Situation

"Wednesday," a worldwide sensation created with director Tim Burton’s unique direction, was back for Season 2. Its launch campaign in Korea was made to localize the global series and reach a broader audience beyond fans of fantasy genre.   

The key to this campaign was to maintain the character traits familiar to Wednesday’s core fans while incorporating Korean elements to present new appeal that could resonate with a broader audience. To achieve this, we actively incorporated icons associated with K-culture and iconic locations in Seoul into the film.

The film kicked off with a striking image of Thing, wearing a traditional “gat” hat, standing in Changgyeonggung Palace, immediately raising viewers’ expectations. As Thing travels through various locations that showcase the raw, authentic side of modern-day Seoul including Changgyeonggung Palace, the Han River, Itaewon, the “Squid Game” Young-hee pop-up site, and a convenience store in the dead of night, it encounters Seoul citizens along the way. Playing up the character’s playful personality, the film shows Thing pulling pranks, startling people, greeting them warmly, and high-fiving them, demonstrating how it enjoys Seoul more than anyone else. The film concludes with Thing meeting Wednesday in Seoul and enjoying the view from Namsan Seoul Tower.

Through this, we aimed to establish Wednesday not merely as foreign content, but as an iconic title that Korean audiences can enjoy in a familiar and diverse way.

Solution

The "Thing in Seoul" film was the first installment in the "Thing in New York" series to be set in Asia. While the New York edition focused on the live reactions of citizens, the Seoul edition is characterized by a stronger emphasis on the underlying narrative.

1. Storyline: Interest was piqued by the addition of a plot point in which Wednesday, who is visiting Korea for a screening event in August, secretly sent Thing to Seoul as a scout.

2. Seamlessly incorporating K-culture: The film opened with Thing wearing a traditional Korean hat “gat,” creating a bold, eye-catching image. It captured Thing enjoying Korean culture and interacting with citizens at iconic Seoul landmarks such as Itaewon, Changgyeonggung Palace, the Han River, and convenience stores.

3. Capturing the reactions of real citizens: In addition to pre-cast models, the production team captured spontaneous reactions on set and included footage of people who later gave their consent to appear, adding a sense of vitality to the film. These unexpected moments blended naturally into the film, providing a variety of entertaining highlights.

(e.g. Cheil employee spotted by chance on the street in front of the Cheil building, young female tourists we met at Changgyeonggung Palace, kids giggling as they watched a Thing by the Han River, a cute puppy, etc.)

Result

By uniquely capturing Korean culture and sensibilities, it has surpassed 1.26 million views on YouTube, proving the power of its content with its overwhelming view count.

This campaign goes beyond simple seasonal promotion; its significance lies in expanding the Wednesday universe by blending it with the Korean cultural context. Also in outdoor advertising, the campaign expanded its reach with messages tailored to Korean fans by combining Wednesday’s unique personality with Korean sensibilities. Through this campaign, we have laid the groundwork for the series to establish itself as a “must-watch title for the second half of the year” in the Korean market as well. We look forward to continuing to create special campaigns that bridge the global and local spheres by blending the originality of the Wednesday characters with Korean interpretations.