[box] A few years ago I was asked to write a small book on promoting Korean food. I finished the manuscript, but it never got published. The publisher ended up going out of business. Here is the old manuscript for your enjoyment, posted in segments. Keep in mind that this was written in late 2011, but some parts are still relevant today.

NOTE: I’m continuing this because someone I recently met said he really enjoyed the first few chapters and wanted to read more.

• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Know Your Market
• Chapter 2: A Clash of Media Cultures
• Chapter 3: Common Myths About Foreigners
• Chapter 4: Y2Y Marketing
• Chapter 5: Taste vs. Well-being

[/box]

Promoting Korean Food

Chapter 4

Y2Y Marketing

There is a vocal and powerful minority of Korean food promoters who think that Korean cuisine needs to appeal to the expensive fine dining crowd in order to be successful. They use the argument that people follow what the upper classes and the governing classes do. So if government officials and CEOs eat fancy Korean dishes, then everyone else will do the same.

Stop and think on how ridiculous that sounds. What century are these people from? When was the last time you ate something because you saw a government official eating it?

The very beginnings of the Hansik campaign concentrated on this model. They held gala dinners for U.S. Congress members. They promoted expensive royal court cuisine. They spent lots of money on exclusive dinners that shut out most of the foodie community.

They did all this when the world was going into one of its largest recessions in modern history. When people were losing their jobs and couldn’t afford to eat out, Hansik promoters thought they could woo them with Gujeolpan (Nine-sectioned Dish).

Immediately it showed that they weren’t interested in promoting Korean food for the sake of promoting Korean food. They were doing it for status. They wanted to impress others. They were envious that diners were paying lots of money to dine in high-end Japanese restaurants and not in Korean ones. When you’re more concerned with charging high prices than the quality of the food itself, you shouldn’t be in charge of promoting Korean food.

Succinctly, this was a classic example of one exclusive class wanting to impress another exclusive class. They want to be in their exclusive club. It was yangban to yangban marketing, or Y2Y marketing. It’s difficult to believe that there are still people who hold such aristocratic views that died after the French Revolution. And to think that they thought this attitude would work in America, a country that was founded as an antithesis to aristocracies and has a tradition of anti-elitism.

Pretension vs. Pleasure

A few years ago, I went to the restaurant of one of these Y2Y promoters. It was known as Korea’s answer to fine dining. I was the dinner guest of a travel writer for The New York Times. We made reservations, and I showed up a little early. I was very impressed by the plates. The owner was also famous for his pottery works. The tables had white tablecloths. My party arrived. We were given menus and a wine list. The first thing the Times writer noticed was how overpriced the wine was. He had traveled the world and knew wine lists, and he was laughing at how high the middling supermarket wines were priced. That was a sign of bad things to come.

The prices on the menu were astounding. We have no problem with paying high prices for good food, but it has to be stellar food. There actually was a Samgyetang (Ginseng Chicken Soup) on the menu that cost almost W300,000. We didn’t order that, but we found a few items that we felt would give us a good idea of what the restaurant served.

The first course was Scallop Muchim. What came to the table was strings of shaved leeks in a cloyingly sweet Vinegared Gochujang. We couldn’t find the scallops. We ordered the dish because we wanted scallops, not leeks and gochujang. After some searching, we found two paper thin slices. This W18,000 dish tasted no different than side dishes at a common Korean fish house. As the meal progressed, the dishes got better. Yet they were no different than food you would get at a local mom-and-pop restaurant. They looked prettier, but their taste wasn’t impressive. The only big difference was the price and the snooty overly formal service.

Now, you would think that you’re paying these high prices for the service and atmosphere. Well, the atmosphere was nice. Yet the service was like the worst caricatures of stuffy French waiters from movies. They did not make us feel welcome. They made us feel like we were intruders in their private domains. We felt highly uncomfortable the entire meal. Then they did the unforgivable. When we had just received our desserts and coffee, they told us we had to leave soon because it was ten o’clock and they were closing. This is something that I would hear at a McDonald’s. This is unheard of at a restaurant where patrons spend W100,000 per person. When I worked in restaurants in America, guests were allowed to stay as long as they wanted so they could relax and finish their drinks. They were not shooed out the door as soon as they received their desserts.

The owner of this restaurant said that his restaurant should be the model for how Hansik could conquer the world. He had a noveau riche notion of how wealthy people ate in fine dining restaurants. He put in the white tablecloths, pricey menu, and well-dressed waitstaff. Yet he never understood why people went to fine dining restaurants. It wasn’t to impress other wealthy people. It was to relax. To be pampered. To feel welcome. To eat extraordinary foods. His restaurant did none of that.

Contrast that with a restaurant I went to in New York City, Eleven Madison Park. It has been consistently rated as one of the top five restaurants in Manhattan. I’m not one of the super rich lawyers that usually dine there. I’m just a writer from Korea. And I wanted to splurge and treat myself to a nice meal. So I made a reservation online before going on the plane to New York. I dressed nicely in a jacket and actually was nervous to go there. Fine dining always intimidates me, no matter how many times I do it.

When I walked in, the person at the door said, “Hello, Mr. McPherson. How was your flight from Korea?”

