South Korea Says ‘Cheers’ to Marilyn

Marilyn’s 1954 trip to Korea, touring US military bases and singing for the troops, was one of her happiest memories. In partnership with the LIFE photographic archive, a new range of craft beers has been released celebrating Marilyn and other 20th century icons, currently available at CU convenience stores across South Korea.

“Craft Bros., a craft beer company, announced on the 16th that it would sell ‘Craft Bros Life’, which contains the face of American actress Marilyn Monroe, in a package exclusively through CU convenience stores. Craft Bros has been collaborating with American magazine Life since last year to produce a variety of beers. The Life Beer series is a package that contains photos of famous people such as James Dean, Che Guevara, and Winston Churchill, as well as historical moments such as the moon landing and the end of World War II. This time, the Belgian Wit Lager Craft Broth Life with an alcohol content of 4.3 % will be mass-produced and sold at CU convenience stores. The new product emphasized the aroma made from hops, orange peel, citron peel and coriander seeds.” – Naver

The citrus-based lager features one of Alfred Eisenstaedt’s iconic shots from 1953, a year before Marilyn visited Korea. This latest venture follows the LIFE archive’s recent collaboration with Benetton on a series of sweaters and T-shirts, and a 2022 calendar featuring various LIFE photographers’ images of Marilyn – including Eisenstaedt, Ed Clark and J.R. Eyerman – is now available at Walmart, or to order from outside the US here.

Thanks to Marina at Marilyn Remembered