{"code":0,"data":[{"keyword":"SUB CATEGORY","content":"CONSUMER GOODS","is_link":false},{"keyword":"ENTRANT COMPANY","content":"INNOCEAN, SEOUL","is_link":false},{"keyword":"TITLE","content":"RIDE THE BULDAK HIGH","is_link":false},{"keyword":"BRAND","content":"BULDAK","is_link":false},{"keyword":"ADVERTISER","content":"SAMYANG FOODS","is_link":false},{"keyword":"AGENCY","content":"INNOCEAN, SEOUL","is_link":false},{"keyword":"CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER","content":"JUNG A KIM","is_link":false},{"keyword":"EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR","content":"KI YOUNG KIM","is_link":false},{"keyword":"CREATIVE DIRECTOR","content":"EUN RYUNG CHOI","is_link":false},{"keyword":"ART DIRECTOR","content":"SI EUN LEE","is_link":false},{"keyword":"COPYWRITER","content":"SOL LEE","is_link":false},{"keyword":"AGENCY PRODUCER","content":"SEONGSU BAE","is_link":false},{"keyword":"ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE","content":"SEON JEONG MIN\/BITNAWA YU\/YOON SOO PARK\/YOON KYUNG LEE\/SANGWOO KIM\/HYE RIM BYUN","is_link":false},{"keyword":"FILM PRODUCTION COMPANY","content":"GUT, SEOUL","is_link":false},{"keyword":"DIRECTOR","content":"HYEONHENG LEE","is_link":false},{"keyword":"EXECUTIVE PRODUCER","content":"EUNJIN PARK","is_link":false},{"keyword":"FILM PRODUCER","content":"YOUNGJUN AHN\/SEOYEON KIM","is_link":false},{"keyword":"LIGHTING","content":"JINWON KIM","is_link":false},{"keyword":"POST-PRODUCTION COMPANY","content":"GIANTSTEP, SEOUL\/HYPE, SEOUL","is_link":false},{"keyword":"EDITOR","content":"SEUNGHUI NA","is_link":false},{"keyword":"SOUND PRODUCTION COMPANY","content":"KINGKONG SOUND, SEOUL","is_link":false},{"keyword":"CAMPAIGN SUMMARY","content":"To drive the next stage of growth for the Buldak brand, we needed to strengthen awareness of its core product: Buldak Sauce. While Buldak Bokkeum Myun enjoyed strong global recognition, Buldak Sauce lagged behind. A global campaign was essential, but with a very limited budget, we needed an idea that could organically spread among young audiences worldwide.\r
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We believed the most effective way to achieve global reach on a small budget was to create a campaign that could become a meme itself. To do that, we developed three strategies.\r
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First, a Bold & Crazy Idea.\r
Most brands try to hide their weaknesses, but we believed our audience loved brands that embraced them confidently. One of the most common reactions to Buldak is, “It’s so spicy, it feels like fire coming out of my butt.” Instead of avoiding it, we turned it into our creative core. In our campaign, characters who eat Buldak Sauce launch fiery rockets from their backsides, fly through the sky, and escape danger powered by Buldak.\r
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Second, vertical-first content built for virality.\r
All assets were produced in vertical format for Shorts and Reels, where memes are born. We fully embraced the fast swipe-based consumption behavior of young audiences, confident that our outrageous visuals would stop their scrolling.\r
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Third, expanding consumer touchpoints.\r
We allowed consumers to experience “BULDAK HIGH” beyond content. In a custom game, players who ate Buldak-covered food faster blasted higher into the sky, with bigger rewards at the top. At Coachella, festival-goers paired Buldak Sauce with food and experienced a physical activation that launched them skyward.\r
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The result: a global meme. Out of 337 million total views, 68.8% were organic, allowing us to stop paid media early and significantly increase global awareness of Buldak Sauce.","is_link":false},{"keyword":"INSIGHT","content":"As this campaign required global communication, the key challenge was identifying an insight that resonated universally—not tied to any specific country or culture.\r
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Interestingly, consumers around the world shared remarkably similar reactions after experiencing Buldak’s extreme spiciness.\r
“It feels like fire coming out of my butt,” “It’s like launching a rocket in the toilet.”\r
These were honest, instinctive expressions that revealed a globally shared understanding of what it means to eat extremely spicy food.\r
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While such reactions could easily be perceived as negative, we saw them differently. Our young target audience gravitates toward brands that confidently embrace their flaws rather than hide them, and they respond strongly to bold, intuitive creativity. In fact, for Buldak fans, the “pain after the spice” had already become a badge of pride—proof of their love for the brand.\r
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Instead of avoiding this raw consumer language, we chose to confront it head-on and turn it into the campaign’s core insight. We translated these reactions into a highly visual and literal metaphor: people who eat Buldak Sauce shooting flames from their backsides and flying freely through the sky.\r
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By embracing what consumers were already saying, we transformed a shared physical reaction into a universally relatable and instantly understandable creative idea.\r
","is_link":false},{"keyword":"STRATEGY","content":"To achieve global reach without heavy reliance on paid media, we designed a strategy where the campaign could become a meme—something audiences would share and spread.\r
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1. A Bold and Intuitive Creative Code\r
Our target audience is drawn to brands confidently reveal their weaknesses rather than hide them. Among young audiences, memes don’t require explanation—they are instantly understood through intuition.\r
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To become part of meme culture, we embraced an experience universally shared by anyone who has eaten Buldak: the fiery sensation like “fire coming out of your butt.” For global consumers familiar with Buldak Bokkeum Myun, this required no explanation—only immediate recognition and laughter.\r