Now, keep in mind that I was nervous. I was by myself in one of New York’s top restaurants. I expected that snooty service. But it was just the opposite. The staff there was warm. Warm. They made me feel like I was their guest and that they wanted me there. The maitre d’ even came by to have a pleasant conversation with me. The head bartender came by to introduce their special cocktails, and he even had stories for each cocktail. I asked for their special martini, and he made it tableside with sharp precision. The whole time, he didn’t give a frown. He smiled, joked, told stories, and asked about my background. When my courses came, the cooks themselves brought them over and explained what each one was. And the food was unique, beautiful, and most importantly, tasted good. It was food I could get nowhere else, which is why people go to great restaurants. The wait staff did not interrupt me, nor did I see them interrupt anyone else. It was Chuseok that day, and a Korean daughter was taking her mother out for a nice meal. They sat next to me. They were truly enjoying themselves. I didn’t see that at the fine dining restaurant in Korea. The restaurant in Korea was cold, and people just went there to show off their wealth. Contrast that with this restaurant in Manhattan. It was much more luxurious than the one in Korea. The staff was warm and welcoming. The food was unique and tasty. And in the end, the check was slightly more than $100 but was a great value for what I got.

Korean food as status symbol

That, my friends, is what fine dining is supposed to be. It’s expensive, but there’s a reason for this expense. Great food. Great service. Great memories. The Y2Y promoters miss this point entirely. Instead of starting out by promoting the great foods that everyday Koreans enjoy, they promoted Gujeolpan and Shinseolleo (Royal Hot Pot). Do real Koreans eat those dishes on a regular basis?

The reason they promote it is purely for status. They don’t care that it doesn’t taste nearly as good as everyday Korean food. They don’t care that average Americans can’t find it in restaurants. They don’t care that average Americans can’t make that at home. They just felt that Korean food should be a tool to impress other aristocrats. This feeling is infectious in Korean upper classes.

For example, I graduated from a prestigious boarding school in my high school years. Recently, it has become popular with Korean parents sending their sons to study overseas. My school’s administration regularly comes to Seoul to meet the parents and to recruit new students. Many of these administrators are my old teachers and friends. The parents they meet are wealthy because the school is expensive. I met one of these administrators, an old friend of mine, at a Seoul hotel for drinks one evening. I asked him how we was enjoying the food in Korea. He rolled his eyes and let out a deep sigh.

“I’m so tired of Hanjeongsik!”

Every day the wealthy parents were insisting on impressing him by taking him out for expensive Hanjeongsik. I understand that to Koreans it’s a luxurious meal. But to my friend and the administrator that was with him, it was bland and boring compared to the Korean food he had wanted to eat. He badly wanted to go for a classic Korean BBQ. The other administrator that was with him had a son who was teaching English in Seoul. So he just told the Korean parents he couldn’t go out to eat anymore. He was going to spend time with his son. Part of the reason was that he was burned out on Korean fine dining.

It has surprised and disappointed foreigners like myself who love Korean food to see Hansik promoters ignore the foods that foreigners truly love in order to impress foreign yangban (who aren’t impressed by those foods either). Instead of courting the real thought leaders in the food community, chefs and food writers, they went after CEOs, politicians, and mainstream media. In spite of all this money being spent to promote Gujeolpan to U.S. Senators, it has fallen flat. It’s not popular. What has gotten popular is Korean fried chicken, Korean-Mexican street foods, Korean-style frozen yogurt, bibimbap, and good old fashioned Korean BBQ.

The fact that Korean BBQ has been ignored is the greatest crime of all! The entire world loves barbecue. Yet I have heard promoters say that they don’t promote barbecue because it’s not high class enough. Well, you know what happens? If you don’t promote it then someone else will. In New York a Japanese izakaya opened and received great raves from The New York Times and other food critics. What was it serving? Gobchang Gui (Grilled Instestines). If Hansik promoters don’t start promoting the foods that people love the most, others will take it and promote it as their own.

Ashamed of Korean food

Are Korean elites ashamed of their own cuisine? I have noticed that the types of food they promote tend to look more Japanese than the foods I see in Korea every day. They’re pretty foods but also bland foods—like many Japanese foods. Hansik promoters envy Japanese restaurants that charge high prices.

One luxury hotel in Seoul experimented with a fine dining Hansik menu. They invited food writers and food bloggers to try it out. I loved the food. It was a modern interpretation of Korean cuisine that was whimsical, gorgeous, and full of flavor. After the meal, I talked to a famous Korean powerblogger. He said he wasn’t impressed by the meal.

“It tasted too Korean.”

This is the type of pretension that frustrates me so much. It revealed how ignorant this famous powerblogger was. On his website he raves about modern French foods. Yet he never realizes that the French cuisine he’s so impressed with is just modern interpretations of traditional French peasant cuisine. That’s exactly what this Seoul hotel’s Hansik menu was. It treated Korean cuisine the same way it treated French cuisine. But these yangban Korean powerbloggers hate their own cuisine.

