wavenovel Chapter 1279 Ah
Chapter 1279 Ah
Chapter 1279 Ah
"The movie 'A Taxi Driver' has surpassed 1149 million in cumulative box office revenue, surpassing 'Haeundae' and ranking 13th on the Peninsula Film Box Office Chart!"
"This week, SBS's Monday-Tuesday drama 'Manipulation' achieved a 10.9% viewership rating, despite a slight dip, retaining its position as the top-rated show in its time slot and surpassing 'The King in Love' and 'School 2017' by a wide margin."
"Hyori's Bed and Breakfast has announced a two-episode extension, with the final episode airing on September 24. Lee Hyori said in an interview that IU is a gift from God."
"The MBC strike is confirmed to begin on September 4th, and weekend variety shows will be severely affected. Following the 'Infinite Challenge' program, MBC's 'I Live Alone' program has also announced that it will have to stop airing due to the strike."
"..."
Even after entering September, the entertainment industry in the peninsula continued to produce a variety of news, both good and bad, reflecting a lively and bustling atmosphere.
However, for the music industry, the two topics that fans and casual listeners are most concerned about and that have been the most discussed recently are still the same two.
The first one is GUCCI. In the past week, GUCCI has officially announced several artists from the Peninsula as new brand ambassadors or collaborators, which has directly sparked heated discussions in the industry.
For the people and celebrities on the Korean Peninsula, high-end luxury brands in Europe have always been out of reach and unattainable. In the past, being able to wear a gown and walk the red carpet at fashion week and appear in front of foreign reporters, whether by invitation from the brand or by attending on their own, would always generate a lot of discussion and attention when the news came back.
Those who have the ability to establish connections and formally collaborate are among the top-tier artists in the industry.
Previously, Chi Jingyuan's appointment as the Asia-Pacific brand ambassador had already caused a sensation and attracted nationwide attention. Now, this European high-end brand has lowered its profile on the peninsula, which is something to be very proud of and something to talk about.
Passersby discussed which celebrity was suitable, which advertisement was well-shot, and the growing luxury goods market in the Peninsula.
As for the fans, needless to say, every official announcement from an artist can cause intense excitement among their own fans, creating a huge sensation within the fandom. Then, they go online to shower the fans with compliments, boast, and promote the artist, showing off their official Instagram account everywhere and relentlessly mocking the fans of rival artists... And yet, the rival artists really can't retaliate.
In this day and age, high-end luxury brand endorsements are truly a highly valuable asset. They are resources that all artists in the industry, from actors to idols, covet. Securing one not only elevates an artist's status and resources but also makes them virtually invincible in fan wars.
At the same time, since it was the first time, GUCCI's continuous announcements of titles did not give people the feeling of "over-issuing". Coupled with the groundwork laid by Ji Kyung-won, GUCCI can be said to have become the most sought-after luxury brand in the peninsula. Every artist that has collaborated with it has gained a lot of attention and popularity.
Besides GUCCI, the second most discussed topic in the music industry is the boy group Wanna One.
Wanna One has recently become an absolute force to be reckoned with. Even though they were overshadowed by Girls' Generation when they first debuted, with their music charts being suppressed and two of their number one hits being taken away.
However, this did not affect the rookie boy group whose debut popularity was unprecedented. Especially after Girls' Generation stopped when they were ahead, their popularity and the music charts of "Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter" declined. Other idol groups of the same period were no match for them. Wanna One almost dominated the popularity of idols in the entire music industry.
Within a month of their debut, they achieved ten No. 1 rankings and sold a million copies.
She has already secured more than twenty endorsements in less than a month since her debut.
It's safe to say that there are very few boy groups in K-pop history that have debuted so successfully. With EXO not having made a comeback on the Korean Peninsula for a year, Wanna One had no rivals and their popularity was unparalleled.
With their idol so popular and successful, the fans, true to form, couldn't stay quiet. WANNABLE, a fan, became extremely arrogant on the Peninsula online community, even overshadowing EXO-Ls and becoming the dominant force in the fandom.
#Weekly Idol achieved a 7.3% rating, a record high for the year; the peak ratings for Knowing Bros were all in the Bowl segment [rating curve].
#Daniel ranked #1 in Naver search results for 4 consecutive weeks [Screenshot of search ranking]
#11 times the music charts broke records, more PK battles than some groups' entire careers [data screenshot] #WannaOne's record-breaking machine#
"It's not that we want to compete, it's that the data speaks for itself!"
"So what if it's a limited-time group? They can make countless records in a month, let alone two years."
"Let EXO do it!"
In just one month, from their debut to their explosive success, especially in the last week or two, WANNABLEs have dissed almost every boy group online.
Especially EXO and EXO-Ls.
After EXO once dominated primary and secondary schools, a new batch of primary and secondary school students emerged as they grew up. Today, a significant portion of Wanna One's fanbase consists of young students, while a large portion of the fanbase consists of those who switched their allegiance from other boy groups, especially EXO.
It could be said that the two sides were inherently incompatible and argued fiercely.
