Chasing Felix’s keyring: Why brands spend millions on K-pop 'ambassadors'

From coffee to cars, celebrity endorsements raise brand awareness, with various companies tapping stars — from K-pop singers to actors and, of course, football legend Son Heung-min — all the while hoping no scandals drag the company down with them.

From left: BTS's V as the brand ambassador of Coca-Cola, IVE's Jang Won-young as the brand ambassador for Amuse, Stray Kids' Felix as the brand ambassador of Gong Cha [EACH COMPANY]

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Walking into a Gong Cha shop in Gangnam, southern Seoul, in July, the bubble tea franchise was not just full of customers wishing to cool off with a refreshing drink on a hot sunny day; there also were multiple fans of boy band Stray Kids' member Felix who were buying drinks so they could collect all the limited-edition Felix metal pins and key rings released as a part of the singer's ongoing collaboration with the brand.

Another Gong Cha store in Sinchon, western Seoul, even had a printed notice near the kiosk saying that all Felix metal pins were out of stock, and fans of the boy bands have been sharing their experiences and their findings on X since.

“I bought a Felix keyring and it comes with a Gong Cha drink,” a Stray Kids fan jokingly said on X on Aug. 1.

The face of Felix is all over the franchise in Korea, as he is the newly appointed brand ambassador of the popular bubble tea brand — there are also special drinks called “Felix Pick” and even the voice on the kiosks has been replaced by the idol's voice, reading out the menu out loud.

It’s not just big-name global firms or luxury brands that hire brand ambassadors — like Blackpink’s Jennie for Chanel — but also everyday products like budget coffee as well as car companies and online games that have tapped different K-pop idols and actors to represent and advertise a product and brand, which comes with the benefit of a boosted brand image and sales — but also the risk of celebrity affiliation.

The bubble tea brand, after choosing Felix as its global ambassador in June, also engaged in a promotional activity with exclusive merchandise. And while the company didn’t reveal any increased sales data, the pins were out of stock in many Gong Cha stores in Seoul in under a month, proving the popularity of the collaboration.

“We chose Felix as a brand ambassador as he enjoys drinking milk tea and has constantly shown his love for Gong Cha,” the bubble tea company said, adding that the singer's image and Stray Kids’ global fandom were also the reason why the brand chose the idol member as its model.

“The campaign video reached over 7 million views in a month, and the brand ambassador campaign has been contributing to increasing the brand awareness,” the company said.

In a similar vein, BTS member V secured a major advertising contract with Coca-Cola Korea earlier this month, following his military discharge. His fondness for the beverage has long been known among fans; he was spotted with cans or bottles in photos well before the deal. “I’m very happy to share the thrilling joy of everyday life with Coca-Cola, a brand I’ve long cherished,” V said in a statement announcing the collaboration. On Instagram, he added, “No one likes Coke more than I do.”

A promotional image of Compose Coffee featuring BTS's V [COMPOSE COFFEE]

Budget coffee franchises like Mega Coffee and Compose Coffee have also been aggressive with their celebrity partnerships, with the former enlisting both footballer Son Heung-min and SM Entertainment’s rookie girl group Hearts2Hearts as the faces of the brand, spending 18.5 billion won ($13.4 million) and 12.5 billion won in advertising in the last two years, respectively.

“Korean firms use famous actors and idols as brand ambassadors more than other countries, and they sometimes do directly lead to an increase in revenue,” Hanyang University Prof. Shim Sung-wook, who specializes in advertising and public relations, said. “And even when the appointment of brand models doesn’t directly lead to revenue, they have a positive effect on the brand's image and raise awareness of the brand, leading to future purchases.”

Compose Coffee, similarly, chose BTS member V as its brand ambassador in late 2023, with a budget of 6 billion won ($4.3 million) on the campaign. The coffee brand’s profit rose by 8.9 percent in 2024, and it has managed to open around 500 new stores since early last year, helping increase awareness of the relatively lesser-known budget coffee franchise. V's ad video accumulated 10 million views in less than two weeks, while 400,000 new users joined the Compose app by June of that year.

Brand ambassadorships aren't limited to the food and beverage sector, with sellers of big-ticket products getting in on the game. Trot singer Lim Young-woong was chosen as the model for the Rexton frame-body SUV from automaker KG Mobility — then known as SsangYong Motor. Having been advertised as the vehicle driven by the singer, the SUV enjoyed a 53 percent boost in sales in June 2020, two months after Lim was chosen as the model, with fans of the singer jokingly calling the vehicle Lim’s most expensive merchandise.

IVE's Jang Won-young is the brand ambassador of color lens brand Happa Kristin [HAPPA KRISTIN]

Lesser-known companies can also benefit from a fitting brand ambassador, as both color makeup brand Amuse and color lens brand Hapa Kristin were able to raise awareness and sales thanks to a deal with Jang Won-young of girl group IVE. Notably, Hapa Kristin’s offline stores featured massive photos of the group member — photos larger than the brand logo itself — and the advertised products sold out quickly after release in 2022. The company said they chose the singer because Jang used Hapa Kristin's products before the partnership, which led to a more substantive endorsement.

“Jang Won-young uses our products daily and has much affection for Hapa Kristin, to the extent that she remembers the name of all our products,” a company spokesperson said. “Jang posting photos of her wearing our color lenses resulted in good impressions of the brand and consequently linked to higher revenue.”

But star endorsements come with risks, as any controversy involving the celebrity negatively affects the brand image. Girl group NewJeans was the face of countless companies, from SK Telecom and Musinsa to Coca-Cola, Shinhan Bank and Pepero snacks. But in the wake of the ongoing legal battle between NewJeans and its producer Min Hee-jin against HYBE and the group’s announcement of a hiatus in early 2025, many of the brands had no choice but to scrap their brand ambassador campaigns and find new models.

The opposite, where the brand poses a threat to the image of the ambassador, can also be true. Krafton, which collaborated with NewJeans — before the legal battle with HYBE — for its popular online shooter game PUBG, got into trouble for rigging the percentage of loot boxes that had NewJeans character items and was criticized for allowing players to inappropriately customize the NewJeans character items.

Girl group NewJeans' collaboration with PUBG: Battlegrounds [KRAFTON]

The risk intensifies when the star is embroiled in criminal charges, too. After accusations against actor Kim Soo-hyun emerged that he was in a relationship with late actor Kim Sae-ron when she was a minor, brands rapidly cut ties with him, and he even faced lawsuits from some brands for breach of contract — despite no actual criminal ruling, yet. Classys, a medical beauty product brand, sued Kim and won a court order to seize his 3 billion won apartment in eastern Seoul in June.

“Scandals of idols and stars definitely pose a risk for companies that hire them as brand ambassadors,” Prof. Shim said. “But the benefits outweigh the risks, which is why firms are including thorough contract termination clauses to minimize damage.”

BY CHO YONG-JUN, PARK EUN-JEE