war.''

Since August, Jinro has waged an extensive marketing drive for its ``Chamisul Fresh,'' shedding light on the promotional information that it uses Finish-made crystallized fructose (fruit sugar) instead of standard refined sugar for the newly released product.

For Doosan, the runner-up which has been staging an uphill struggle to catch up with Jinro with its own ``Cheoeum-cheoreom,'' the claim was simply ``preposterous'' since almost all existing soju brands stopped using sugar a long time ago.

While Doosan moved to take what it called the ``false and exaggerated ad'' to the Fair Trade Commission (FTC), it also launched a counterattack with its own copy. ``Neither sugar, nor salt!'' An accusation that Chamisul contains ``too much sodium.''

Sunyang Soju, a Daejeon-based maker known for its own brand ``(Malgeul) Linn,'' also followed suit by employing a similar comparative advertisement: ``Has Chamisul previously been made with sugar? Linn never has!''

Long History

A long, long time ago, there were two famed liquor-makers in South Korea: Jinro was a soju specialist, while Doosan was an unrivaled beer maker. But this classification has become gradually meaningless since they crossed over their respective borders in the early 1990s.

``Soju War I'' dates back to 1996, when Doosan launched an attack against Jinro with an allegation that Jinro soju contained the harmful ingredient steviocide. Five years later, Jinro targeted the green tea ingredient in Doosan's ``San'' (Mountain) soju.

In September last year, the two archrivals sparred over water sources. Doosan argued that its new product, Cheoeum-cheoreom (Just like the beginning), has a totally different taste from Chamisul (Real Dew) as its product uses alkaline water.

After months of mutual defamation, the skirmish ended in a draw last May when the FTC, the country's corporate regulatory body, ordered both of them to stop slanderous advertisements against each other.

In the meantime, the soju war was not confined to ingredients. Jinro and Doosan also engaged in a tough competition to lower the percentage of alcohol in the liquor, which led to a marketing battle to lure more female customers.

In February 2006 the ``low-proof soju'' contest began. Doosan introduced a 20-percent Cheoeum-cheoreom. Jinro countered with a 19.8-percent Chamisul Fresh in August. Doosan further lowered the proof to 19.5 percent in July, followed by Jinro.

Symbiotic Rivalry

Industry sources observe the decade-long soju war as a battle of self-respect between the two traditional liquor manufacturers. If one is about to seize a chance of victory, the other tries to put a crimp on it, and vise versa.

As Jinro entered the beer market with ``Cass'' in 1992, Doosan also expanded its business to the soju market the following year. At that time, they also collided with each other in the domestic whisky market with ``Imperial'' and ``Passport,'' respectively.

In the new century, the two contenders are jockeying for a dominant position only in the soju market, as Jinro was purchased by The Hite to be a part of Hite-Jinro Group and Doosan gave up its beer brewery business.

But experts point out that the two liquor makers are waging a ``meaningless'' struggle, as such brawls, though they might be the topic of conversation for a while, do not have so much influence on consumer recognition of the brands.

``Now they even appear to be enjoying what could be called a symbiotic rivalry, in which each takes advantage of their hostile relations,'' said Kim Il-hwan, a spokesman for the Korea Research Center for Drinking Culture.

Indeed, the two companies may have increased their sales through their ``low-proof soju'' competition over the past couple of years by attracting young women, who usually dislike strong spirits such as soju or whisky.

Sales in the first seven months of this year have already exceeded 84 million boxes (360ml X 30 bottles) and are expected to break last year's record of 108.5 million boxes, according to the Korea Alcohol and Liquor Industry Association (KALIA).

Soju, which sells at around 3,000 won ($3.26) per bottle at restaurants, is a popular traditional distilled liquor in the country. A South Korean drinks 90 bottles of soju a year on average.

jhan@koreatimes.co.kr