‘Extraordinary Attorney Woo‘ has gained explosive popularity and is even causing a “Woo Young Woo syndrome.” The drama was praised for having no or minimum product placement, but with such explosive popularity, ‘Extraordinary Attorney Woo’ was unable to avoid placing ads.
In the 11th episode, a product placement ad was spotted and surprised viewers. In this episode, there was a scene in which Woo Young Woo’s colleague and friend Choi Soo Yeon preparing to meet her new boyfriend, who came to see her suddenly while she was working in the office. During that scene, Choi Soo Yeon took out a multi-balm and began putting it on her forehead, lips, and neck.
Previously, it was analyzed that ‘Extraordinary Attorney Woo’ was able to escape from excessive product thanks to the low-production cost, and this soon became one of the factors of the drama’s popularity.
According to a report published by the Export-Import Bank of Korea’s Overseas Economic Research Institute in April last year, the production cost of a 16-episode drama is between 10 billion and 13 billion KRW (7.7 million to 10 million USD), while ‘Extraordinary Attorney Woo’s production cost is said to be higher at about 20 billion KRW (15.3 million USD). This was also the reason why there were no scenes of the main characters taking red ginseng out of nowhere or having dinner at a franchise restaurant.
This multi-balm applied by Choi Soo Yeon on the latest episode is also a product that frequently appears as a product placement in various dramas and is a familiar cosmetic to viewers of Korean dramas. It is so frequently seen that there were viewers who praised ‘Extraordinary Attorney Woo’ saying, “Good thing that Woo Young Woo didn’t suddenly take out a multi-balm and put it on.”
After seeing the sudden product placement ad, viewers respond with dismay. They said, “They said it was a PPL-free drama, and I was surprised when I saw it,” “It was more special because there was no product placement, but it’s a pity,” and “Fans looked down on other dramas that had product placements, and in the end, they used a product placement.”