This is the heart of the problem. Yangban Hansik promoters, from the beginning, didn’t think of why they wanted to promote Hansik. It started out as just a way to impress other yangban. And they were using the country’s treasury to do this. This was dangerously idiotic since they took an approach that had never worked, especially during a recession. Did Chinese food become popular in Korea through fine dining? Did Italian, American, Indian, or even Japanese cuisine find success from that approach? No, they became popular through sweet and sour pork, pizza, hamburgers, curry, and cheap sushi. The fine dining came later.

Even when there is great Korean fine dining, it is met with suspicion overseas. One of Korea’s best restaurants and most talented chefs opened an outpost in New York City. Despite positive reactions from diners, the New York dining press criticized it for being too upscale and too expensive. (Postscript: It now holds two Michelin stars.)

There is room for Korean fine dining, and it is starting to take hold. Yet it has been foolish to lead with it. Hansik promoters should stop hating their own cuisine. They need to embrace the heart of Korean cuisine and figure out why people like it. In America, we say people need to “play to their strengths.” Korea’s strengths are in its basic everyday foods—its barbecue, its spicy dishes, its peasant cuisine. Those speak to people’s stomachs—yangban or not. Don’t lose sight and think of Hansik promotion as a way to promote an elitist image. That will fail.

French food is famous the world over for its sophistication. Yet when traveling in France, everyone knows that the great food isn’t in Paris, it’s in Provence—the countryside. And that’s what Korea is. It’s great peasant food that speaks to the heart. That prissy urban cuisine—Tokyo has already cornered that market. Korea’s strength is its rustic dishes like boribap, jjimdalk, and dalk galbi. In a way, Korea is the Provence of Asia.

Promote Korean food to promote Korean food. Famous chef Pierre Gagnaire said that in order for Koreans to promote their cuisine, they need to learn to love it first.

[box] A few years ago I was asked to write a small book on promoting Korean food. I finished the manuscript, but it never got published. The publisher ended up going out of business. Here is the old manuscript for your enjoyment, posted in segments. Keep in mind that this was written in late 2010, but some parts are still relevant today.

• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Know Your Market
• Chapter 2: A Clash of Media Cultures
• Chapter 3: Common Myths About Foreigners
• Chapter 4: Y2Y Marketing
• Chapter 5: Taste vs. Well-being

[/box]

Promoting Korean Food

Chapter 3

Common Myths About Foreigners

An ad appeared on CNN to promote Korea internationally. It was talked about but not talked about positively. It consisted of racial stereotypes of foreigners—an American cowboy, a Japanese woman in a kimono—asking “is it true” questions about aspects of Korea that would not appeal to an American audience (“Is is true Korea is the world’s 7th largest exporter?”). The ad was actually screened to a couple of foreigners at the government agency that produced it. The foreigners said that the ad was awful and shouldn’t be aired. A civil servant manager told the foreigners that he understood what foreigners liked better than they did.

The ad aired, and it received some comments, mostly negative. Viewers were turned off by the stereotypes and the chest-beating messages about Korea’s greatness. Business leaders and even a New York Times journalist talked about how awful the ad was on the Internet.

My dealings with Korean media have been frustrating. There is great talent in Korean production crews. Yet the people who produce and write rely too heavily on Korean stereotypes of foreigners. The problem may stem from these people not having traveled much outside of Korea. They have a “frog in a well” worldview, where their information on foreigners comes from caricatures on TV and movies. I have seen local Korean TV use these stereotypes, and even exported media like Arirang, play to these stereotypes as well. When I was working on my series for Arirang (2011, G-Korea), I had to rewrite the script a few times because the scriptwriter was placing some insulting stereotypes into it. Here are some stereotypes I’ve observed over the years that need to be halted.

Westerners are stupid or don’t know anything about Asian cultures

A series of web ads for Korean tourism came out a few years ago. The main character was the Korean stereotype of a westerner with blonde hair and a big nose. The ads put him in situations that the producers felt were uniquely Korean. Yet over fifty percent of the situations made this character look like a foolish clown. He couldn’t use chopsticks. He didn’t take his shoes off when going inside a house. Tteokbokki was too spicy. If you watched all the ads back-to-back, you’d think that he was an idiot that was a danger to himself and those around him. It definitely did not promote Korea as an attractive place to visit. It made people think twice about going to a country where the residents thought they were stupid.

Westerners don’t know a whole lot about Korea, but they do know some basics. I’ve noticed that people, when listening to someone struggle with a second language, tend to think of them as stupid. A foreigner may not speak Korean well, but he may also have a Ph. D. in genetic science. Don’t assume he’s stupid because he hasn’t mastered the Korean language.

Also take to heart that Korea does not always need to send out a polished image of itself. Many government and private entities have spent millions of U.S. dollars on ads that are beautiful but give a sterile humorless image of Korea. They just reek of propaganda.

Not everyone does this, though. A Korean pizza company came out with a fake documentary on the internet about how Koreans invented pizza. It poked fun at a lot of nationalistic aspects of Korean culture. And you know what? It became one of the most popular and effective food campaigns from Korea!

Foreigners are smart enough to know when something is a joke, and they appreciate subtlety. Making fun of yourself is one of the best ways to gain friends. This pizza campaign was so subtle that some people didn’t even know it was fake. That made it even more popular. It was picked up by America’s largest food blogs and created a fun quirky image for this pizza company. And think that all this campaign cost was the production of the video and the creation of a website. They got more benefits with less money.

