Peddling Success, Two Harvard Students at a Time

Joo-Hee Chung ’05 hasn’t ridden a bicycle in years, but in a television spot for Dr. Yoon’s English School in Korea, she rides like a natural.

The director of the commercial asked Chung to ride a bicycle while greeting friends, as if she were making an idyllic and joyous trip from her dorm to class. (For her part, Chung prefers taking the shuttle from Cabot.)

It seems that Dr. Yoon has written himself a prescription for success: Harvard students. His English school, which specializes in intensive language study, plans to exploit Harvard’s prestige in a television ad to increase enrollment.

Chung and Kangsoo Lee, a third-year grad student at the School of Design were recruited to appear in the ad, which was filmed at UCLA’s campus over one weekend in February. It portrays “typical” daily life for the Cambridge duo, heralding the benefits of Dr. Yoon’s school by associating learning English with the elusive prize of Harvard admission. The ad will debut this spring.

In one scene, Chung plays the teacher’s pet in a medical class, responding confidently and astutely to her teacher’s question: “This type of patient has a common characteristic,” she declares. “There is a definite difference.” Interestingly, the advertisement chose to draw attention away from Chung’s anthropology concentration and toward her pre-med status.

Lee, who was born in Korea and attended college in Seoul, accompanied Chung to Los Angeles for the shoot. He plays a student taking a class and conversing with professors and colleagues. “It almost does an accurate job,” says Lee confidently, though he warns that the ad exaggerates some parts of Harvard classroom life. Factual or not, the ad speaks to Harvard’s cultural currency in Korea as the ultimate reward for successfully learning English. Harvard is depicted as a serene university on a hill, at which students interact with their professors as peers.

For their efforts, Chung and Lee were not only rewarded with an all-expenses paid trip to sunny Southern California to film the spots, but also received a $4000 honorarium each. Chung has used part of her acting spoils to purchase a brand new Samsung cellular telephone. A cheery Hello Kitty screen saver already adorns the display.