Recently, there’s been a lot of ads of celebrities around Seoul’s subway stations. That’s nothing to be surprised about except when these ads are taken up by fans in support of their idols.
The advertising landscape has shifted and Kpop fans now plan, design and gather funds for these ads and advertise them all across Seoul’s subway stations.
taemajesty0718님이 주관하신 용산역 태민이 생일광고 6v6)/ 태민아 미리 생일 축하해! pic.twitter.com/XhpboC3fXY
— [1of1=샤이니]민트곰 (@shineshinee0525) July 13, 2018
The ads are most commonly run on idol birthdays and their debut anniversaries. While it started at places where many people pass through daily such as train stations, this has rapidly spread to other parts of the city.
They now place ads on screens at the airport.
인천공항 광고 #뉴이스트W #WHO_YOU #최민기 #강동호 #김종현 #곽아론 #렌 #백호 #JR #Aron pic.twitter.com/AOYjsWKXMV
— 렌브라이트밍 (@c_RenMinG) July 20, 2018
And buses.
부기버스♡ pic.twitter.com/OHwQBnQAW3
— 아하 (@boogie0315) June 21, 2017
And with the support of overseas fans, ads are even run in New York and other countries!
https://twitter.com/xiuminizer99/status/977948665896734720
Now, even trainees from Produce48 are getting such adulation from their supporters and several members’ ads can be found at such stations as Samseong, Gangnam, Sinchon, and Hongdae. Some of these ads are sponsored by fans from China as well and run a few days, and while one is being run, several others are already being lined up. Below are some Japanese members’ ads.
https://twitter.com/bizjoongang/status/1022359481018015744
https://twitter.com/bora_violet/status/1017011483702489088
https://twitter.com/ASSALYS/status/1021291572833366017
The advertising industry is indeed a huge one. Kudos to the first person who started offering free services in return for ad money. I don’t watch Produce48 myself, but if you’re a fan, you may enjoy seeing some of the Japanese member’s ads in Seoul.
Now we know who else we can approach for advertising money, i.e. fan clubs.
