Posted on 06/03/2005 6:34:12 AM PDT by pissant
HONG KONG -- The new face of cosmetics ads in Asia is soft, delicate -- and male.
Lounging in a pink apartment in a television commercial for Able C&C Inc.'s South Korean makeup brand Missha, actor Won Bin leans in as if to kiss a woman sitting next to him -- but he does her bidding instead, taking her dusky-colored lipstick and carefully applying it to her lips.
In an ad for skin-care chain The Face Shop, ruby-lipped film star Kwon Sang Woo nuzzles a berry tree, then dons a crown of leaves. Mr. Kwon, famous for six-pack abs and a slight lisp, "has a kind of neutral gender," says Scott Han, the company's public-relations director. "Our customers think he is healthy and adorable."
Marketers aren't out to poke fun at the lipstick lads of Asia. Instead, they are pushing shampoos and makeup by tapping into a powerful shift in gender images taking place in a number of developed East Asian countries. The conservative, macho male stereotypes that have long dominated society in countries like Japan and South Korea are falling out of fashion. Women are gaining power and independence and expressing a preference for different kinds of men.
"A pretty face with big eyes and fair skin, and a moderately masculine body, are what Korean women want in men these days," says Rhie Hye Young, a spokeswoman for Missha.
(Excerpt) Read more at post-gazette.com ...
LOL!
Aren't they pretty? E-frickin-Gads!
You obviously misunderestimate the power of being incredibly goood lukeing.
I smell a runway "walkoff"!
Woohoo! The NoKo soldiers can each have a harem of girly boys!
All Asians look better as women. I have never overheard a woman describing an Asian man as good looking or studly. It always sounds more like pet store talk. "Isn't he soooo cute?"
LOL. I think you're right. Though I wouldn't want to insult a Sumo wrestler!
They grow most of those in Samoa now. And I agree about not wanting to insult them, but dang it would be hard not to with those hairdos and butt floss. You can always insult people who you can outrun.
Just be aware they are lightning quick for the 1st 5 steps!
The only product I know that has a name that doubles as directions.
And those 5 steps equal 20 of ours. Skitter skitter.
Different kinds of men = wussies.
Real women prefer real men!
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