麻豆影视

Skip to main content

Older women are the fresh faces of South Korean influencers

In this image made from an undated commercial video, South Korean actor Youn Yuh-jung 鈥淢inari鈥, 74 years old, sits in the beer company Oriental Brewery's latest advertising campaign. Named 鈥淭ime to be Real,鈥 the beer advertisement video starts as the camera closes in on the Oscar-winning actress鈥檚 face, saying, 鈥淔or someone like me to be on a beer ad, the world has gotten so much better.鈥 (Oriental Brewery via AP) In this image made from an undated commercial video, South Korean actor Youn Yuh-jung 鈥淢inari鈥, 74 years old, sits in the beer company Oriental Brewery's latest advertising campaign. Named 鈥淭ime to be Real,鈥 the beer advertisement video starts as the camera closes in on the Oscar-winning actress鈥檚 face, saying, 鈥淔or someone like me to be on a beer ad, the world has gotten so much better.鈥 (Oriental Brewery via AP)
Share
SEOUL, South Korea -

The freshest faces among South Korean influencers are no longer the usual, 20-something celebrities. Instead, entertainment and social media are focusing on a new generation: the elder generation.

Older women were once invisible in South Korean entertainment as the industry stuck to rigidly conservative traditional female roles and cast them only as devoted mothers.

But older women are front and centre in recent advertising and entertainment series.

A pioneer in the trend is Oscar winner Youn Yuh-jung, the 74-year-old "Minari" actor who promotes Oriental Brewery beer and the Zig Zag shopping app in two recent ad campaigns.

The beer video highlights the novelty of its spokesperson, who says: "For someone like me to be on a beer ad, the world has gotten so much better." With a Cass beer in her hand, Youn says she makes friends by being her authentic self and alludes to the beer helping people to dissipate their social awkwardness.

South Korean producer Kim Sehee said Youn's Oscar win earlier this year inspired his entertainment series, "Wassup K-Grandma." He said South Korean young people have a new interest in their elders, birthing a new word "harmaenial" -- a portmanteau of the South Korean word "harmoni," or grandmother, and the English word "millennial."

The series broadcast in May was one of the first Korean shows to feature grandmothers as main characters, according to Kim. It brought international guests to live as temporary sons-in-law with Korean grandmothers. The colour of the series came from the grandmothers' attempts to communicate with their foreign in-laws and share homemade meals and decades-old ginseng alcohol.

Park Makrye, a popular South Korean YouTuber, said the country's attitude towards gender and age has been rapidly changing.

"Back in the days, people thought women were supposed to be only housewives cooking at home but that's once upon a time. People must adapt to the current era," she said.

Park, 74, is one of the leading lights in the South Korean frenzy. Her YouTube channel "Korea Grandma" has over 1.32 million subscribers. In her videos, Park throws expletives while reviewing a Korean drama and screams her lungs out while paragliding for the first time.

Park's success has paved the way for others. Jang Myung-sook gives out fashion and lifestyles tips on her channel " Milanonna," a nonagenarian known as Grandma "Gganzi" raps and shares personal stories about living through the Japanese colonization, and a 76-year-old YouTuber flaunts her "single life" on " G-gourmet. "

"I would like to tell grandmothers to try everything they want to do and not be concerned with their age," Park told The Associated Press.

"For young people...You'll be OK as long as you are healthy," she said. "Please fight on and best of luck."

08:43ET 30-06-21

CTVNews.ca Top Stories

Why brain aging can vary dramatically between people

Researchers are uncovering deeper insights into how the human brain ages and what factors may be tied to healthier cognitive aging, including exercising, avoiding tobacco, speaking a second language or even playing a musical instrument.

The union representing some 1,200 dockworkers at the Port of Montreal has overwhelmingly rejected a deal with their employers association.

A man who was critically injured in a police-involved shooting in Hamilton late Sunday afternoon has died in hospital, says the province鈥檚 police watchdog.

opinion

opinion How to transition from renting to owning a home in Canada

In his column for CTVNews.ca, personal finance contributor Christopher Liew offers a step-by-step guide on how to make the shift from renting to becoming a homeowner, and what you can start doing today to help the process go smoother.

Local Spotlight

For the second year in a row, the 鈥楪ift-a-Family鈥 campaign is hoping to make the holidays happier for children and families in need throughout Barrie.

Some of the most prolific photographers behind CTV Skywatch Pics of the Day use the medium for fun, therapy, and connection.

A young family from Codroy Valley, N.L., is happy to be on land and resting with their newborn daughter, Miley, after an overwhelming, yet exciting experience at sea.

As Connor Nijsse prepared to remove some old drywall during his garage renovation, he feared the worst.

A group of women in Chester, N.S., has been busy on the weekends making quilts 鈥 not for themselves, but for those in need.

A Vancouver artist whose streetside singing led to a chance encounter with one of the world's biggest musicians is encouraging aspiring performers to try their hand at busking.

Ten-thousand hand-knit poppies were taken from the Sanctuary Arts Centre and displayed on the fence surrounding the Dartmouth Cenotaph on Monday.

A Vancouver man is saying goodbye to his nine-to-five and embarking on a road trip from the Canadian Arctic to Antarctica.