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As extreme spiciness becomes a global mega-trend, we also needed to define what makes Buldak’s spiciness unique. People seek spicy food not just for heat, but for the adrenaline rush it delivers. Just as runners experience a “Runner’s High,” we defined the adrenaline from Buldak’s spiciness as “Buldak High.”\r
With a double meaning—riding the peak of pleasurable heat and riding the momentum of a trending brand—we established “RIDE THE BULDAK HIGH” as the campaign theme and built all communication around it.\r
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2. A Campaign Built Entirely for Vertical Formats\r
Short-form content dominates how young audiences consume media, and most memes are born in vertical formats. To become part of their culture, all campaign assets were produced exclusively in vertical format.\r
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While vertical content benefits from high exposure in fast-scrolling environments, converting impressions into views is challenging. However, we were confident that our Bold & Crazy creative would stop thumbs and drive engagement.\r
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3. Full-Funnel IMC Across Target Touchpoints\r
For an experience-driven audience, we activated touchpoints through an integrated approach. Campaign films delivered entertainment, the RIDE THE BULDAK HIGH game encouraged participation and sharing, and offline activations allowed consumers to experience BULDAK HIGH in the real world.","is_link":false},{"keyword":"CREATIVITY IDEA","content":"To turn Buldak Sauce into a global meme, we focused on two shared insights that resonate with Buldak Bokkeum Myun fans around the world.\r
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First, people don’t love Buldak simply because it is spicy, but because of the intense adrenaline rush that comes with the heat.\r
Second, after the pleasurable spiciness, there is an almost universal after-effect—an unforgettable, fiery sensation that feels like “fire coming out of your butt.”\r
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We wanted to express these insights through a creative idea that anyone, anywhere in the world, could instantly understand and relate to. Just as runners describe their adrenaline-fueled state as a “Runner’s High,” we defined the adrenaline experienced after eating Buldak as “Buldak High.” From this idea, we developed the slogan “RIDE THE BULDAK HIGH,” inviting consumers to ride the peak of Buldak’s pleasurable spiciness.\r
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The creative visualized the post-Buldak experience in the most literal way possible. Characters who eat Buldak Sauce ignite “Buldak Rockets” from their backsides, blasting into the sky and escaping danger through the power of Buldak’s heat. A boy caught secretly dating at his girlfriend’s house escapes by firing his Buldak Rocket, while campers flee an aggressive kangaroo by taking off into the air after eating Buldak Sauce.\r
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As the “Buldak Butt Rocket” phenomenon spread, some schools even posted warning signs banning Buldak Sauce on campus.\r
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By boldly and honestly embracing the global mega-trend of extreme spiciness, Buldak transformed a shared physical reaction into a visual language that became a meme among young audiences worldwide.\r
","is_link":false},{"keyword":"EXECUTION","content":"To increase global awareness of Buldak Sauce, we launched a fully integrated campaign spanning product renewal, a brand platform, campaign films, a mobile game, and a large-scale offline activation at Coachella—each element designed to work organically as one ecosystem.\r
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At the core was Buldak.com, a brand site built to capture Buldak’s heritage of “playing with consumers” and to transfer the strong equity of Buldak Bokkeum Myun to Buldak Sauce. To drive traffic, QR codes linking directly to Buldak.com were placed on Buldak Sauce packaging.\r
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To increase both membership and dwell time, we created an AR mobile game inspired by the campaign theme, RIDE THE BULDAK HIGH. The faster players ate Buldak Sauce–covered food, the higher they blasted into the sky with fiery propulsion. Higher altitude meant bigger rewards, fueling competition, sharing, and viral participation.\r
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Campaign films showing consumers launching “butt rockets” and flying freely drove users to Buldak.com, where they played the game, joined the rankings, and signed up to compete. Offline consumers followed the same journey: encountering Buldak Sauce, scanning the QR code, landing on Buldak.com, and entering the ranking-based game experience.\r
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At Coachella, we brought BULDAK HIGH to life through an immersive booth where visitors paired Buldak Sauce with various foods. Beyond the mobile game, participants could physically experience the idea—eating Buldak Sauce, sitting down, and “blasting off” as flames shot from beneath them.\r
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By delivering a consistent BULDAK HIGH experience across online and offline touchpoints, the campaign transformed Buldak Sauce’s intense spiciness into a playful, unforgettable consumer journey.\r
","is_link":false},{"keyword":"RESULT","content":"Designed to spread without heavy paid media, RIDE THE BULDAK HIGH delivered powerful organic results. The campaign generated 337 million total views, with an exceptional 68.8% (232 million views) coming organically, allowing us to stop paid media early. Social followers grew by 572,000 (+33.7%), while the campaign drove 2.22 million interactions, proving strong engagement beyond passive views. The meme culture extended further through user-generated and re-shared content, reaching an additional 4 million views and over 10,000 shares. Most importantly, heightened awareness of Buldak Sauce translated into real business impact, with Amazon sales increasing by 75% year-over-year during the campaign period. By turning extreme spiciness into a shared, playful experience, BULDAK HIGH maximized global reach, cultural relevance, and commercial performance—all on a limited budget.\r
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