Rising Star Byun Woo-seok Faces Crisis In Advertising Following Airport Controversy

According to the advertising industry on July 21st, Byun Woo-seok’s annual advertising model fee is currently 700 million won and it can increase up to 900 million won. Kim Soo-hyun earns 1 billion won – 1.2 billion won, while Cha Eun-woo gets about 700-900 million won. As such, it is easy to realize that Byun Woo-seok’s value soared significantly after ”Lovely Runner” and he emerged as a blue chip in the advertising industry. However, reactions in the industry have changed after the recent controversy over excessive security. As a result, some brands have excluded Byun Woo-seok from their candidate selection or temporarily postponed the model selection process.

The brand Byun Woo-seok models are seemingly in a difficult situation. After the success of “Lovely Runner”, Byun Woo-seok has swept advertisements in all fields, including Nonghyup Bank & Card, LG Household & Healthcare PHYSIOGEL, LG Electronics StandbyME, F&F Outdoor Discovery Epedition, etc. Nonghyup Bank did not renew their contract with Han So-hee after her dating and breakup scandal with Ryu Jun-yeol, and now their new model Byun Woo-seok is also involved in a controversy. This has prevented their active promotion and marketing strategy. In addition, Byun Woo-seok’s issue is expected to have a great impact on the LG Group as they selected the actor as a model for both healthcare and electronic categories.

Although Byun Woo-seok did not do anything wrong, the false explanation of the security company and the belated responses of his agency have sparked more controversies. Not only did the issue make it to the headlines of major terrestrial news, but it was also mentioned in the National Assembly. Some people even filed a complaint regarding Byun Woo-seok’s airport security issue with the National Human Rights Commission, and Incheon Airport Police are also conducting an investigation into the security company.

People in the advertising industry also mentioned Byun Woo-seok’s lack of upcoming projects as another risk. After rising to stardom with “Lovely Runner”, the actor revealed that he received a lot of love calls, but he decided to carry out an Asian fanmeeting tour and shoot CFs instead of deciding on his next project. In fact, what’s more important is that his follow-up drama/ film should be successful so that the actor can establish a firm presence and become a top star. Getting a lot of offers for roles in romance dramas, it is not clear whether Byun Woo-seok will take on another attractive role like Ryu Seon-jae or get more experience to make up for his poor acting skills in other genres.

As the advertising is sensitive to trends and generates profits from consumers’ purchases, it is quite conservative. When controversies arise, many brands will immediately take down all the photos and videos of that person. If the controversy intensifies, they may terminate the contract and even sue the model to claim damage. An insider explained, “In this situation, it is difficult to select Byun Woo-seok as a mode”, adding “Even a small scandal can damage the brand’s image, so that’s the advertising industry is very sensitive”.

This is also the reason that caused Han So-hee to lose her CF contracts one after another. The actress was modeling for Lotte Cholsung, Nonghyup Bank and the second-hand car platform Heydealer. During her heyday, the actress’s modeling fees were already 1.2 – 1.3 billion won. However, due to Han So-hee’s transit love controversy, some Korean brands have not announced it yet. Last year, Shark Beauty, which is less sensitive to privacy issues in Korea, selected Han So-hee as the new model for Asia-Pacific (APAC) hair care products.

Han So-hee’s close friend Jeon Jong-seo has also disappeared from the CF world following her school violence accusations. Earlier this year, she was chosen as a model for several brands including the dating app Tider. However, after Jeon Jong-seo was accused of being a school violence perpetrator, Tinder took down videos and posters or set them to private mode on SNS sites such as YouTube, Instagram, etc. Although Condition and CASS Light did not remove Jeon Jong-seo’s ads, the actress was not seen in the brands’ promotion materials recently.

Another insider stated, “The selection of models for promotions and marketing strategy on a yearly basis cannot be delayed again”, adding, “We were waiting for Byun Woo-seok’s issue to cool down but it only grew bigger and more uncontrollably. This situation could have been prevented if the agency issued an apology and explained it properly sooner”.