Ride the Buldak High

To grow the Buldak brand, we needed to raise awareness of Buldak Sauce. While Buldak Bokkeum Myun was globally recognized, the sauce was less well known. With a limited budget, we needed an idea that could spread organically among young audiences globally. So we turned the campaign itself into a meme. Instead of hiding Buldak’s weakness, we embraced a universal reaction to its spiciness: “It feels like fire coming out of my butt.” This raw consumer truth became the creative core, visualized through fiery rocket-launching characters. We designed all content vertical-first for Shorts and Reels, then expanded the campaign through a custom game and Coachella activation, allowing consumers to experience “BULDAK HIGH” firsthand. It generated 337 million views, with 68.8% coming organically.

We designed the strategy so the campaign itself could become a meme and spread globally with minimal paid media. 1. Bold, instinctive creative Our target prefers brands that reveal flaws and content needing no explanation. So we made Buldak’s signature experience, “your butt is on fire,” a code fans instantly recognized. 2. Vertical-only execution Because short-form sits at the center of youth culture and meme creation, every asset was produced in vertical format to stop the scroll and drive views and shares. 3. IMC across touchpoints Because the target values experience, we connected online and offline touchpoints into one journey. Films delivered entertainment, the RIDE THE BULDAK HIGH game drove participation and sharing, and Coachella brought BULDAK HIGH to life.

To increase global awareness of Buldak Sauce, we launched an integrated campaign across a brand platform, films, a mobile game, and a Coachella activation, working as one ecosystem. At the center was Buldak.com, built to transfer the equity of Buldak Bokkeum Myun to Buldak Sauce. QR codes on packaging drove consumers to the site. To deepen engagement, we created an AR game inspired by RIDE THE BULDAK HIGH, where players who ate faster flew higher for rewards, fueling competition and sharing. Films led users into the same journey, while offline audiences followed it through QR scans. At Coachella, visitors paired Buldak Sauce with food and experienced the feeling of blasting off. Across touchpoints, the campaign turned Buldak Sauce’s spiciness into a playful, unforgettable journey.

Designed to spread without heavy paid media, RIDE THE BULDAK HIGH delivered organic results. The campaign generated 337 million views, with 68.8%, or 232 million, coming organically, allowing paid media to be stopped early. Social followers grew by 572,000, or 33.7%, and the campaign drove 2.22 million interactions, proving engagement beyond passive views. The meme effect extended through user-generated and reshared content, adding 4 million views and over 10,000 shares. Most importantly, increased awareness of Buldak Sauce translated into business impact, with Amazon sales rising 75% year over year during the campaign. By turning extreme spiciness into a shared, playful experience, BULDAK HIGH maximized global reach, cultural relevance, and commercial performance on a limited budget.