Hyun Bin gobbling up CF deals despite impending military duty

The power of Hyun Bin is being proven through advertising contracts. The actor famous for his role inSBS’s “Secret Garden” is currently the hottest star and is featured in advertisements for clothing, beverages, alcoholic beverages, and more, proudly taking the title as the “CF King”.

Excluding brands he was previously involved with, Hyun Bin has signed on with five more CF contracts after the shooting of “Secret Garden”. Although the contracts are yet to be signed, there are about four to five more CF’s currently in the works that are finalizing ad concepts and scheduling times.

There is a direct and definite correlation between a star’s popularity and amount of CF’s. However, the previous notion of not using actors who are soon leaving to serve in the army has been banished in the case of Hyun Bin, making this more unusual. No matter how popular, the star’s absence during the fixed term causes inconvenient problems for companies. Thus, the farthest that most companies will usually go is to extend their existing contracts, but the tables have turned for Hyun Bin.

Despite the well-known fact that he will leave to serve in a month, companies are willing to sign Hyun Bin with unprecedented pay in order to raise their brand awareness. One advertising agency official said,“Due to the time limit, 6-month long, single contracts ranging from 350 million won to 500 million won are usually the best offers.”

Companies who usually don’t use Korean celebrities, such as K2, signed Hyun Bin for a 6-month long exclusive contract. A K2 official said, “Hyun Bin voluntarily choosing the Marine Corps gave him a strong image. On top of that, he became a fashion icon with a sophisticated look due to the drama, all of which were highly valued”, explaining the reasoning behind the contract decision.

Thus, when calculating the rising shares of Hyun Bin’s worth with the current advertising contracts, they total up to more than 4 billion Korean won. When adding his current contracts, it becomes a formula of “4 billion won + α”.

In a December study by the Korea Institute for Strategic Studies for Commercial Message for “Good Impressions on TV Commercial Messages“, Hyun Bin went from 23rd to 10th place, directly showing the implications of his rising popularity.

An official from Hyun Bin’s agency, AM Entertainment, said, “Besides extending existing contracts, the love calls are pouring in. However, there are many details to be sorted out before he leaves for service. We will carefully choose and consider the CFs that are most compatible with his image.”

Hyun Bin hosts his final fan signing before his military leave

Cosmetics company Laneige Homme reached a staggering sales mark of 200 million, and to celebrate, they held a fan signing event with their image model Hyun Bin at the Lotte Department Store on January 22nd.

The occasion was particularly exciting, as it marked the “Secret Garden” actor’s final public event before he leaves for his mandatory military service.

The drama has surpassed beyond simple ‘fame’ and is now nationwide syndrome. Consequently, fans gathered the day before the event to stand in line, and the mall quickly became overcrowded. According to one mall official, out of all of the fan signing events that have taken place at this venue, this one surpassed them all.

Grateful for the fans’ interest, Hyun Bin gave out autographs and shook hands with everyone tirelessly. Even after the event ended, the actor continued to wave to his fans and bowed as he left.

Which actors will fare the best in the military?

In an upcoming movie, “Comic Battle” by Director Lee Jun Ik, there is a character who goes to the military twice.  In relation to that concept, a poll was created asking netizens to pick, “Which actor will do well in the military?”

On the portal site Nate, this poll began on January 17th and resulted in singer/actor Rain receiving 68% of the votes and ranking 1st. Following Rain was Hyun Bin in 2nd, Kang Dong Won in 3rd, and Kim Nam Gil in 4th. 

Also, on Cine21, another poll asked netizens to pick, “Who will fit the character of Nam Gun’s (played by Ryu Seung Ryong) Cold Pyongyang Man (a play on words with “Cold City Man”) the best?”

In this poll, Hyun Bin ranked 1st with 59%. Following him was Park Shin Yang, Park Shi Hoo, and Ok Taecyeon.

Credits: allkpop

[Spoiler: Secret Garden] Hyun Bin talks about the ending and his favorite lines

Actor Hyun Bin appeared on the January 25th episode of SBS’s “Good Morning“, and talked about his role in the hit drama series, “Secret Garden.”

The actor began by expressing his opinion on the ending by stating, “I felt it was the most suitable ending for the drama.”

When asked whether his hand falling to the floor meant that he lost his memory, Hyun Bin replied,“Hmm… Wouldn’t it be different for every person who saw it? I’d rather just leave it open for the people watching it. I actually really liked that scene. If ‘Ra-Im’ and ‘Ju Won’ saw each other right then, the entire drama would be turned over.”

He continued, “I wonder what would have happened if ‘Ra-Im’ opened her eyes.. Everything would have changed.”

When asked about his favorite line, he replied, “‘Is this the best?  Are you sure?’  A lot of the lines are actually created from conversations between the actors and the set staff.”

Hyun Bin continued, “I felt that the drama was truly being loved when I saw articles of people parodying the Italian tracksuit and copying the ‘foam kiss.‘”

Source: Star News, Newsen via Nate

Credits: allkpop