Facing a tight timeline leading up to the May 9 earlier-than-planned presidential election, candidates apparently felt the need to break out of the conventional campaign format so as to captivate the attention of voters.

The public relations competition is particularly intense between the two front-runners -- Moon Jae-in of the Democratic Party of Korea and Ahn Cheol-soo of the People’s Party.

It was Ahn who first rose to the spotlight upon the start of the electioneering period Monday.

His official poster image, released the previous day, featured the candidate holding up his arms at one of the party’s conventions, without the party’s name or any other information.


Even Ahn’s candidate number and name were synthesized in the background, as if these elements were part of a banner at the scene, not official copy of the poster.

This “snapshot” poster immediately triggered responses -- both approval and disapproval -- not only for its unconventional format, but also for its involvement of a renowned advertisement designer.

“The official poster image of a candidate often offers us enough information on his or her personality or blueprint for future state management,” said designer Lee Je-suk in a radio interview with SBS on Tuesday.

“We need to make bold attempts so as to make changes and developments in our society.”

The award-winning designer, however, explained that his role in Ahn’s poster was limited to consultation, saying he was not involved in the actual production.

Even Moon’s chief publicist offered favorable comments on the rival’s move, complimenting him on the bold design decision.

“When I saw Ahn’s poster design, I instantly felt the touch of an expert,” Sohn Hye-won, a designer-turned-lawmaker leading Moon’s public relations, wrote on her Facebook account.

She did, however, highlight the “awkwardness” of the photomontage, apparently alluding to Moon’s poster, which had been made without using any photo retouching tools.

“An unchanging principle of brand marketing is that the public is never impressed with something fake,” Sohn said.


Moon’s camp, which had suggested a more modest poster for the candidate, caught public attention with its policy promotion website.

The site, titled “Moon’s 1st Street” in a parody of the online retailer 11st Street, allows visitors to express support for any of the candidate’s policies by clicking on the corresponding post, just as they would do when online shopping.

Following their pick, a pop-up message appears to say the policy will be “delivered” on May 9, the date of the upcoming presidential election.

“We welcome impulsive purchasing,” said Moon’s camp officials playfully upon publishing the website Monday.

Meanwhile, other minority candidates also struggled to catch attention, to less success, compared to the two front-runners.

Cho Won-jin of the conservative splinter Saenuri Party featured in his poster image a cartoon character bear wearing a Taegeukgi T-shirt. The new party, which copied the previous name of the current Liberty Korea Party, has been noted for its unfaltering support for ousted President Park Geun-hye.

Also, minority conservative candidate Lee Jae-oh surprised reporters and cameramen by abruptly donning a blue mask during a press conference. The pretext was to suggest an anonymous “masked debate” of presidential candidates, but the radical scene was taken as a ploy for press amid fierce electioneering competition.

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)