Phrase: “Gangnam Style” – A Korean neologism that refers to a lifestyle associated with the Gangnam district of Seoul.
As many countries around the world attempt to tackle their plastic waste problem with taxes, charges and bans, the Malaysian Plastic Manufacturers Association (MPMA) has taken an altogether ‘cooler’ approach, with a video parody of South Korean pop artist PSY’s “Gangnam Style” track.
The smart (and hilarious) 45-second clip, designed to send out a pro carrier bag message, promote recycling and encourage the public not to litter, emulates the original “Gangnam Style” pop video, and shows the parodied PSY recreating his famous dance moves while all sorts of paper confetti and plastic bags fly through the air.
A woman, only known as “The Cleaner”, stops the infectious beat of the track and forces PSY and his team of dancers to clean up the mess and dispose of the paper and plastic waste in three different recycling bins
When asked about their decision to release the spoof video, a spokesperson for the MPMA, C.C. Cheah said, “Seventy percent of Malaysians are 35 or younger. We know we have to go into multimedia and Facebook and Twitter”, he went on to say that due to their limited budget, YouTube and other multimedia outlets proved much more cost-effective than traditional print media.
Gaining over 640 million “likes” since its release online, the original “Gangnam Style” video, was recognised by the Guinness World Records in September 2012, as the most “liked” video in YouTube history.
If the new pro carrier bag version of the does half as good, it will prove to be a very clever marketing ploy indeed, and may just get the younger population to start recycling their plastic bags, and stop being litterbugs!
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