Travel and Food Industries Face 'Lee Kang-in' Chill... 'Direct Viewing' Event Also Canceled

Withdrawal of Themed Travel Product Plans in First Half
Concerns Over Disruptions to Local Tour Packages
Advertising Model Agencies Sensitive to Public Opinion

The fallout from the discord rumors within the national football team that surfaced during the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup is spreading beyond the sports world to various sectors. The retail industry, which had prepared various events featuring Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain), who was at the center of the controversy, has also been affected. Companies that used him as an advertising model are now in a difficult position due to consumer backlash, and travel and food-related companies that planned to run promotions involving watching his club matches live are revising their plans or acting cautiously amid negative public opinion.

On the morning of the 18th, an advertisement featuring Lee Kang-in was installed in front of a restaurant in downtown Seoul.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to the industry on the 19th, Modetour had planned to launch a themed travel product in the first half of this year that would allow customers to 'watch live' matches of Lee Kang-in's club team in the French professional football Ligue 1, but the plan has been temporarily put on hold. After introducing a related product for the first time last year, actual bookings were made and participants responded positively, so additional schedules were prepared. However, as the controversy surrounding the national team has not subsided recently, the plan was canceled.

Earlier, travel companies such as Hana Tour and Interpark Triple also competed to launch themed travel products linked to Lee Kang-in and his club matches to attract customers. The global travel and leisure e-commerce platform Klook even introduced a service in Korea that allows users to book Paris Saint-Germain match tickets through its application (app). Some of these companies have schedules to depart for the local site as early as this month, but they are anxiously considering whether to cancel plans due to the negative public sentiment. A travel industry official said, "The themed travel products are promotional in nature, so the basic number of users is not large, but football fans showed high interest and satisfaction," adding, "Given the current unfavorable public opinion, it seems difficult to operate live viewing products for the time being."

In the food industry, Paris Baguette had signed a sponsorship deal with Lee Kang-in's club team and prepared a tour package event that would allow customers to watch matches in France. However, as the controversy surrounding the national team expanded recently, it is known that promotional posters intended for use in some local stores were removed. An industry insider lamented, "Consumers are mentioning boycotts and pressuring through various channels, causing the issue to resurface, so the risk of proceeding with the planned promotion is too high."

The situation is even more difficult for companies that employed Lee Kang-in as an advertising model. The franchise chicken brand Arachi Chicken decided not to renew its contract with Lee Kang-in, whose model contract expires this month. The advertisement videos featuring Lee Kang-in were also taken down from the company's website. However, social media (SNS) advertisements are still being maintained. KT, which had signed a sponsorship contract with Lee Kang-in since 2019 and used him as a model, recently removed promotional posters as well. KT stated, "This was due to the end of the purchase benefit promotion," and regarding the termination of the sponsorship contract with Lee Kang-in, they expressed a cautious stance, saying, "We are reviewing various options and no decision has been made."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.