Mini-recap: Advertising Genius Lee Tae Baek Episode 5

Doesn't Ma JinGa remind you of Santa? I swear everytime I type JinGa, I think of Jingle bells. Hwaiting !

Episode 5

Lots of meetings followed after that massive get together from the last cliffhanger. First between the chairmans. Baek is mostly cordial as he offers to buy Nam's company in light of Nam's struggling business. Still, Nam refuses. By now, even TaeBaek realizes the reason for Baek's massive donation.

Next up, Addie and Ahri get their meeting with Baek where they propose to make an ad which will allow BK group to over take the 100years  in the market for the insulation bottles. Baeks gives the nod. Ahri wonders why Baek agreed so easily. Addie explains that large companies like Baek can easily crush the smaller ones but they can't do it without tarnishing their public image. This where they come in - they provide the perfect alibi. Basically if 100 years business deteriorate so bad, when BK Group swoops in for them they will not be viewed as mere vultures but only extending a helping hand. Ahri is impressed and remarks that she enjoys working with him.

JinGa also reads the situation correctly but he's more worried that 100 years will fall to BK Group and there goes their ad deal. Taebaek as usual is more upbeat. It does however places TaeBaek and Jiyoon on opposing sides. Taebaek jokes that she's their spy and urges her to join them. Jiyoon whacks him goodnaturedly. Their close interactions make JinGa smile. Getting closer aren't we? Hihi.

Hwang downplays Addie's BK Hometech Ad since it's still small fries compared to the GS Construction mega deal. Daddy Kang tries to intervene but Hwang chides him for protecting his son. Hwang reminds them that one of them will take the fall if this project fails.

Addie announces the BK Group ad deal to the staff. Jiyoon's face falls.

JinGa conduct a brainstorming session highlighting the importance of ads by making a flower analogy. The product is the flower and ads is everything need to keep it blooming prettily - air, soil, water, etc. He tries to explain the concept of Unique Selling Proposition but everyone (besides TaeBaek) is more on the star casting train - just cast JangDong-gun drinking coffee from the flask in the snow. One after another, the guys come up with pretty funny but ridiculous ideas and JinGa almost suffocates in exasperation. Heh.

TaeBaek suggest they check out the company which reminds JinGa that they've forgotten the basics. Their employer is 100years so they must understand their employer's intention. And so it's decided, everyone to 100 years it is. Nam is more than glad for the free extra helping hands and assigns everyone to different posts. JinGa pouts when he gets the toilet cleaning duties but cheers up again when Nam reassigns him to the canteen. Hah. So cute. TaeBaek volunteers himself as Nam's personal assistant (PA).

Ahri reports to Addie about the competition, GRC - JinGa's company where TaeBaek is currently working. And since Jiyoon is close to TaeBaek, she thinks it's better to leave Jiyoon out of this project. Addie just says he's look into it. Ahri tells him about the TaeBaek's ad for the homeless and advises him not to underestimate the competition just because they are a small scaled company. She leaves him with a copy of the ad.

Addie eventually looks it over and admits that it's good to Jiyoon. Jiyoon could hardly hide the sense of pride in her voice as she explains how TaeBaek had even live on the streets for the ad. Addie concedes TaeBaek's talent but appoints Jiyoon as his PA. In addition, he forbids her from seeing TaeBaek for the time being for confidentiality purposes. Ooo...what a way to turn the situation to his advantage. Sneaky.

TaeBaek's ex boss currently works as the security guard in 100years. He gets rebuffed when he tries to stop a young man from using the elevator for the handicap. TaeBaek sees the BK Group insignia on his coat and follows him, wary of him stirring trouble. The arrogant young man turns out to be Nam's son. Nam jr has issues with dad employing all the weirdos into the company. He knows the company is in trouble and tells dad to sell it. As a BK employee, he's under a lot of pressure. He's convinced that the company is a lost cause so dad would benefit more by selling it. Nam sr just tell him to leave. TaeBaek belatedly notices the father-son photo on Nam's desk.

