실패의 잿더미에서 피어난 15년의 신화: 이경규가 증명한 ‘실패의 가치’ > K-wave Trends

The ‘Gwitturdak’ project mentioned by Lee Gyeong-gyu was truly a challenging attempt. The idea of ​​raising chickens by feeding them crickets was a novel attempt at the time, but the reality was harsh. Faced with a structural contradiction in which the purchase of crickets was much more expensive than the cost of feed, and the navel was larger than the belly, the business ultimately ran aground, unable to achieve profitability. The situation where he had to feed the remaining chickens to the zoo as lion food was something that could have seriously hurt his pride as a businessman, but Lee Gyeong-gyu did not hide it and calmly sublimated it into an entertainment subject. This honesty led viewers to see him not simply as a successful celebrity, but as a humane businessman who gets frustrated and gets back up again just like us.

But Lee Gyeong-gyu's true value was revealed at the very point where the business failed. The painful time of researching and eating chicken dishes every day in order to dispose of the countless chickens left in inventory because they were not sold paradoxically became a creative laboratory for creating a monumental product called Kokomyeon. In the process of thinking and researching various recipes using chicken, the then-unconventional idea of ​​white soup ramen was born. His method of not simply ending failure as a loss but using the data and experience gained in the process as the driving force for the next step can be said to be an excellent example of a ‘pivot’ in management terms. The success of Kkokgo Ramen, which sold more than 100 million units, is the product of the desperate efforts of those who held on to the chicken until the end because they could not throw it away.

Meanwhile, in this broadcast, the business communication between two masters in the field, Lee Kyung-gyu and Yang Jun-hyuk, also attracted attention. Based on the deep relationship that has been built since the days of ‘Qualifications of a Man’, Lee Gyeong-gyu showed off his closeness by referring to Yang Joon-hyuk as his ‘Gyu-line’. In particular, the two have something in common: despite reaching the peak in their respective fields, they constantly tried new businesses and experienced failure. Even Park Myung-soo expressed respect for Lee Gyeong-gyu's never-ending spirit of challenge, and his unstoppable business progress serves as a great example to his colleagues. Beyond simply speaking as a broadcaster, his spirit of challenge to constantly pioneer new markets without fear of failure resonates deeply with his juniors.

In addition, in this episode, we were able to get a glimpse of Lee Gyeong-gyu's entertainment sense and thoughts on generational change. His joking remark that if he was planning ‘Qualifications of a Man 2’, he would exclude Jeon Hyun-moo because he was too tall, shows his keen perspective on the current trends in the broadcasting industry. Emphasizing his collaboration with Yang Joon-hyuk, his will to not only dwell on past glory but to constantly communicate with people and produce new content as an active worker remains. In this way, Lee Gyeong-gyu is not satisfied with the economic achievements of royalties that have been coming in for 15 years, and still works with juniors in the broadcast field, showing his skill in sublimating even his own failure stories into laughter. The secret to the long run of Lee Gyeong-gyu, a broadcaster with 40 years of experience, lies in this flexibility and constant self-objectification.