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Nongshim’s “Parasite” poster spoof promoted in Britain (left); The chapaguri recipe on the back of the poster. (provided by NONGSHIM]

Is the pizza box assembly expert from “Parasite” an Oscar winner in her own right?

Amid an explosion of interest in director Bong Joon-ho’s film “Parasite” after it swept the Academy Awards in four categories, an unexpected side effect has also been drawing popular attention. New food for discussion is being generated as cinema fans focus on the meaning behind individual lines of dialogue and shots in the film.

An example of this is the “pizza box assembly expert,” who was making the rounds on the internet as of Feb. 12. The expert appears in a YouTube video that the Kim family consults in order to quickly assemble a huge pile of pizza boxes. The young woman in the video is Breanna Gray, who previously worked part-time at a pizza restaurant in Canada. Her first video, which she posted in September 2015, currently has over 1.45 million views. In response to the “Parasite” Oscar wins and the new attention her video has received, Gray posted a new six-minute video on Feb. 11.

In it, she explained that she worked at Gabriel Pizza in Ottawa for seven years and was 18 years old when the first video was taken. At the suggestion of family members, a video of her folding pizza boxes very quickly was filmed and posted on YouTube, she said. In another new video, she showed that her talent for assembling a pizza box in two seconds remains sharp.

In 2018, the producers of “Parasite” contacted her to ask if they could use the pizza box video. At the same, she had no idea who the director was, what kind of film it was, or how famous the people involved were, she said. Without a second thought, she granted them permission to use the video, never imagining that the film would eventually win an Oscar, she added, sharing her feelings of surprise and happiness. Movie fans have added replies to her video with humorous messages like “She had a plan for the Oscars” and “She’s an Oscar winner.”

The pizza-box folding video on YouTube featured in the film “Parasite”

The “Pizza Era” restaurant that also appears in the film has also become a “pilgrimage” site for Bong Joon-ho fans. The actual name of the restaurant in Seoul’s Dongjak District is “Sky Pizza.” In the film, the character of Chung-sook (Jang Hye-jin) works there part time, and it is the setting where the Kim family plots to drive the housekeeper (Lee Jung-eun) away from the home of Park Dong-ik (Lee Sun-kyun) and his family. The restaurant’s guestbook was filled with images taken there and comments in a variety of foreign languages, including English and Japanese.

Another spot that has become a popular tourist attraction is the “Pig Mart” where Ki-woo (Choi Woo-shik), the son of Kim Ki-taek (Song Kang-ho), drinks soju with his friend Min-hyuk (Park Seo-joon) in the film. The store, where the two discuss Ki-woo taking over Min-hyuk’s position as tutor for Park Dong-ik’s daughter, is located in Seoul’s Mapo District. Fans have also been flocking to a steep staircase near the mart, which has been there for the past 40 years.

Also smiling is the company Nongshim, maker of the Chapaghetti black bean noodles and Neoguri spicy ramen noodles used in the film’s “Chapaguri” dish -- a mixture of the two noodles translated as “ram-don” in the film’s English subtitles. On Feb. 11, Nongshim joined in the “Parasite” premium push with videos on its YouTube channel introducing the Chapaguri recipe in 11 languages, including English, Chinese, Japanese, and German. Nongshim share prices have risen for three straight days since the “Parasite” Oscar win, and the company has announced plans to market Chapaguri bowl noodles in the US. Also attracting interest are the FiLite beer and Chamisul soju by HiteJinro that appear in the film.

By Yu Sun-hui, staff reporter

Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]