Nam explains regretfully how he'd inadvertently neglected his son in his passion to help others. He recalls the days when he used to join marathons and how his son took interest in that because of him. He wonders if they'd ever run together again. TaeBaek sees the longing on his face as he watches a pair of father and son run by happily.

It's another late night at GS Ad. Addie suggests a break and shows off his coffee making skills. Jiyoon is impressed as he regales her with facts about Yemen Mocha. He also equates coffee to ads as both brings excitement, addiction and insomnia. He asks about her hobby - which is rock climbing. Then he not so subtly asks if she's dating. She denies and he's glad. Haha...it's getting awkward. He asks if she's curious if he's dating? Jiyoon nearly chokes on her coffee. Haha. He indicates that he's single but there is someone whom he's interested in. But before he goes on, the phone conveniently rings. Heh. It's TaeBaek calling Jiyoon for a late snack. Mindful of Addie's warning, she rejects his offer.

TaeBaek joins the rest of the gang at the restaurant where granny works. TaeBaek is still struggling for an idea when JinGa explains about the Brand Story strategy. Customers may think they are merely buying a product but in actuality, it represents a brand and the backstory. And that story must contain dreams and emotions. That triggers a memory of TaeBaek's conversation with Nam and he finally gets his eureka moment.

The gang presents the idea to Nam, entitled "My life's pacemaker : 100 years Insulation" Basically the story goes (JinGa is much more dramatic though...lol): Father and son joins a marathon, father is tired but wouldn't give up because he's the son's pacemaker, dad's gives his all and completes the race, he hands over a flask to the son, son drinks the water from the flask, as the distance between the two grow larger, father watches his son proudly and says, "My son, do not run with your legs, run with your heart", the screen closes with the main copy :My life's pacemaker : 100 years Insulation. Nam is impressed despite himself and gives the go ahead. Although he still barks at them not to waste time. Heh. Aw. He's such a softy. All is not well though since he receives notice that the banks are applying pressure, no thanks to BK Group.

Addie is also done with his idea and Baek actually offers another 20 billion for the ad, all of which might not have actually gone into producing the ad since we see Ahri bribing  someone from EBC Broadcasting. Her direct superior (she's now in the media team) finds out that she's moonlighting for Addie and gives her a hard time about it.

On the other hand, JinGa only has 1 billion for the ad, which makes casting big names an impossible task. He offers himself and YiCha for the roles but gets no support, no even from Hat San (which sort a constitutes international opinion. Heh). Jokes aside, JinGa suggests eating out in celebration of their deal but TaeBaek declines. He's meeting Jiyoon and despite JinGa concern about confidentiality, TaeBaek is convinced Jiyoon is on their side.

He calls and waits for her at her company so she reluctantly meets him. Armed with sandwiches and a flask of coffee, he's eager to show her his first commercial ad but Addie interrupts the moment reminding her of her sensitive position as TaeBaek's direct competitor. It's the first he's heard of her involvement in the BK Group ad and he's surprised. Jiyoon wants to explain but Addie keeps interrupting on her behalf. TaeBaek excuses himself, walking away dejectedly while Jiyoon watches in concern.

During the lift ride, Addie tells her she needn't feel sorry to TaeBaek. But Jiyoon is till upset and holds onto the sandwiches and the coffee flask. Ahri joins them in the lift  and notes the awkward atmosphere. Later, Ahri expressed her doubt over Addie's special treatment of Jiyoon. He doesn't deny entirely but insists that it would not affect his judgement. He has much to lose.

TaeBaek tells JinGa about GS Ad producing an ad for BK'S Hometech. JinGa is adamant money doesn't guarantee a good ad but he does concede that money can dictate the consumer's heart. With their massive budget, they would definitely make other moves (besides making ad). And they'd definitely go for star casting. So they have to be different and go for regular casting. It's star vs normal citizen. Real vs fake. And since they are dealing with a small medium scale company, they need to convince the chairman to star in the CF. Hah. I knew this was coming.

Nam predictably objects, especially since he knows the son would not agree to this. TaeBaek bullies him into agreeing and is confident he can get the son to agree as well. And he works on it right away, since time is money and all. Heh.

