Korea Trending: Cutie! 讓韓國人著迷的「可愛瘋」

Gwiyomi(귀요미), a personified word of an adjective cutie, is directly translated into ‘cutie,’ and is used to describe cute people, animals and even objects. The term sprung up by the rise of the popular ‘cutie song’ by a Korean singer Hari released last year, which racked up more than ten million views on YouTube and was listed in the US Billboard charts. Ever since, Koreans have been crazy for cuties more than ever, with its birth in the entertainment industry and now expanded to government-funded public art schemes.

還記得去年韓國歌手Hari所唱＜Gwiyomi>吧！在YouTube一下子就突破了一千萬的點擊率，還上了美國Billboard流行榜。「Gwiyomi」一詞其實是「Cutie」擬人化後的形容詞，也就是用來形容可愛的人、動物，或是一件東西也可以。韓國人對於「可愛」這回事為之瘋狂，從小小的娛樂業誕生，到現在成為政府資助公共藝術的一部分，非常誇張。

This ‘everything cute’ trend can be easily noticed both offline and online in Korea, where several TV shows featuring celebrities’ offsprings often top off the viewing rate charts and videos of cute pets or babies racking up millions of views on social media channels. Young moms are opening up Facebook pages for their babies with ‘star babies’ rising, and videos of kids welcoming their dad’s arrival back home or pets showing off their cuteness are getting viral.

這個「凡事都可愛」的潮流無論線上線下都可以很容易找到。一些電視節目就找來明星的子女來衝收視，又會播放一些在社交媒體上很火紅的寵物或是嬰孩；而年輕媽媽就會為自己的小孩在Facebook上建立專頁，打造自己的小孩成「星級孩子」，如迎接爸爸回家或展現寵物可愛一面這類影片就很有名。

MBC’s TV Show ‘Dad where are you going’

KBS’s TV Show ‘Superman is back’

Star baby on Facebook
Photo credit: Shin Eunji’s Facebook

Starting from last year, Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) launched Tayo buses after the popular animation series Tayo the Little Bus, in which buses were designed as the characters as an initiative to teach children how to use the bus. With the cute eyes on the otherwise dull buses, SMG’s idea was a big success, drawing 40,000 crowds in a single day and children from other areas coming up to Seoul to see the Tayo buses. Now, Tayo buses are designed in Rudolph reindeers with horns attached near their side mirrors in step with the festive season.

由去年開始，首爾市政府便推出了「泰路巴士」，「泰路」其實是卡通片「泰路小巴士」（Tayo the Little Bus）的主角，而這卡通片是用來教育小朋友如何乘搭巴士。這個意念不止獲得大成功，還吸引了每天約4萬個來自不同地區的小朋友來到首爾一睹「泰路巴士」的風采，現在「泰路巴士」也設計成聖誕鹿的樣子來迎接聖誕。

Tayo Bus
Photo credit: Yonhap News Agency

Tayo Bus Rudolph
Photo credit: KBS

Larva Train

Pikachu Flashmob
Photo via Twitter

Pikachu
Photo credit: Yonhap News Agency

With this enormous support, subways trains wrapped around in the character series Larva appeared starting from November, and a Pikachu flashmob in central Seoul had to be shut down due to unexpected crowd. Lastly, Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman’s famous Rubber Duck Project arrived in Korea this fall, creating lots of parodies after it deflated on its first day of exhibition.

在以上成功例子的巨大支持下，衍生了不少事情，如在11月時地下鐵路塗上卡通＜Larva＞主角的樣子、一場在首爾中部的比卡超快閃活動就因為太多人而要終止，還有在秋天時荷蘭藝術家Florentijn Hofman的黃色巨鴨來到韓國，因為第一天就漏氣引發了不少惡搞。

Rubber Duck Seoul

Rubber Duck Hong Kong
Photo credit: Florentijn Hofman’s official website

So what is up with all this ‘cutie craze?’ One argument to support this phenomenon would be the rise of Kidults. Kidult, a compound word of the words kid and adult, describes adults interested in childlike figures or behavior. Mostly comprised of those who have entered parenthood and a have a stable source of income, Kidults constantly seek for everything cute. The boundary between entertainment for adults and children are getting blurry, as businesses are marketing products tailored for both kids and adults.

那麼究竟這個「可愛瘋」是怎麼一回事？有言論指這是因為現在越來越多「大孩子」，「大孩子」就是說那些大不透，行為像小朋友的大人。會構成這現象的是因為這些人的父母都有穩定的收入來源，所以他們都在追求些可愛的東西，而現在小孩與大人娛樂的界線也十分模糊，市場上的產品亦同時針對這這兩個群組。

Florentijn Hofman, the creator of the famous inflatable rubber duck that traveled around major cities around the world, explains the reasons for the artwork’s success as ‘healing.’ The official website reads:

創作黃色巨鴨的Florentijn Hofman就曾經說過其作品會成功在於其「療癒」效果，他在網站上就這樣說：

The Rubber Duck knows no frontiers, it doesn’t discriminate people and doesn’t have a political connotation. The friendly, floating Rubber Duck has healing properties: it can relieve mondial tensions as well as define them. The rubber duck is soft, friendly and suitable for all ages!

「這黃色巨鴨無分疆界，它不會歧視人，沒有任何政治隱喻，可以抒解你緊張情緒，這黃色巨鴨就是適合不同年齡的人。」

The cutie phenomenon doesn’t seem to fade away fast. Spotting a cute Tayo bus on the way back home after a tiring day at work? Watching a video of cute little babies? Why not.

這股可愛風潮看來還會流行一段時間，不過其實又有什麼不好呢？ 經過一日辛勞的工作，乘一下可愛的「泰路巴士」或是看看得意的嬰孩片段也是不錯紓壓方法啦！

TEXT: JISU J
CHINESE TRANSLATION: CHRIS Y
GRAPHICS: SUKI Y / HOKK FABRICA