Olympic table tennis star Shin Yu-bin named face of Binggrae's popular banana milk brand

Shin Yu-bin, who became a sensation after winning two bronze medals at the Paris Olympics, has been selected as the new face of Binggrae's flagship beverage, Banana-Flavored Milk.

National table tennis player Shin Yu-bin, middle, poses for a photo at a donation ceremony with the Korea Elementary Schools Table Tennis Association. [BINGGRAE]

Shin Yu-bin, who became a sensation after winning two bronze medals at the Paris Olympics, has been selected as the new face of Binggrae's flagship beverage, Banana-Flavored Milk.

Shin unexpectedly captured social media attention during the recent Paris Summer Olympics for eating bananas, even sparking "banana mukbang" memes.

The popular table tennis player will now star in commercials for the beloved banana milk product. Binggrae plans to swiftly release video commercials featuring Shin to capitalize on the current social media sensation around her.

At Shin's request, 100 million won ($73,731) of her modeling fee was donated to the Korea Elementary Schools Table Tennis Association to nurture the nation's future talents. The donation ceremony was attended by association president Shim Eun-suk and Binggrae's marketing department director Yang Hye-jin. Shin proposed the donation to foster young talent in collaboration with the food company and Binggrae responded with its commitment to exploring further support with the association in addition to the donation.

Meanwhile, Shin Yu-bin reached the semifinals in all three of her events: mixed doubles, singles and team. In mixed doubles and team events, she brought home two bronze medals, her first Olympic medals.

BY HAN JEE-HYE [yoon.seungjin@joongang.co.kr]