Lee Kwang Soo is the new face of Korea's leading travel retailer, The Shilla Duty Free shop. The actor, who is said to be the life line of Running Man, will be sharing the promotional screen space with another hallyu star, Song Hye Kyo.
The brand's officials revealed that they signed an exclusive contract with Kwang Soo on 26 May. The spokesperson said: "Lee Kwang Soo is garnering immense popularity evenly throughout men, women, young, and old throughout all of Asia including China and Korea through his bright and friendly image."
Previously, boy group SHINee, TVXQ and Angela Baby have been the promotional presenters of The Shilla Duty Free shop.
Adding on, looking at the popularity of South Korean celebrities, many of the retail giants are roping in A-list hallyu stars as their brand ambassadors, Yonhap reported. Lotte, which is one of the popular duty free retailer, along with Shilla, have been using Korean celebrities as their ambassadors for the past 12 years. A Lotte official said: "The key mission (in hallyu star marketing) is to make sure that customers automatically connect the hallyu stars to the brand name."
The staffer added that the company has spent more than 150 billion won on overseas marketing in the past ten years.