Westerners can’t use chopsticks

I didn’t grow up using chopsticks, but I learned how to use them successfully when I was eight years old. Chinese, Japanese, and Korean restaurants supply chopsticks for their patrons all around the world. Most westerners learned to use chopsticks at Chinese restaurants, where there are diagrams teaching them how to use them. It’s not unusual for a westerner to use chopsticks. So imagine how insulting one would feel if a Korean said, “You use chopsticks very well!”

I understand they’re being nice, but it’s also condescending. It’s like a westerner saying, “You use a fork and knife very well.”

Americans only eat hamburgers, pizza, and spaghetti

A young Korean man once asked me, “How many hamburgers do Americans eat each day?”

Well, how many hamburgers do Koreans eat each day?

Yes, Americans enjoy hamburgers, pizza, and spaghetti. They enjoy them about as much as Koreans do. Yet, as in Korea, hamburgers and pizza are considered junk food. They’re not equal to kimchi and rice in Korea. That’s like asking a Korean how much bunsik they eat each day. Except in extreme cases, hamburgers and pizza are special occasion foods. Few people eat them every day. The average is once or twice a month.

Americans like variety. When Americans talk about what to eat for dinner, they usually talk about what type of cuisine they want. “Do you want Italian, Mexican, or Indian tonight?”

If there is any consistent rule about the average American meal, it’s usually a main dish with three sides, like a pork chop with three types of vegetables, along with bread. It’s not much different than the Korean diet other than meat takes a larger role and rice is considered a side dish.

Western food is unhealthy

I see this one a lot. Western food isn’t unhealthy. Western junk food is unhealthy. Just like Korean junk food is unhealthy. Ramen regularly gets on the lists of ten unhealthiest foods in the world. Unfortunately, the junk foods are convenient, cheap, and tasty. Combine that with a sedentary lifestyle, and we have America’s obesity epidemic.

Traditional western foods are healthy. It’s only been since the 1970s that Americans started getting fat—around the time that fast foods and high fructose corn syrup hit the market.

Americans will like Korean food because it’s healthy

That is a positive selling point for Korean food, but that won’t be why Americans will jump for it. Americans aren’t sitting around waiting to grasp onto a healthy food because they only have unhealthy options. Since the 1970s Americans have been bombarded with healthy trendy foods, and after all these years, they’ve grown tired of them, mostly because these healthy foods taste bad. In the 1990s and 2000s a backlash against the health food trends occurred, with restaurants intentionally coming out with unhealthy dishes because Americans had gotten so weary of bad tasting “health” food. So assuming that Americans will eat Korean food just because it’s healthy is folly.

Foreigners can’t eat spicy food

Korean food is spicy, but most Americans love spicy food. Chili peppers come from the west. Americans have their own spicy foods, such as Cajun cuisine, hot wings, Tex-Mex foods covered in jalapenos, and the world’s largest variety of hot sauces. Not all Americans like spicy food, yet many do. Europeans are a little more sensitive, depending if they come from the north or south, but there are fans of spicy food there, too. They’ve also been exposed to spicy cuisines all over the world, including Thai, Indian, and Mexican. Korea is not the only country with spicy food, and it should be considered something good. Don’t try to reduce the heat for western palates. We love the spice!

All foreigners like/don’t like ___

All foreigners are alike in that they’re not alike. I hear promoters regularly say things like, “Bibimbap will make Korean food popular.”

There is not one single food that will make Korean food popular. Everyone has a different taste. Yes, there are patterns you can find, which come with research. But as mentioned before, Americans like variety. Their tolerance for spice is different. Some like oily foods, many don’t. In most households there is not one single food that families eat at every meal like rice is eaten in Korea. You may find that people from France like Samgyetang (Ginseng Chicken Soup). People from the American northeast like Nakji Bokkeum (Spicy Stir-fried Baby Octopus). The American south likes barbecue. That’s where market research can help.

If anything, Americans like choices. A difference between Korean and American pizza restaurants is that Korean pizzas come with preset toppings. A sweet potato pizza comes with sweet potato, corn, and a few other ingredients. American pizza toppings are chosen individually. If you order an American pizza with pepperoni and mushrooms, you will get a pizza with only pepperoni and mushrooms.

I say this to point out that giving Americans choices at Korean restaurants helps solve a lot of problems. Thai restaurants let diners choose how spicy they want their food. Korean restaurants can do the same. Restaurants can have a “build-your-own-bibimbap” menu where diners choose what they want in their bibimbap. Or they can do what many new ethnic cuisines do and serve their food as a buffet. It makes dining more fun and removes the fear some people have of ordering a new food and getting something they don’t like. You give diners choices, you give them power, and they walk away happy.

This dish isn’t popular because foreigners can’t pronounce it

When the government campaign to promote Korean food began, they started with one of the silliest promotions I could ever think of. Rather than do a little research to find out what foreigners’ tastes are, the government decided to start off by promoting tteok, particularly tteokbokki.

