Bonghwa Country official pays for the 15-second ad in New York out of pocket to boost awareness of regional apples A screen capture of Bonghwa County's Instagram post showing an ad of Bonghwa apples in New York Times Square A Korean county’s apples have made an unlikely appearance in the heart of New York’s Times Square as a local government official personally paid 329,000 won ($232) for a 15-second advertisement.The advertisement promoting apples from Bonghwa County in North Gyeongsang Province was displayed on a Times Square billboard every hour at 36 minutes from 1:36 p.m. Thursday to 12:36 p.m. Friday, Korea time.Featuring a picture of a red apple, the ad displayed a short message in Korean: “Bonghwa apples are tasty, but we don’t advertise.”The campaign quickly went viral in Korea after photos of the Hangul advertisement on a Times Square screen spread across social media.According to Bonghwa County, a county official responsible for promoting local agricultural products personally paid for the ad.The posts of the Times Square ad on the county official's Instagram account received over 8,000 likes with some comments saying they would order Bonghwa apples.
hwkan@heraldcorp.com
