Corporate sponsors in dilemma over Son Heung-min's skyrocketing model fee

Football star Son Heung-min appears in Binggrae's ice cream advertisement in 2019. Courtesy of Binggrae

By Kim Jae-heun

A number of companies are facing a dilemma over whether to extend their advertisement contracts with football star Son Heung-min as his modeling fees have skyrocketed in line with his improved performance in the English Premier League (EPL), according to company officials Wednesday.

Son's fees have soared over the past few days after he scored 23 goals in the 2021-2022 EPL season, becoming the first Asian player to win the Golden Boot. Many companies signed advertisement contracts with Son that expired with the end of this EPL season.

Shampoo manufacturer TS Trillion hired Son as a main model in its commercial for three years until this April. However, the company can no longer afford his pricey fee and decided to not use him.

"It's a shame that we could not have him as our advertisement model when he just became the top scorer in the EPL. Our shampoo product became well-known to many people as Son's shampoo, thanks to his high profile in the country," a TS Trillion official said. "We definitely enjoyed the marketing effect with Son."

The company did not reveal specific details on how much it spent on the advertisements with Son, but it reportedly paid billions of won to the football player each year over the past three years.

TS Trillion said its advertising cost increased from 8.4 billion won ($8.62 million) in 2020 to 10.9 billion won in 2021.

Son Heung-min appears in Bodyfriend's advertisement in 2021. Courtesy of Bodyfriend

Local fast food restaurant franchise Lotteria said it is closely monitoring the situation.

"We picked Son as our main model for commercials between July and December last year. His model fee jumped so high over the last few months that we are still thinking about whether to hire him or not," a Lotte GRS official said.

Ice cream manufacturer Binggrae said it appears to be difficult to have Son in its advertisements.

"Our sales increased by 80 percent year-on-year when we hired Son as our main model in 2019. His marketing effect was astonishing. However, his model fee has reached a level that we could not handle," a Binggrae official said.

The country's largest massage chair company, Bodyfriend, is reviewing the renewal of its advertisement contract with Son as it wants to expand its business into the United States and Europe.

"Son is a perfect model for our advertisement that is targeting the global market. Although his model fee soared so much in the last few years, we are discussing ways to cope with it," a Bodyfriend official said.

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