Foreigners generally haven’t liked tteokbokki. It’s not because it’s too spicy—well, for many that’s not the reason. It’s because the texture is too heavy. When famous TV food personality Andrew Zimmern did his show on Korea, he described tteokbokki has big balls of dough. To many foreigners, it’s like eating chewing gum.

Yet the government got the random notion that tteokbokki was not popular because foreigners couldn’t pronounce it. There were even newspaper articles stating that as the reason. So the government poured five billion won into changing the name to the Japanese-sounding topokki and created a Topokki Institute to make tteokbokki more attractive to foreigners. When scientists in lab coats instead of chefs make a food, there is something wrong.

This topokki campaign has seen a little success, but it’s an example of an organization forcing a food down people’s throats. The cost-to-results ratio is too wide. It’s highly inefficient to spend so much money to get so little results. That money could have been spent more wisely if the government first did a little research and had not relied on a racist notion that foreigners can’t pronounce Korean words.

Westerners want fancy food

Korean food ads and overseas restaurant efforts make the assumption that Korean food has to be fancy and served on white tablecloths for westerners to like it. That is far from the truth. The attitude these days leans towards authenticity. When westerners try a new cuisine, they want it to taste as real as possible. When they walk into a Korean restaurant, they want to feel like they’ve taken a plane ride to Seoul. Fine dining does have its place, but that’s not a priority with western diners.

The message of this entire chapter is to reiterate that you need to know your market. Do not rely on stereotypes. Assume that everything you know is wrong. That’s the best way to approach a market. Research, research, research. Western companies have made this mistake, too. The restaurant franchise Taco Bell entered the Korean market in the early 1990s. Their assumption was that Koreans like spicy food, so they would naturally like Taco Bell. They failed miserably and lost millions of dollars. If they had done their research, they would have found that Korea was not yet ready for tacos. In the late 2000s, they were more cautious and entered the Korean market again. By then, the Korean public had a greater appreciation of international foods and had been exposed to Mexican food through local Mexican restaurants. They entered slowly by opening one store in Itaewon and then one in Hongdae. The response was overwhelming, and Taco Bell became more successful. They lost millions of dollars the first time because they relied on stereotypes for their business. They were successful the second time because they studied their market before venturing.

4. 외국인들에 관한 흔한 신화

CNN에 미국인을 대상으로 한국을 홍보하는 광고가 등장했다. 사람들은 그것을 이야기했지만 긍정적인 방식으로는 아니었다. 그 광고는 외국인에 대한 인종주의적 스테레오타입을 담고 있었고—미국인은 카우보이, 일본 여성은 기모노를 입고 있었다—미국 청중에게 그다지호감을 줄 것 같지 않은 한국의 어떤 면들에 대해 “그게 사실일까요” 하는 질문을 던졌다.(“한국이 세계 7대 수출국이라는 게 사실일까요?”) 사실 그 광고를 제작한 정부 기관에서는 외국인 한두 명을 대상으로 시사회를 했다. 시사회 반응은 광고가 형편없으며 절대 방영되어서는 안 된다는 것이었다. 그러나 광고 집행을 맡은 한국인은 그 외국인들에게 내가 당신들보다 외국인을 더 잘 안다고 했다.

광고는 방영되었고 사람들의 반응을 얻었지만, 그 반응은 대체로 부정적이었다. 광고를 본 사람들은 거기 담긴 스테레오타입과 한국의 위대함을 알리는 가슴 치는 메시지에 비위만 상했다. 기업 지도자들은 물론이고 심지어 《뉴욕타임스》의 언론인 한 사람도 인터넷에서 그 광고가 얼마나 형편없는가를 이야기할 정도였다.

나는 한국 미디어와의 관계에서 좌절을 많이 겪었다. 한국 제작팀에는 재능 있는 사람들이 있었다. 그렇지만 광고를 작성하고 제작하는 사람들은 외국인에 대한 스테레오타입에 지나치게 의존했다. 문제는 한국 바깥을 많이 여행해 보지 못한 그런 사람들 탓인지도 모른다. 그 사람들은 우물 안 개구리 세계관을 갖고 있으며, 주로 텔레비전과 영화의 희화화를 통해 외국인에 대한 정보를 얻는다. 나는 한국의 지역 방송사들은 물론이고 심지어 아리랑 같은 수출용 미디어들조차 이런 스테레오타입을 당연시하는 것을 보았다. 아리랑에서 방송 프로그램을 맡고 있던 시절 나는 몇 번인가 대본을 고쳐 써야 했던 적이 있었는데, 대본 작가가 모욕적인 스테레오타입을 담은 대본을 썼기 때문이었다. 내가 그간 보아온, 그만두어야 할 스테레오타입 몇 가지를 여기 소개한다.