EXO's fanbase is certainly much larger than WANNABLE's, but unfortunately, EXO's hiatus was too long. Their achievements in Japan are not highly regarded in South Korea. In addition, a lot has happened this year, including dating scandals, while the other side is at the peak of their popularity. So, they don't have much confidence in arguing with EXO.
Recently, Wanna One has secured many endorsements, including major brands such as LG Household & Health Care, KB Kookmin Bank, and SK Telecom. Coincidentally, these are all brands that Ji Kyung-won has either collaborated with or is currently endorsing.
So this group of WANNABLEs started discussing and debating online every day, and soon the topic turned to Chi Kyung-won.
"This endorsement quality, wow, judging from this, Kang Daniel should be the next Yuan, right?"
"Just in terms of advertising alone, Kang Daniel, who just debuted, should already have half of Yuan's popularity, right? He seems to be on a great trajectory. If his agency puts in a good effort, he'll definitely surpass him. Fighting!"
"Jiang Dan did a great job! She's the next idol advertising queen!"
This time it's for real. Although EXO is somewhat quiet now, EXO-Ls' greatest confidence lies in Ji Kyung-won.
If you're trying to piggyback on EXO, that's one thing, but piggybacking on Yuan is just too much of a personal difference.
While Yuan's fans disdain these delusional fantasies, they are also furious at these fans who dare to challenge their idol's status, and the two sides immediately started arguing.
Just then, GUCCI launched its official announcement campaign, and many celebrities received collaboration titles. When Wanna One's fans saw this, they immediately perked up.
When these fans saw that GUCCI was collaborating with so many idols and celebrities, many of whom were less popular and talked about than Wanna One, they immediately had an idea.
If these people can get high-end luxury titles, then our oppa is even more popular, so why can't he get one?
Does GUCCI not know Wanna One, or our oppa?
That makes sense now!
In addition, there have been rumors circulating online recently about GUCCI and Wanna One, such as wanting to collaborate with Wanna One, or GUCCI taking a liking to Kang Daniel and the designer saying he has a great sense of fashion. I don't know how these rumors started...
The fans took it seriously!
And so, no one knows who organized it, but in the last few days, a "I'll help my oppa find an endorsement" campaign has actually started among Wanna One fans.
...This is not wishful thinking; the best example is that EXO was voted into BBA by fans.
So WANNABLE wanted to use his own promotion and endorsement to let GUCCI and other luxury brands know how popular Wanna One was on the peninsula and how popular his oppa was.
Therefore, in the past few days, many similar comments have been seen on various online communities, especially under the official Instagram accounts of luxury brands like GUCCI:
"Super rookie Wanna One".
"Please keep an eye on the latest TOP Kang Daniel."
"Kang Daniel, the human GUCCI!"
…………
"Damn it! We've sent so many messages, why isn't there any response at all?"
"The agency is completely useless. If it were SM Entertainment, they would have taken the title long ago!"
On the evening of September 1st, in the classroom of Class 1, Grade 2 at Mapo Middle School, a slightly chubby girl was holding a mobile phone at the back desk, rapidly typing while constantly complaining.
The math workbook lying on the table was neglected, the pencil case was open, and several highlighters rolled out, one of which fell to the ground with a "thud," but she had no intention of picking it up.
The girl's name is Han In-young. She is a second-year junior high school student. Ever since watching the show "Produce 101 Season 2", she has become a huge fan of Kang Daniel and a loyal fan of Wanna One.
WANNABLE has been running an online campaign to 'endorse Oppa,' and of course, she's been there too.
"The group already has 21 endorsements, and Kang Daniel oppa has 4 individual endorsements, which is still a bit too few."
She bit her nails and muttered, "And we're missing a high-end luxury brand like GUCCI... Let's leave a message on their official SNS to urge them to join, so they can see how popular Kang Daniel and his crew are on the Korean Peninsula!"
While talking to herself, she skillfully posted comments on various platforms, especially under the official GUCCI Instagram account.
The latest post on GUCCI's official Instagram account is an advertisement featuring Bae Suzy, and she left a series of comments on the post, promoting her idol and the group Wanna One.
If you scroll up a bit, you'll find that this Instagram account, which was originally meant to promote Bae Suzy, has been overrun by WANNABLEs and turned into a support site.
Wow, it's all WANNABLEs! This is really exciting!
After leaving her message, Han In-young scrolled through it and found that most of the messages were similar to hers. Seeing her fellow fans working together made her feel very accomplished.
After glancing at the online comments with a smug look, she looked at her friend who had been sitting silently next to her and urged, "It's Wanna One's world now. EXO are old men already."
Nowadays, the number of Wanna One fans in elementary and middle schools on the peninsula is expanding rapidly, with most of them becoming fans after watching "Produce 101".
But EXO's foundation is certainly not to be underestimated. As a group that has unified the K-pop boy group scene in recent years, EXO-Ls' strength is also undeniable. The quiet little girl with the mushroom haircut in front of me is just a casual EXO fan. Although she's not the crazy kind, she still really likes Ji Kyung-won.
