Kristen Stewart is not Jung Woo-sung
The differences between the star systems in the East and West
Dear Squawkers,
I am the product of both the east and west entertainment ecosystems. I was born and raised in Canada, so I was exposed to and shaped by western pop culture practices. However, my parents are from Hong Kong, I spent a significant amount of time there in childhood and adolescence so I was also heavily influenced by the Chinese star system that has, in recent years, been driven by the rapid growth of television and digital stories coming out of mainland China. While there are certain similarities between celebrities in the east and the west, fame is fame after all, the stars from each region – and their fans – approach celebrity differently, especially as it relates to exposure and marketing.
What’s considered “corny” and “low-brow”, even “thirsty”, in the west is pretty normal in the east. Take sponsorships, for example. Celebrities in the west are side-eyed for how many endorsements they sign onto. Like it’s too much of a money-grab and can potentially turn off the audience. For a long time, before the internet dissolved cultural and geographic borders, Hollywood celebrities would do all kinds of commercials for all kinds of brands overseas that would run only overseas, knowing that they wouldn’t be exposed to western eyeballs.
In East Asia though, it’s almost a mark of pride how many brand deals a star can sign on to. There’s not the same stigma attached to it. More endorsements mean more success, to the point where various fandoms even boast about how many endorsement deals their faves are attached to, everything from toothpaste to pizza to cars. In Korea there’s an expression for this that’s applied to male actors: the ones with the most partnerships are called “CF Kings” – “CF” stands for “commercial films”.
One of the most consistent CF Kings is Kim Soo-hyun and it was reported back in 2020 that “it is normal for Kim Soo-hyun to endorse 17 or more products simultaneously”. Again, this is not seen as a negative but a positive. The Korean Business Research Institute actually releases an index every month ranking the “brand reputation” of stars in different categories: female and male idols, pop groups, actors, etc. It’s like the Billboard Hot 100 – the goal is to rank higher, be at the top of the list, for brand deals and brand work.
Another big difference between the star systems in the east and west relates to participation and publicity and what celebrities are and aren’t willing to do along the hierarchy of fame. In the west, the more successful the star, the less they do, in theory. Think of the Julia Robertses, George Clooneys, Leonardo DiCaprios, and Beyoncés. They’re not performing on Dancing With The Stars, they won’t show up for a low level event, and you basically have to promise them they’re getting a trophy if they agree to attend the People’s Choice Awards.
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