서양인들은 멍청하거나 아시아 문화라면 아무것도 모른다

몇 년 전, 한국 관광을 홍보하는 웹 광고 시리즈가 있었다. 주인공은 한국인이 외국인 하면 떠올리는 금발과 커다란 코를 가지고 있었다. 광고에서 그는 제작자들이 한국 특유의 상황이라고 생각하는 이런저런 상황에 처했다. 그렇지만 그 중 절반 정도의 상황에서 이 등장인물은 멍청한 어릿광대 노릇을 했다. 그는 젓가락을 쓸 줄 모른다. 집에 들어갈 때 신발을 벗지 않는다. 떡볶이가 너무 맵다고 못 먹는다. 광고 전편을 잇따라 시청하고 나면 여러분은 그 주인공이 자신은 물론이고 주위 사람에게도 위협이 되는 천치라고 생각할 것이다. 그 광고는 확실히 한국을 그다지 매력적인 여행지로 홍보하지 못했다. 오히려 주민들이 나를 멍청하다고 생각하는 나라로 내가 굳이 가야 하는지를 재고하게 만들었다.

서양인은 한국을 전부 알지는 못해도 몇 가지 기본적인 것은 안다. 내가 알게 된 사실인데, 어떤 사람이 모국어가 아닌 언어로 더듬더듬 말하고 있으면 그 말을 듣는 사람들은 그 사람이 멍청하다고 생각하는 경향이 있다. 한국어를 잘 못하는 외국인이 유전 과학에 박사 학위가 있을 수도 있다.한국어를 완벽하게 하지 못한다는 이유로 그 사람이 멍청하다고 단정해서는 안 된다.

또한 한국이 늘 번쩍번쩍 광낸 모습만 외부에 보일 필요가 없다는 점을 잊지 말자. 수많은 정부 기관과 사적인 단체 들은 미국 돈 수백만 달러를 들여 아름답긴 하지만 유머가 없는 황량한 이미지뿐인 한국에 대한 광고를 내놓았다. 그런 광고들은 프로파간다의 냄새만 풍길 뿐이다.

그렇지만 모두가 그런 것은 아니다. 한국의 한 피자 회사가 한국인이 피자를 처음 발명했다는 내용의 가짜 다큐멘터리로 인터넷에 광고를 했다. 한국 문화의 국수주의적인 면을 놀림거리로 만드는 광고였다. 그리고 어떻게 되었을까? 그것은 한국에서 낸 음식 광고 중 가장 인기있고 효과적인 광고가 되었다!

외국인들은 농담을 알아차릴 만큼은 충분히 영리하고, 섬세함을 알아볼 줄 안다. 자신을 웃음거리로 만드는 것은 친구를 얻는 가장 좋은 방법 중 하나다. 이 피자 캠페인은 너무나 섬세해서 어떤 사람들은 그 다큐멘터리가 진짜인 줄 알 정도였다. 그 때문에 광고는 더욱 인기를 얻었다. 그리고 미국에서 가장 큰 음식 블로그 중 한 곳에서 이 광고를 소개한 덕분에 이 피자 회사는 재미있고 독특하다는 이미지를 얻게 되었다. 그리고 이 모든 캠페인에 든 비용이 비디오와 웹사이트 제작비가 전부였다는 걸 생각해 보라. 더 적은 돈으로 더 많은 이득을 얻는다는 게 바로 이런 경우다.

서구인들은 젓가락을 쓸 줄 모른다

나는 젓가락을 쓰면서 자라지 않았만 여덟 살이 되었을 때 젓가락을 제대로 쓰는 법을 배웠다. 전 세계의 중국, 일본, 한국 식당들은 손님들에게 젓가락을 내준다. 서양인은 대개 중국 식당에서 젓가락 쓰는 법을 가르쳐주는 그림을 보고 그 사용법을 처음 배운다. 서양인이 젓가락을 사용하는 것은 드문 일이 아니다. 그러니 한국인에게서 “너는 젓가락을 정말 잘 쓰는구나!”하는 말을 들은 서양인이 얼마나 무시당한 기분을 느낄지 생각해 보라.

친절하게 굴려는 마음에서 그런다는 건 나도 알지만, 거기에는 얕잡아보는 구석도 있다. 그것은 말하자면 서양인이 한국인에게 “너는 포크와 나이프를 무척 잘 쓰는구나.”하고 말하는 것이나 다를 바 없다.

미국인들은 햄버거와 피자와 스파게티만 먹고 산다

한국의 한 젊은 남자가 나더러 이렇게 물은 적이 있다. “미국인들은 매일 햄버거를 몇 개나 먹어요?” 글쎄, 한국인들은 대체 하루에 햄버거를 몇 개나 먹길래?

그렇다. 미국 사람들은 햄버거, 피자, 그리고 스파게티를 좋아한다. 한국인 못지않게 그런 음식을 즐겨 먹는다. 그렇지만 한국과 마찬가지로 미국에서도 햄버거와 피자는 정크푸드로 여겨진다. 한국의 김치와 밥에 맞먹는 음식은 아니다. 그런 질문은 한국인에게 매일 분식을 얼마나 먹느냐고 묻는 것과 마찬가지다. 극단적인 경우를 제외하고 햄버거와 피자는 특별한 경우에 먹는 음식이다. 매일 먹는 사람은 거의 없다. 평균은 한 달에 한두 번이다.

미국인들은 다양성을 좋아한다. 저녁으로 무얼 먹을까 하는 이야기를 할 때, 보통은 어떤 유형의 요리를 먹고 싶은지를 이야기한다. “오늘 밤에는 이탈리아식을 먹을래? 아니면 멕시코식, 아니면 인도식?”

