Song Joong-ki Vivo Commercial (Photo : Vivo)
It seems that China is not keeping its word when it told the representative of “Descendants of the Sun” actor Song Joong-ki that he is not banned from promoting products in China.
Soompi reported that Vivo, a smartphone brand in China that the actor shot a commercial in the Asian giant, pulled out the TV advertisement. The commercial aired simultaneously in South Korea and China in which the Hallyu star promoted the X7 model.
His talent fee for endorsing the brand was reportedly 22.8 million yuan ($3.4 million). However, Song Joong-ki would still receive the talent fee in full despite the commercial’s pullout, according to China Daily.
The pullout is over China’s getting even for the U.S. and South Korea’s deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) in July despite Beijing’s objection. As a result, China banned all Hallyu stars from coming to the country to conduct fan meets, reported Morning Ledge. The prohibition apparently extends to commercials made by South Korea models, although Song Joong-ki’s representative said he is not covered by the ban.
While it is not an immediate loss for Song Joong-ki because Vivo promised to pay him in full, it would affect the 31-year-old actor’s future income from fan meets, commercials and movie and TV offers in China. For his series of fan meets in China, Song Joong-ki is estimated to have earned 3.4 billion won, although he also promised to share some of it with charitable organizations.
In April, just after the 16-episode Hallyu ended, there were reports that the actor received calls from 10 advertising agencies in China for commercial modelling assignments. Had he accepted all offers, Song Joong-ki would have earned 60 billion won ($53 billion).
No thanks to THAAD, all that would be gone, and even his status as most popular celebrity in China and South Korea could be at risk too.