He intercepts a jogging Nam jr with the proposal who waste no time in calling him nuts. I wonder if he notices that people do that a lot to him - call him crazy I mean. Heh. Anyway, he doesn't give up and pledges to pester him everyday until he agrees. TaeBaek joins him on his regular jogs but always loses out on stamina. Heh.

JinGa gets the brilliant idea of a relay jog by appointing employees of the company to jog with Nam jr in turns. Haha. At first Nam jr freaks out at the random people who come up to him telling stories and expressing gratitude for his dad's help. By the time JinGa joins him, he's resigned himself for another round of storytelling. But JinGa says nothing much beyond that he's producing the ad for Nam's company and finally it's Chairman Nam who's waiting for him with a flask on hand.

He's doubtful that dad can still run but doesn't refuse his drink nor him jogging along. In fact, he even slows down his pace and matches dad's. Aw. TaeBaeks films everything with his videocam.

There is a special ad (produced by that bribed PD) out which compares all the insulation products in the market. The experiment based research implies that 100 years insulation bottles are defective. In addition, Ahri has release negative rumours on the net. And then they capitalize on the situation by releasing their own ad, complete with a well known star (it's no JDG but it looks awfully like the guy from SUFBB).

All the ads have their intended effect. 100 years product suffers from their dented image and BK's hometech successfully overtakes them in the market. With that, the GS Ad staff celebrates and Ahri is reinstated into the team. She is much more humble now (outwardly) and kind (gasp! heh). She couldn't resist ribbing her ex supervisor though. As the staff gossips, Jiyoon learns that BK Group has been applying pressure to the banks.

Chairman Nam receives a double blow, reeling from the negative rumours and the stressed out by the banks' demands.

Baek is pleased and asks Addie what he wants. Addie admits he's interested in the CI position. Baek chides his ambition but he smoothly replies that since being ambitious and not ambitious are both unfavorable traits, he'd rather be ambitious.

 Nam drops by GRC with snacks. JinGa senses that it's a bad sign. Nam apologizes for having renege on his promise but financially he cannot afford a CF. He offers a small compensation for their efforts and expresses his gratitude. TaeBaek thinks BK is responsible but Nam is quick to admit his own failings. Nam assures them that he understands their heart and effort. Tae Baek is upset at his own helplessness but JinGa seems to take it especially hard.

Jiyoon asks dad out for dinner and confronts him about Nam. She wants him to lay off Nam. The memory of how her highschool friend's father committed suicide because of him still haunts her to this day. Dad insist that he didn't create this dog-eat-dog world, he just learned to play by its rules. And it's not his fault that those who fail to adjust themselves get swallowed in the process. Jiyoon accepts that he didn't cause all her unhappiness, but he appeals to him to reduce her unhappiness.He seems moved, but instructs his men to proceed with their plans. So it didn't work after all.

JinGa and TaeBaek mourns the loss of a good opportunity to make their sure-to-be-a-hit CF. Taebaek couldn't understand the prejudice towards smaller companies. JinGa understands his unhappiness regarding the 100years situation but advises to bury his dissatisfaction in his heart. As ad people, it's more conducive to transfer all that into their ads. Dissatisfaction can also be a source of motivation. Taebaek gets the bright idea of turning their recordings into a clip - an ad - and through social networks, they must show the people that such company and such a caring chairman exists.

JinGa is reluctant as first but is no match for TaeBaek's infectious optimism. He sets the team to work. Ms Kong to edit the clips, YiCha to download tear-jerking music and Hat san to buy them supper. Heh. Their video would be titled, "A day in Chairman Nam's life". Most importantly, they must include "Made by GRC" in the credits. Haha.

Nam goes about his work with a sense of finality the next day. Taebaek's ex-boss watches him leave for somewhere(no mention where yet) with a heavy heart.

At the same team, the team rejoice when their video turns up first in the search engines. They receive calls from broadcasting stations requesting for Nam's contact since they'd like to invite him on their shows. Taebaek also receives a call from his ex boss alerting him that Nam is about to sell the company to BK Group.

And so our hero goes to the rescue!