In an apparent first, North Korea – a country that struggles to feed its 24 million people – has aired a beer commercial on state television.
The advertisement, which lasted nearly three minutes after a news program on Thursday, showed a grinning Korean man with sweat on his face holding a glass of beer, with a caption that read, “Taedong River Beer is the pride of Pyongyang.”
The commercial said the beer relieves stress and improves health and longevity. It also showed images of a pub it said was in the capital of Pyongyang, filled with people drinking.
Normally, there are no advertisements on television in North Korea, an isolated, communist country that tightly controls its economy and is wary of capitalistic influences.
Programming consists of news, factory descriptions, some children’s animation shows, and documentaries on leader Kim Jong Il and his father Kim Il Sung, interspersed with propaganda slogans and music, according to a South Korean Unification Ministry official.
The official, who has been monitoring the North’s television for more than two decades, told The Associated Press that it was the first time he had seen any sort of advertisement for food, much less beer – although he has seen programs on North Korean cuisine. He asked not to be identified as he was not authorized to speak to media.
The commercial assured viewers of the beer’s quality and nutritional value, saying it was made of rice and contained protein and vitamin B2.
It was unclear how much the beer cost and how many North Koreans could afford it. The country is among the poorest in the world, with an average per capita income of $1,065 in 2008, according to the South’s central bank.
The North faces chronic food shortages and has relied on food aid to feed its population since a famine that is believed to have killed as many as 2 million in the mid and late-1990s.
Kim Jon g Il, the North Korean leader, apparently enjoys beer.
Kenji Fujimoto, a Japanese sushi chef for Kim, said in a 2003 memoir that he traveled the world for the leader, buying Czech beer as well as Chinese melons, Danish pork and Thai papayas.
Kim’s wine cellar was stocked with 10,000 bottles, the chef said, and banquets often started at midnight and lasted into the morning.
Apple and Google Face UK Investigation Into Mobile Browser Dominance
Apple and Google aren't giving consumers a genuine choice of mobile web browsers, a British watchdog said Friday in a report that recommends they face an investigation under new U.K. digital rules taking effect next year.
The Competition and Markets Authority took aim at Apple, saying the iPhone maker's tactics hold back innovation by stopping rivals from giving users new features like faster webpage loading. Apple does this by restricting progressive web apps, which don't need to be downloaded from an app store and aren't subject to app store commissions, the report said.
"This technology is not able to fully take off on iOS devices," the watchdog said in a provisional report on its investigation into mobile browsers that it opened after an initial study concluded that Apple and Google effectively have a chokehold on "mobile ecosystems."
The CMA's report also found that Apple and Google manipulate the choices given to mobile phone users to make their own browsers "the clearest or easiest option."
And it said that the a revenue-sharing deal between the two U.S. Big Tech companies "significantly reduces their financial incentives" to compete in mobile browsers on Apple's iOS operating system for iPhones.
Both companies said they will "engage constructively" with the CMA.
Apple said it disagreed with the findings and said it was concerned that the recommendations would undermine user privacy and security.
Google said the openness of its Android mobile operating system "has helped to expand choice, reduce prices and democratize access to smartphones and apps" and that it's "committed to open platforms that empower consumers."
It's the latest move by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to crack down on the... Read More