Nongshim, HiteJinro are riding on the coattails of Parasite

Nongshim parodies Parasite's film poster for its instant noodles advertisement. / Courtesy of Nongshim

By Kim Jae-heun

Korean firms are riding on the coattails of Parasite, the first non-English language film to win the Oscars' top prize in its 92-year history.

While many brands stand to benefit from the films' Oscar-winning success, the local food and beverage (F&B) company Nongshim seems to have the upper hand.

There is a scene in the movie where Mrs. Park calls the housekeeper, asking her to prepare “Chapaguri” for her son ― loosely translated as “ram-don” in the English subtitles. The term ramdon is a combination of ramen and udon, which is made by combining Chapaghetti (instant black bean ramen) and Neoguri (instant spicy udon-like noodles).

To keep up with growing demand, its manufacturer Nongshim uploaded a video of the Chapaguri recipe in 11 languages, including English, Chinese and Japanese on its YouTube's official channel, Monday.

“We have decided to make video showing how to cook Chapaguri online in various languages so people can follow and make the dish for themselves at home,” a Nongshim official said.

The F&B company is also considering launching Chapaguri cup noodle as a complete product in America. The exact date has not been fixed but the instant food may be available at grocery stores like Costco and Walmart starting March.

“We are still reviewing strategies for launching Chapauri in America as we have been receiving a lot of demand for it from our customers,” a Nongshim official added.

Original Chapaguri does not come as a complete product; it is made by mixing two packages of instant noodles together. People in Korea have to buy one pack of Chapaghetti and Neoguri each to make Chapaguri.

Nongshim says it is also reviewing whether to launch Chapaguri in the domestic market for the convenience of customers but it will be in a different style that is more suited to local taste.

The two instant noodles have been steady sellers in local markets but sales of both Chapaghetti and Neoguri soared by 2 billion won ($1.69 million) after the release of “Parasite” last year.

Nongshim did not pay to advertise its instant noodles in the movie ― the use of the name Chapaguri was suggested by the production team.

Mr. and Mrs. Kim drinks HiteJinro's low-malt beer FiLite in the early scene of “Parasite.” /Courtesy of Barunson E&A

Another company that has been enjoying similar promotional benefits from the movie's success in overseas markets is HiteJinro.

Kim's family represents the lower-income demographic and drinks HiteJinro's low-malt beer FiLite at home in one scene. FiLite is popular here largely because of its cheap price compared to other domestic beers. It uses less than 10 percent malt in the beer's blend rate with other mixtures but has a similar taste to its rival products.

A company official said international interest increased along with the film's success.

“Although we are not seeing a prominent increase in demand of FiLite abroad at the moment, we are expecting it to become popular in the near future,” a HiteJinro official said.

Kolon Industries will also run a discount shopping event for its fashion brands Customellow and epigram, which adopted “Parasite” actors Choi Woo-shik and Park So-dam as models in their advertisements, respectively.

During the event period, customers will get a 20,000 won discount for purchases over 150,000 won at both brand stores. The event was planned to coincide with the celebration of the film's big Oscar win and will continue until Sunday.

LG Electronics hired actress Lee Jung-eun, who appears as the original housekeeper in “Parasite,” to advertise their care-service product “Care Solution,” which features engineers visiting customers' homes to routinely check the working status of their home appliances.

SK Telecom made a parody of a “Parasite” scene for its advertisement on television promoting its full service package product.