평균 미국인의 식사에 어떤 꾸준한 법칙이 있다면 보통은 메인 요리에 사이드 요리 세 가지가 딸려나온다는 것이다. 채소 세 가지와 빵을 곁들인 폭찹처럼. 육류가 큰 부분을 차지하고 쌀이 반찬으로 여겨진다는 것을 제외하면 한국 식단과 많이 다르지 않다.

서구 음식은 건강에 나쁘다

아주 많이 듣는 이야기다. 서구 음식이 건강에 나쁘다는 것이다. 물론 서구 정크푸드는 건강에 나쁘다. 한국 정크푸드가 건강에 나쁜 것과 똑같다. 라면은 세계적으로 건강에 해로운 음식 10위 안에 꼬박꼬박 든다. 안타깝게도 정크푸드는 편리하고 싸고 맛있다. 그것이 정적인 생활양식과 결합하여 비만이라는 미국의 전염병을 낳았다.

전통적인 서구 음식은 건강에 좋다. 미국인들이 뚱뚱해지기 시작한 것은 어디까지나 1970년대 이후의 이야기다—패스트푸드와 고과당 콘시럽이 시장을 강타한 게 바로 그때였다.

한식이 건강에 좋으니까 미국인은 한식을 좋아할 것이다

한국 음식에는 긍정적인 판매요인이 있지만 미국인이 그때문에 한식에 푹 빠지지는 않을 것이다. 미국인은 자기 나라에 건강에 나쁜 음식밖에 없어서 건강한 음식이 나타나기만 기다리고 있는 게 아니다. 1970년대 이래 줄곧 건강식 유행의 폭격을 당해온 미국인들은 그 시기가 지나자 건강식이라면 질려 버렸다. 건강식이 맛이 없었기 때문이다. 그리고 1990년대와 2000년대에는 건강식 유행에 대한 반발이 일어나서 음식점들이 너도나도 일부러 건강에 나쁜 음식을 내놓았는데, 미국인들이 맛이 없는 “건강식”에 너무나 질린 탓이었다. 그러니 한식이 건강에 좋기 때문에 미국인들이 한식을 먹을 거라는 가정은 오류다.

외국인은 매운 음식을 못 먹는다

한국 음식이 맵긴 하지만 대다수 미국인은 매운 음식을 아주 좋아한다. 칠리페퍼는 서양에서 왔다. 미국에는 미국의 매운 음식들이 있다. 케이준 요리나 핫윙, 할라페뇨로 뒤덮인 텍사스식와 멕시코식이 결합된 음식들도 있고, 핫소스는 세계에서 가장 다양하다. 모든 미국인이 매운 음식을 좋아하는 것은 아니지만 많은 사람들이 좋아한다. 유럽인들은 북부 출신이냐 남부 출신이냐에 따라 약간 더 갈리긴 하지만 유럽에도 역시 매운 음식 팬이 있다. 또한 태국, 인도, 그리고 멕시코를 포함해서 전 세계적으로 이미 매운 음식들이 많이 있다. 매운 음식은 한국에만 존재하는 것이 아니고, 그것은 오히려 잘 된 일이다. 서구인들의 입맛에 맞게 덜 맵게 만들려고 애쓰지 마라. 우리는 매운맛을 좋아한다!

모든 외국인은 ___ 을 좋아한다/싫어한다

모든 외국인의 공통점은 서로 다르다는 것이다. 나는 홍보자들이 으레 이런 말을 하는 걸 듣는다. “비빔밥이 한식을 유명하게 만들 거야.”

한국 음식을 인기 있게 만들어 줄 단 한 가지 음식은 없다. 다들 입맛이 다르다. 그렇다. 패턴을 찾을 수는 있다. 연구를 하면 알 수 있다. 그렇지만 앞서 말했듯이, 미국인은 다양성을 좋아한다. 매운맛에 대한 내성은 각자 다르다. 느끼한 음식을 좋아하는 사람도 있지만 다수는 그렇지 않다. 대다수 가정에서는 한국의 가정에서 매일 쌀밥을 먹는 식으로 매끼 한 가지 동일한 음식을 먹지 않는다. 프랑스에서 온 사람들은 흔히 삼계탕을 좋아한다. 미국 북부 출신 사람들은 낙지볶음을, 남부 사람들은 바비큐를 대체로 좋아한다. 그게 시장 조사가 도움이 되는 부분이다.

뭔가 공통점을 찾으라면, 미국인들은 직접 고르는 걸 좋아한다. 한국과 미국 피자점의 차이는 한국 피자는 미리 정해진 토핑이 얹혀 나온다는 것이다. 고구마 피자는 고구마와 옥수수 말고 몇 가지 재료가 더 있다. 미국 피자 토핑은 전부 따로 선택해야 한다. 미국에서 페페로니와 버섯 피자를 주문하면 딱 페페로니와 버섯만 올라간 피자가 나온다.

