Sunday, 27 November 2016

Lee Joon Gi: Lotte Duty Free Model




LEE JOON GI
A MODEL
for
LOTTE DUTY FREE



  







SEVEN FIRST KISSES

LOTTE DUTY FREE 
WEB DRAMA



On 22 November 2016, Lotte Duty Free held a press conference at Lotte Cinema in Jamshil, Seoul, to officially announce the names of the actors and actresses who are starring in their mini web drama, Seven First Kisses, and to brief the press on their drama roles. The drama, directed by Jung Jung-Hwa, will be released online on 5 December 2016.











The high point of the press event was when South Korea's most celebrated, popular and gorgeous actor, Lee Joon Gi, strode in amidst loud applause.









Lee cut a dashing figure in a striking and classy three-piece burgundy suit. He stood out from among the other popular and good-looking actors and actresses. He was the best dressed of them all. He had to be since he plays the scion of a chaebol family or owner of a chaebol, a large business conglomerate. Like the confident and popular superstar who is at the top of his profession, he smiled and waved to his screaming fans in the audience.

When Lee introduced himself, he received the loudest applause from the audience, a true indication of his immense popularity.












Lotte Duty Free has created the web drama as part of their marketing strategy to promote their stores and also to further drive the Hallyu culture. The brand is collaborating with 11 major entertainment agencies including the most well-known ones like SM, YG, and JYP Entertainment to generate publicity towards that end.

Two celebrities who have ostensibly signed on as models for the brand for 2016 are Lee Joon Gi and Ji Chang Wook. They have actually been roped in to be Lotte Duty Free’s celebrity endorsers and spokespersons to pitch the Lotte brand and also to act in their drama, First Seven Kisses.



TEASER








Other than the two famous stars, Taecyeon (2 PM), Kai (EXO), Choi Ji Woo and Lee Cho-Hee also attended the press conference.












The drama is about a Lotte Duty Free employee who meets seven different men. 

Lee, the heir from a weathy chaebol family or the owner of a chaebol or large business conglomerate (chae - wealth, bol - clan), is also a church oppa who drives a red sportscar. Now, isn’t that cool?






The storyline is Lee or Mr Perfect, who is previously the neighbourhood church oppa of Lee Cho-Hee, transforms into the owner / heir of an IT chaebol. One day, he looms large in her presence and romances her. He demands that she go to dinner with him just once.

Lee Joon Gi explained that he had previously been heavily involved in a lot of historical dramas but was delighted that this web drama afforded him the opportunity to showcase his romantic talents in a modern setting. He regretted that it was not a full-length drama but just a short one.

Some female drama lovers might love to imagine themselves as the heroine in a romantic drama. Lee joked that the female viewers could imagine themselves as Lee Cho-Hee, the leading lady, because the star-studded drama had the involvement of many great male actors and singers.




http://m.tvcast.naver.com/v/1258697







Ji Chang Wook, who plays a sexy secret agent, divulged that he was envious of Lee Joon Gi’s role, a cool role that he eyed and coveted. He requested for a change but they did not concede to his request. Ji had previously played the role of a secret agent with action scenes and so, was not keen to play a similar role. But his fans would be delighted to know that he would be showing some skin.







Another member of the cast, OK Taecyeon, disclosed that he had always wanted to play a chaebol heir and now, he has got his wish granted to him. He plays a guileless second-generation member of a wealthy family who is willing to sacrifice everything for love. Taecyon, the main rapper of the South Korean boy group, 2PM, joked that coincidentally in the drama, he is the chaebol heir of the PM Group. He also pointed out that all the melodrama and romance happened within the Lotte Duty Free store.







Kai or Kim Jong-In, of the South Korean-Chinese boy group EXO, plays the leading lady's charming former student. He revealed that he has a dance scene with Lee Cho-Hee, and they had a lot of fun dancing together with some elderly folks during their drama shoot.







