Every November, South Korea holds its breath. The College Scholastic Ability Test—known simply as "Suneung" (수능)—is more than an exam. It's a national ritual that has drawn international attention from CNN, BBC, and media outlets worldwide, fascinated by a society where planes are grounded, construction halts, and an entire nation reorganizes itself around a single test day.
For Korean students, Suneung represents the culmination of years of relentless preparation—late-night study sessions, weekend academies, and the crushing weight of family expectations. The exam's results can determine university placement, career trajectories, and social standing in a society where educational credentials carry profound significance. The pressure is so intense that it has become a defining cultural phenomenon, symbolizing both Korea's commitment to meritocracy and the psychological toll of hyper-competitive education systems.
But in November 2025, something remarkable happened along Seoul's busiest highway. Where commuters expected to see advertisements for luxury cars and smartphone launches, they instead encountered messages of encouragement—simple, powerful words that transformed commercial media space into a canvas of collective support.
The Campaign: When Advertising Becomes Advocacy
ALLISWELL (올이즈웰), Korea's leading digital out-of-home (DOOH) advertising company, made an unprecedented decision. For three days surrounding the 2026 Suneung exam (November 11-13, 2025), the company converted its premium advertising inventory—twelve massive LED billboards spanning 1.5 kilometers of the Olympic Highway's Yeouido section—into a public service campaign supporting test-takers.
The concept was elegantly simple: "Celebrating today's heroes on the road." Working with creative agency TwoRabbits, ALLISWELL designed nine-character messages that appeared across the billboard network, visible to the 240,000 vehicles that traverse this stretch daily:
- "보여줘 당신의 능력을" (Show us your abilities)
- "노력이 결실이 되는 날" (Today, your efforts bear fruit)
- "끝나고 재밌게 놀면 돼" (Afterward, just have fun)
These weren't corporate slogans or product pitches. They were messages of solidarity—acknowledgments of the immense pressure students face and affirmations that their worth extends beyond test scores.
The campaign's creative philosophy drew directly from ALLISWELL's brand ethos: "다 잘 될 거야" (Everything will be alright). In a society where educational achievement often feels like a zero-sum competition, this message of unconditional support carried profound emotional weight.
The Public Value of Commercial Media
This campaign illuminates a critical question about media's role in contemporary society: When does advertising transcend commerce and become public service?
ALLISWELL's decision represents a growing recognition among media companies that their platforms carry social responsibilities beyond revenue generation. The Olympic Highway billboards occupy some of Seoul's most valuable advertising real estate—premium inventory that typically commands significant fees from corporate clients. By dedicating this space to public encouragement, ALLISWELL demonstrated that commercial media infrastructure can serve civic purposes.
The campaign's impact extended far beyond the highway itself. Images of the billboards went viral on Korean social media, with students, parents, and educators sharing photos and expressing gratitude. The messages became a cultural touchstone—a reminder that amid intense competition, community support still matters.
This wasn't ALLISWELL's first foray into socially conscious advertising. The same billboard network previously featured:
- A "비상하라 최강한화" (Soar, Mighty Hanwha) campaign celebrating the Hanwha Eagles baseball team's Korean Series appearance, which became a social media phenomenon
- Countdown displays for the 2025 Seoul International Fireworks Festival
- Digital exhibitions showcasing national treasures from the National Museum of Korea, including the gilt-bronze Maitreya Bodhisattva statue, Joseon white porcelain, and Goryeo celadon
- Contemporary artworks from the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art
These initiatives suggest an evolving understanding of outdoor advertising's potential—not merely as commercial messaging, but as urban cultural infrastructure that can educate, inspire, and unite communities.
The Broader Context: Media as Social Infrastructure
The Suneung support campaign reflects broader conversations about media's public obligations in an increasingly commercialized landscape. As traditional public spaces become saturated with advertising, questions arise about how commercial media can contribute to social cohesion rather than merely extracting attention for profit.
ALLISWELL's approach offers one answer: strategic deployment of commercial media assets for public benefit. The company didn't abandon its business model—it enhanced its brand reputation while serving a genuine social need. This alignment of commercial and civic interests represents a sustainable model for corporate social responsibility.
The campaign also highlights the unique power of out-of-home advertising in the digital age. While online ads can be blocked and social media feeds curated, physical billboards occupy shared public space. When used thoughtfully, they can create moments of collective experience—everyone stuck in Olympic Highway traffic saw the same encouraging messages, creating a sense of shared participation in supporting test-takers.
International Attention and Cultural Significance
The intensity of Korea's Suneung has long fascinated international observers. CNN has documented how the entire nation adjusts its schedule around the exam—flights are rerouted during listening comprehension sections, construction sites go silent, and office workers arrive late to reduce traffic congestion for test-takers. BBC has explored the psychological pressure students face and the multi-billion-dollar private tutoring industry that has emerged around exam preparation.
This international coverage often portrays Suneung as emblematic of East Asian educational intensity. But ALLISWELL's campaign reveals another dimension of Korean culture: the collective impulse to support those under pressure, the recognition that individual achievement occurs within a community context, and the willingness of commercial entities to prioritize social solidarity over short-term profit.
Lessons for Media and Society
The Olympic Highway billboard campaign offers several insights for media companies, advertisers, and policymakers:
Commercial media can serve public purposes without sacrificing business viability. ALLISWELL's campaign generated significant positive brand recognition, demonstrating that social responsibility and business success aren't mutually exclusive.
Physical media spaces carry unique civic potential. Unlike digital platforms where users control their information environment, outdoor advertising occupies shared public space. When used for community benefit, it can foster collective experiences and social cohesion.
Authenticity matters. The campaign succeeded because it addressed a genuine social need with sincerity rather than exploiting it for marketing purposes. The messages were simple, direct, and focused entirely on supporting students rather than promoting the company.
Media infrastructure is cultural infrastructure. The same billboards that display commercial ads can also showcase national art treasures, celebrate community achievements, and offer encouragement during stressful times. This versatility suggests that outdoor advertising networks should be considered part of a city's cultural ecosystem.
Conclusion: The Future of Purposeful Media
As media landscapes become increasingly commercialized and attention becomes a scarce commodity, ALLISWELL's Suneung campaign offers a compelling vision for how commercial media can retain social purpose. By dedicating premium advertising space to public encouragement, the company demonstrated that media infrastructure can serve both business objectives and civic values.
The campaign's success—measured not in sales figures but in social media shares, public gratitude, and cultural impact—suggests that audiences hunger for media that acknowledges their humanity rather than merely targeting their wallets. In a society where young people face immense pressure to succeed, seeing messages of unconditional support on massive public screens carried profound emotional resonance.
For the 500,000 students who took the 2026 Suneung exam, the test results will shape their immediate futures. But the billboard messages offered something equally important: a reminder that their worth isn't determined by a single exam, that their community supports them, and that regardless of outcomes, "everything will be alright."
In an age of algorithmic targeting and hyper-personalized advertising, perhaps the most radical act a media company can perform is using its platforms to deliver a simple, universal message of human solidarity. ALLISWELL's campaign proves that when commercial media embraces its potential as public infrastructure, it can transform urban spaces into canvases of collective care—turning highways into corridors of hope.
This article is adapted from reporting by Kim Yun-rim for Munhwa Ilbo. The 2026 College Scholastic Ability Test took place on November 13, 2025, with approximately 500,000 students participating nationwide.
