By Na Jeong-ju
Drawings of a cat and a computer mouse decorating the packs of KT&G’s Raison Blue cigarettes are the talk of the town as people joke that the computer mouse brings to mind President Lee Myung-bak.
The firm says it printed a computer mouse instead of a rat to symbolize its vision of “creative revolution,” but some witty netizens are interpreting it differently. They translate the drawing of a cat chasing a computer mouse as a revolutionary way to lampoon Lee who has become a lame duck amid a series of corruption scandals involving his aides as the end of his administration nears.
On the blue-colored cigarette packets, a black cat is seen chasing a computer mouse. Some bloggers said for fun that the firm couldn’t draw a rat because the animal has been often used by critics to satirically mock the President.
Such jokes reflect the negative public sentiment toward the Lee government’s tough stance on satirical parodies and crackdowns on SNS users critical of him.
In October, a 42-year-old college lecturer was convicted of damaging public property by drawing the picture of a rat on 22 G-20 Seoul Summit promotion posters in central Seoul in 2010. He was ordered to pay a 2 million-won fine.
The government’s handling of the case drew much criticism. Many Internet users denounced the government for “overreacting” to what many people consider is satire. On the posters, a huge rat holds the lantern symbolizing the G20 Summit with the words, “The world is watching Korea.”
The Raison Blue cigarettes debuted in October last year, just days before the by-elections, in which the ruling camp suffered a crushing defeat.
“The drawing of a computer mouse on the cigarette packets reminds me of a troubled Lee and the ruling Grand National Party following the election defeat. Was KT&G a prophet?” a blogger quipped.