Recently, the food and restaurant industries have increasingly launched advertisements featuring K-pop stars. Content featuring BTS’s V and aespa promoting soju and ramen has garnered hundreds of millions of views. McDonald’s enlisted G-Dragon for a global campaign promoting a new burger product infused with gochujang (Korean chili paste). This strategy aims to transcend the growth limits of the domestic market by leveraging the attention and viral reach of fandoms to enhance brand influence abroad.
According to industry sources on the 12th, Nongshim’s second global advertising campaign with aespa, released at the end of last month, surpassed 100 million YouTube views within two weeks of its launch. The video features aespa members preparing Shin Ramyun, selecting it in stores, or enjoying it while traveling. This strategy seeks to integrate Shin Ramyun into aespa’s daily lives and approach overseas consumers more familiarly.
HiteJinro’s global campaign with BTS’s V, titled “My Favorite Jinro,” has accumulated over 500 million views across all related content. According to figures disclosed by HiteJinro on the 27th of last month, this total includes campaign content from global social networking service (SNS) channels. Among these, the main advertisement video alone has exceeded 300 million views. Engagement metrics such as likes, comments, and shares totaled approximately 10 million, while global SNS followers increased by about 200,000 compared to before the teaser release. Fans continued to respond beyond online platforms by filming local outdoor advertisements and sharing them or posting proof of product purchases.
Lotte Wellfood launched a global marketing campaign with Stray Kids ahead of Pepero Day (November 11). On the 10th, it released a collaborative track with Stray Kids themed around Pepero Day. A Lotte Wellfood representative explained, “This is part of cultural marketing efforts to naturally promote Pepero Day.”
Global companies are also joining marketing efforts that combine K-pop with Korean flavors. McDonald’s will launch a campaign featuring G-Dragon as its model, rolling out sequentially across 13 markets in Asia starting on the 17th. The campaign utilizes gochujang butter sauce developed by McDonald’s Korea, which will be incorporated into menu items in each market. Domestically, McDonald’s Korea has launched two burger varieties featuring gochujang butter and plans to release limited-edition goods in collaboration with G-Dragon’s brand, Piece Minus One, at the end of this month.
Domestic operations face challenges requiring a balance between cost pressures and demands for price stability. While food companies have recently raised prices on select products, they continue to grapple with rising costs for raw materials and packaging.
In contrast, overseas interest in K-culture is translating into demand for K-food, driving increased foreign sales for major food corporations. Nongshim’s overseas subsidiary revenue for the first half of this year reached 641.4 billion won, a 26.8% increase compared to the same period last year. Lotte Wellfood’s Pepero is expected to surpass 100 billion won in overseas sales for the first time this year when including performance from the second half, which includes Pepero Day results. This would mark the first instance of a domestically produced snack achieving such export success.
The food industry places high expectations on leveraging K-pop fandoms to introduce products to overseas consumers and secure new customers. A food industry representative stated, “There is no further room for growth in the domestic market; our only hope lies in overseas markets. We expect that through global marketing, our products will reach more consumers worldwide by riding the algorithm.”
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