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.
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.
Didichan
I get it, you probably won’t see a Chinese celebrity representing South Korea … they a 100s of Chinese stars that would have been great
luzzieh
maybe L’O is trying to avoid foreign brands incidents hiring local stars e.g. Nike etc, xinjiang cotton… not saying L’O has anything related to cotton… just in case any issue that may arise
Joni
I think it is big PR boo boo for Loreal. Would have thought they should understand the emotional and historical sentiments between Korea, China and Japan by now to avoid such an amateurish mistake. The netizens were right – if he had been endorsed as the Asian face or the S.E. Asian face or the Global face, there would have been no flak.
HL
Whoever suggested this marketing campaign. Really need to be suspensed from work! It is so important to read world news, do lots of reseach AND UNDERSTAND YOUR TARGET MARKET.
Minie
There are a ton of western (aka white) celebrities used in ads all over Asia. Just look at the cosmetic floor at any department stores in Asia and see how many “local” celebrities are being used. Yet no one ever have issues with the use of white celebrities… I don’t understand the hate among Asians, if you consider who real are the oppressors, it’s the western powers vs. other Asians. It’s an ad for the Chinese region and any logical person wouldn’t assume it implies that only Chinese people are allowed to be models.