The Announcement of Lee Jong Suk as L’Oréal Paris’ Brand Ambassador for China Sparks Outrage Online

Side by Side
Lee Jong Suk

It’s not that Netizens have any beef with South Korean star Lee Jong Suk whatsoever. It’s those three words 中国区 “China region” in L’Oréal’s announcement that’s actually causing outrage amongst folks online.

The Original Announcement versus the Modified one announcing Lee Jong Suk
The original announcement on the left vs the modified one on the right after the issue erupted online

Landing himself a contract with an international brand should be nothing out of the ordinary for the South Korean actor, but who knew the French brand’s newest campaign would cause such an outrage amongst C-Nets? The problem herein lies in the way it was being marketed. For many Netizens, it doesn’t make sense that a foreigner is the celebrity endorser for the Chinese market.

Shouldn’t L’Oréal have seen fit to sign a Chinese celebrity as their spokesperson for the Chinese market instead? The general consensus amongst Netizens is that it makes more sense to sign local celebs for their market specific campaigns instead of a Korean star. With that said, of course there will always be other brands that use international celebs as their brand ambassadors. However specifically labelling Lee Jong Suk as the endorser for the China region was the one that got C-Nets raising a big hue and cry. Others have also pointed out that they should’ve just labeled him the endorser for the entire Asia Pacific region.

As of press time, L’Oréal’s original announcement has already been deleted and the modified one already up in its place. The new ad noticeably scrapped the “China region” indicator already to appease the public outcry.

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5 Comments

  1. Didichan

    April 23, 2021 4:09 PM
  2. luzzieh

    April 23, 2021 7:00 PM
    • Joni

      April 23, 2021 7:42 PM
  3. HL

    April 23, 2021 8:48 PM
  4. Minie

    August 17, 2021 7:59 AM

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