Lotte Duty Free shoots for Winter Olympics stardom by signing Bulletproof Boy Scouts

SOUTH KOREA. Lotte Duty Free has signed the hugely popular seven-member male Korean band Bulletproof Boy Scouts (BTS) to promote the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

PyeongChang 2018 will take place from 9 to 25 February next year in Pyeongchang County in the northeast of the Republic of Korea.

The signing of Bulletproof Boy Scouts (now more commonly called BTS in South Korea) continues Lotte Duty Free’s long tradition of Hallyu (Korean wave) marketing to showcase the country’s tourism and travel retail attractions. The retailer began Hallyu marketing in 2003 and in 2009 started using big-name Korean pop, film and television stars in Lotte Duty Free promotional videos and other campaigns.

Bulletproof Boy Scouts made their recording debut in June 2013 and have picked up numerous awards since. The band commands an astounding following on social media. In March 2016, Bulletproof Boy Scouts were listed by Forbes as the most retweeted artist on Twitter. And in June 2017, Time magazine named the band as among the 25 most-influential people on the internet [Source: Wikipedia].

The group will feature in various Lotte Duty Free promotions, including music videos, other campaign material and family festivals.

Bulletproof Boy Scouts’ signing was preceded by a Lotte Duty Free social media quiz campaign in South Korea, Japan, and Southeast Asia to guess who would be the retailer’s next ‘model’. The campaign attracted over 110,000 likes and more than 3,000 comments.

Lotte Duty Free Head of Marketing Kim Bo-jun said, “Lotte Duty Free has strengthened its global image by selecting the Bulletproof Boy Scouts boy band, which is currently very popular in Asia and globally.”

[This YouTube video of Bulletproof Boy Scouts (BTS) has attracted a staggering 152 million page views since being published on 18 September this year]