Jeju Air responds to deleting Kim Soo-hyun’s advertisement “It has nothing to do with the controversy of the late actress Kim Sae-ron”
According to OSEN’s findings on March 12, airline company Jeju Air recently set to private commercial videos featuring Kim Soo-hyun, who had served as their model since 2015.
At the time, Jeju Air had recruited the Hallyu star as a model to target the Asian market, featuring him in print advertisements, various online and offline videos as well as internal and external airplane advertisements for a year.
This move has led to speculation that the airline was reacting to the negative public sentiment following the recent passing of the late Kim Sae-ron.
In response, the airline clarified “Since the Muan aviation incident in January, we have set all videos featuring past advertising models, including Kim Soo-hyun, to private”, emphasizing that the decision was “completely unrelated to the actor’s recent controversy“.
Jeju Air is South Korea’s first and largest low-cost airline. Named after Jeju Island, the airline is headquartered in Jeju City, with its largest hub at Jeju International Airport. It is a founding member of Value Alliance.
Now, the airline has fallen into crisis following the plane crash on December 29, 2024, which claimed the lives of 179 people.
Meanwhile, Kim Soo-hyun is serving as an advertising model for numerous brands, including Homeplus, Shinhan Bank, Tous Les Jours, Dinto, Eider, Cuckoo, Prada, Jo Malone and Shabu All Day. Many are closely monitoring the reactions of these brands.
Eider removed Kim Soo-hyun’s images from its official website and social media, while Shabu All Day also deleted all photos of the actor from its official SNS accounts.
Homeplus removed his photo from its app loading screen, and beauty brand Dinto stated, “All scheduled activities related to the model have been put on hold.” However, Dinto’s CEO expressed a cautious stance, saying, “For now, we will wait and see. Rather than being swayed by uncertain matters, we will focus on what we can and should do.”