"A collaboration with GUCCI is not that simple. There are only a handful of such collaborations on the entire peninsula."
The quiet girl looked up, not believing her friend's words, and said with a face full of doubt, "Besides, Yuan is now a GUCCI spokesperson, so she probably won't be collaborating with anyone else, right?"
“Those recent models are all good, how could our oppa not be good?” Han In-young said confidently, “It all depends on the agency. These high-end luxury brands also depend on the market. Wanna One is so popular right now, as long as the company is supportive, there will definitely be no problem.”
After saying that, seeing that the other person still didn't quite believe her, Han In-young sincerely persuaded her again: "Oh dear, EXO is already on the decline this year, with dating scandals and other issues. They're clearly on a downward spiral. The money you spend on boy groups might end up being spent on their girlfriends."
"Yuan is the same. Although the company hasn't admitted it, everyone online says he must have dated before. It's either Bae Suzy or Bae Joo-hyun, and Twice's Mina is also a possibility. A lot of things have been dug up."
"And what's the point of not making a comeback? Let's all support Wanna One together, we have lots of support activities every week."
Han Renying's words sounded quite persuasive, but the girl next to her seemed to have heard them many times before and was already immune to them. Hearing her spreading rumors about Chi Jingyuan's relationship again, she couldn't help but roll her eyes and mutter:
The company denied it, so it didn't happen. Yuan oppa would never date. Those are all made up... According to you, I saw someone online yesterday saying that Kang Daniel was having private contact with someone..."
She didn't finish her sentence because she knew very well how infatuated her friend was with Kang Daniel. If she said such a thing, she would definitely lose her composure and the two of them would start arguing.
After thinking for a moment, she stopped talking, paused for a moment, and then pouted: "WannaOne... I think EXO is a little bit more handsome."
"Where is he handsome?" Han In-young's eyes widened immediately when she heard the question about his looks.
“Yuan is more handsome.” The girl blinked and played her trump card.
"Uh……"
Han In-young was immediately speechless. Even as her most loyal WANNABLE, it was difficult for her to say something like Yuan wasn't pretty...
Instead of addressing the question directly, she praised her own oppa: "Yuan, I can only say he is indeed handsome... but Kang Daniel oppa is also very handsome, not much less so than Yuan!"
"look!"
She quickly picked out a photo of Kang Daniel from the album, and while showing it to her friend, she said confidently, "Kang Daniel oppa's face is very distinctive. It has both a youthful feel and a sexual tension. It's a perfect face that combines contradictory qualities!"
"Look at those eyebrows and eyes, look at that brow bone! Omo!"
"Look at these lips again, they're M-shaped! Aren't they incredibly alluring?"
"...And he's also incredibly charismatic. Everyone says he's the hottest plastic surgery template for male idols looking like they've had cosmetic surgery!"
Han In-young went on and on, praising Kang Daniel's looks to the skies, but her friend couldn't empathize with her at all. Even the photo Han In-young showed her for so long was considered ugly by her.
"Yuan isn't a plastic surgery template, because no matter how much plastic surgery others undergo, they can't look like him..."
My friend muttered something under her breath, too lazy to argue. After listening to Han Renying brag for a while, she glanced at the photos on her phone, blinked, and turned away, saying, "But I still think Yuan is more handsome...much more handsome."
"Hmph, anyone who can't appreciate Oppa's handsomeness will regret it."
Han In-young got angry upon hearing this and immediately put away the photos, refusing to let this person who didn't know how to appreciate aesthetics see them. She took her phone, logged into Instagram again, and continued to repeat her previous message of promotion.
"Hmph, they'll replace EXO sooner or later."
"Snatch all of Yuan's endorsements!"
While leaving a message, he was also muttering viciously to himself, it's unclear who he was talking to.
Just as she finished posting and clicked refresh to check, she discovered that her previous Instagram post had been pushed down, as GUCCI's official Instagram account had updated with a brand new post just a second earlier.
"We are very pleased to announce that @Th.Y (Chi Jingyuan) has officially become GUCCI's global brand ambassador!"
Staring at the extremely familiar face of Chi Kyung-won in the accompanying picture, Han In-young stood there dumbfounded for a long time:
"Ah ah ah ah ah!"
…………
The latest update on GUCCI's official Instagram:
A new chapter in the legend!
We are very pleased to announce that musician, artist, and actor @Th.Y (Chi Kyung-won) has officially become our global brand ambassador.
From stage to runway, this relentless creative explorer perfectly embodies GUCCI's unconventional brand spirit with its unique aesthetic expression. When classical art meets futuristic imagination, Yuan will join hands with GUCCI to write a new language of luxury.
On September 1, 2017, at 9:00 PM Seoul time, 2:00 PM Milan time, and 8:00 AM New York time, GUCCI's official website, Instagram, Twitter, and Weibo simultaneously updated, officially announcing that Ji Kyung-won had been promoted to global brand ambassador.
(End of this chapter)