내가 이 말을 하는 이유는 미국인들이 한국 음식점에서 직접 선택을 할 수 있게 해주는 것이 많은 문제의 해법이 될 수 있음을 지적하기 위해서다. 태국 음식점들은 손님이 음식의 맵기를 정할 수 있게 해준다. 한국 음식점도 똑같이 하면 된다. 손님이 비빔밥에 넣을 재료를 고르게 하는 “직접 만드는 비빔밥” 메뉴를 만들 수 있다. 아니면 많은 새로운 민족 요리들이 그렇게 하듯이 부페식으로 음식을 제공해도 된다. 그러면 식사를 더 재미있게 만들 수 있고 일부 사람들이 낯선 음식을 주문할 때 느끼는 두려움과, 나온 음식이 내 마음에 들지 않을지도 모른다는 두려움을 덜 수 있다. 손님에게 선택지를 주고 결정권을 주면 손님은 만족하여 식당을 나설 것이다.

이 요리는 외국인들이 발음할 수 없기 때문에 인기가 없다

정부는 한식 홍보 캠페인을 시작할 때, 내가 생각할 수 있는 가장 어리석은 방식으로 그 일을 시작했다. 외국인들의 입맛을 알아보기 위해 조사도 하지 않고 떡, 특히 떡볶이를 첫 홍보 대상으로 삼기로 무작정 결정한 것이다.
그간 외국인들은 대체로 떡볶이를 좋아하지 않았다. 매워서가 아니었다—글쎄, 많은 사람들에게 그것이 이유가 아니었다. 이유는 질감이 너무 질겨서였다. 유명한 텔레비전 음식 인물인 앤드류 지먼은 프로그램에서 한식을 다루면서 떡볶이를 질긴 밀가루 반죽이라고 했다. 수많은 외국인들은 떡볶이를 먹는 게 마치 검을 씹는 것 같다고 말한다.

그렇지만 정부에서는 떡볶이가 인기가 없는 이유가 그 이름이 외국인이 발음하기 어려워서라는 말도 안 되는 생각을 했다. 심지어 그게 이유라고 지적하는 신문 칼럼도 있었다. 그래서 정부는 50억 원을 들여 그 이름을 일본어처럼 들리는 토포키(topokki)로 바꾸고 떡볶이를 외국인이 좀 더 좋아하도록 바꿔보겠다며 토포키 재단을 설립했다. 셰프가 아니라 실험가운을 입은 과학자들이 음식을 만들기 시작하면 뭔가가 잘못된 것이다.

이 토포키 캠페인은 성과가 아주 없지는 않았지만, 그것은 어떤 기관이 음식을 사람 목구멍에 억지로 밀어넣으려고 한 사례였다. 비용 대비 결과가 너무 차이가 크다. 그토록 적은 결과를 얻기 위해 그토록 많은 돈을 쓰다니 너무나 비효율적이지 않은가. 정부가 애초에 약간만 조사를 했더라면, 그리고 외국인들이 한국어 단어를 발음 못할 거라는 인종차별적 개념에 기대지 않았더라면 그 돈은 더 현명하게 쓰였을 텐데.

서구인들은 화려한 음식을 원한다

한식 광고를 집행하고 해외에 식당을 열려고 하는 사람들은 한식이 화려하고 하얀 식탁보 위에 차려져야만 외국인들이 좋아할 거라고 단정해 버린다. 진실과는 거리가 멀어도 한참 먼 생각이다. 요즘은 정통성으로 향하는 추세다. 새로운 요리를 먹어 보려고 하는 서양인은 가능하면 그 요리가 진짜에 가까운 맛이기를 원한다. 한국 음식점에 들어설 때 그들은 한국으로 가는 비행기를 탄 듯한 기분을 느낄 수 있기를 바란다. 고급 식당도 존재 이유가 있지만, 서양인 손님들에게는 그것이 최우선점이 아니다.

이 장 전체의 메시지는 여러분이 시장을 제대로 파악해야 한다는 것을 다시 말하려는 것이다. 스테레오타입에 기대지 말라. 여러분이 아는 모든 것이 틀렸다고 가정하라. 그게 시장에 접근하는 가장 좋은 방식이다. 조사, 조사, 조사만이 답이다. 서양 회사들도 이런 실수들을 저질러 왔다. 타코 벨 프랜차이즈는 1990년대 초기에 한국 시장에 들어왔다. 그들은 한국인들이 매운 음식을 좋아하니까 당연히 타코벨을 좋아하겠지 하고 가정했다. 그리하여 참담하게 실패하고 수백만 달러를 날렸다. 미리 조사만 했어도 한국인들이 타코를 환영할 준비가 아직 안 되었음을 알았을 텐데. 하지만 그들은 2000년대 후반에 좀 더 신중을 기해서 한국 시장에 재진입했다. 그 무렵 한국 대중은 이전보다 국제 음식을 받아들일 준비가 되어 있었고, 동네의 멕시코 음식점들을 통해 멕시코 음식을 접한 경험이 있었다. 타코 벨은 이태원에 점포 한 곳, 그 다음에는 홍대에 한 곳을 여는 식으로 서서히 들어왔다. 반응은 압도적이었고, 이번에는 좀 더 성공적이었다. 처음번에는 사업을 스테레오타입에 의존했기 때문에 수백만 달러를 허비했지만, 두번째에는 모험을 하기 전에 시장을 연구했기 때문에 성공을 거둔 것이다.