Celebrity Endorsements

What do Kirsten Dunst, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jessica Alba, and Pierce Brosnan have in common? Besides the fact that they're big US movie stars? They hawk clothes in South Korea, of course! And why not- it's an easy way to make a few extra million won. Though they would most likely never appear in an ad campaign for American Eagle or the Gap, these three actors have their faces plastered all over a few stores here as their official spokespeople.

Snaggletooth AKA Kirsten Dunst shills for a store called "Thursday Island", which specializes in 200,000 won hippy sweaters, ponchos, potato sacks, etc. Some of the clothes are ooookay but the prices are scandalous!

Fishsticks AKA Gwyneth Paltrow is the face of "Bean Pole", which is an LL Bean-type of store owned by Samsung. Their clothes are nice and they look well made, but again, I refuse to

pay 175,000 won for a hoodie. Is this post making me sound cheap...?

Forget Cover Girl, it's all about Isa Knox here in Korea, and the lovely Jessica Alba is their spokesperson. I'm not going to pretend to know anything about this company other than saying that Jessica Alba is hot and anything she sells us must be great.

The dashing Pierce Brosnan is the spokesperson for "Galaxy", which is just around the block from our apartment. It's one of those stores at which you know you can't afford to even window shop so I've never gone in the door, but I can tell you that it's a suit shop and all of the employees look like Korean "Bond"s.