Ma Dong-seok in “The Outlaws 2,” released last year. (Image courtesy of ABO Entertainment)
SEOUL, May 3 (Korea Bizwire) — The trend of using a photo of South Korean actor Ma Dong-seok to facilitate complaints has gained popularity in China, where netizens are changing their online profiles to images of the muscular movie star and Korea Armwrestling Federation board member. He also starred as Gilgamesh in the Marvel series Eternals.
Critics in South Korea have expressed concerns that this behavior could lead to the appropriation of the actor’s identity by Chinese culture. In a similar vein, China has sparked controversy by claiming that Korea’s national dish, pork belly, is a part of Chinese culture.
According to the UK’s Guardian, the trend appears to have originated on Xiaohongshu, a popular Chinese review application that combines Instagram’s photo and video sharing platform with commerce features.
The app has a social networking service (SNS) flavor and is often likened to a shopping mall. Chinese netizens have been changing their profile photos to Ma Dong-seok in the belief that this will help them resolve online disputes more easily.
This trend has been effective, with users reporting that changing their profile picture to Ma Dong-seok’s image has helped them receive faster delivery and complaint handling from Chinese online shopping malls.
Ma Dong-seok’s profile picture trending on Chinese social media platform Weibo (Image from Weibo Capture)
One TikTok user wrote, “When my profile picture was a picture of (Chinese-American actress) Yue Yue, the listing manager ignored my request and changed it to a picture of Ma Dong-seok, solving the problem in a few minutes with just two sentences.” Similarly, one WeChat user claimed that his stolen scooter was returned to him after he changed his profile picture to one of Ma Dong-seok.
While this behavior is not unknown among Chinese netizens, critics have raised concerns about the appropriation of Ma Dong-seok’s identity and the potential implications of this trend. South Korean commentators have warned that this could ultimately lead to the actor becoming “Chinese.”
The trend highlights the growing influence of social media platforms in shaping consumer behavior and resolving disputes, particularly in the online shopping industry.
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