The actress who plays the 'Goddess of Multiple Fates' in the drama, Choi Ji Woo, did not get to interact with the handsome actors as all her scenes are with Lee Cho-Hee who plays the main character, Min Soo Jin.






According to the leading actress, Lee Cho-Hee, her character, Soo Jin, gets to know a senior employee of the store who, being a goddess, is able to provide her opportunities to meet seven (7) handsome men in her fantasy world, one of whom would be her future partner.






The lucky lady is spoilt for choice as the seven men are handsome and interesting. ‘Unfortunately, every time when I was about to kiss the men, I returned to reality.’ 

However, she teased the audience, saying that they should not rule out the possibility of a kiss scene in the drama. 

Lee declared that she had performed some action stunts but admitted that a stunt person was present to assist her.












The other actors of the drama, Park Hae Jin, Lee Jong Suk and Lee Min Ho did not attend the event because of prior work commitments but the former two revealed their roles through video-conferencing. Park will play Soo Jin's romantic boss while Lee Jong Suk’s character is that of a top Hallyu star. Lee Min Ho, whose character was only added in later, plays a free spirit traveller.



Web Drama:  Seven First Kisses



At the end of that segment of the event, Lee Joon Gi was requested to sum up his work for Lotte Duty Free. Lee, an extremely popular, respectable and well-loved actor, waxed lyrical about Lotte Duty Free being the world's best global duty free chain. He promised to present an excellent image as a model and to promote Hallyu culture together with the brand.

The positivity and enthusiasm in Lee Joon Gi’s message certainly resonated with the brand management. They must have congratulated themselves for having teamed up with Lee as part of their marketing strategy.

Lee Joon Gi would surely have a positive impact on Lotte Duty Free’s campaign and would certainly generate a lot of positive buzz for them.






LEE JOON GI AND JI CHANG WOOK








The press event seemed to have given Lee Joon Gi an opportunity to meet up with his younger friend, Ji Chang Wook.

Both had worked together in MBC's 2009 action-comedy drama, Hero. The drama is about passionate reporters working for a third-rate newspaper whose mission is to fight against corruption and inequality in society.











At one point, when Lee Joon Gi and Ji Chang Wook sat together side by side, Lee had placed a brotherly hand on Ji’s back. They seemed to be quite friendly and pally with each other and showed genuine camaraderie as they shared a private joke and laughed like old friends.









Lee Joon Gi has always been popular and well-known particularly in Asia: Korea, China, Japan, Taiwan and South-east Asia but recently with his drama, Moon Lovers – Scarlet Heart: Ryeo, his fame and popularity has skyrocketed to another level. Some consider it to be his second meteoric rise in stardom and celebrity status, except that this time, it has pushed his celebrity presence even further and has impacted North and South America, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. 



SEVEN FIRST KISSES










 



Director: Jeong Jeong-Hwa.
Genre: Web Drama
Episodes: 10
Broadcast network: Naver tvcast
Broadcast period: 05.12.16 – 05.01.17
Air time: 10:00 am Monday and Thursday










LEE JOON GI
A MODEL FOR LOTTE DUTY FREE



Lee Joon Gi has become a model for Lotte Duty Free, a huge presence in the shopping world in South Korea. They have chosen the right star as Lee is an immediate attention grabber.  Being handsome, gorgeous, hot, multi-talented, globally famous and having a sunshine personality and a clean, scandal-free reputation, the widely-loved actor fits the bill perfectly as ‘a model and celebrity endorser’ for Lotte Duty Free. 

The South Korean public and his world-wide legion of fans and admirers would vociferously agree that Lee Joon Gi more than meets the manifold criteria of a Lotte Duty Free model / celebrity endorser or for any other famous brand for that matter.


















Calender: 17 April - Lee Joon Gi’s birthday
















   
Lotte Duty Free is South Korea's largest duty free store operator. In 2015, the duty-free business generated 1.33 trillion won in sales.

The Lotte Duty Free store offers for sale fashion apparel, jewellery, cosmetics, grocery, fashion accessories, household goods, luxury brands and consumer electronics.












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