Why did luxury brands quickly "turn their backs" on Miss Thuy Tien?

Working with celebrities brings a brand advertising value of up to hundreds of millions of dollars, but also carries many risks, especially when the image ambassador is involved in private scandals or legal issues.

Recently, the sudden removal of Miss Thuy Tien's image from social media platforms by Dior and Tommy Hilfiger, or Prada ending its cooperation with Korean actor Kim Soo Hyun after a private scandal, shows the caution in preserving the image and brand value of luxury fashion brands in the market.

Great impact on brand image

In December 2024, Kim Soo Hyun was appointed as Prada's global brand ambassador following the resounding success of the drama Queen of Tears . Earlier this year, he continued to attract attention when he attended Prada's Fall-Winter men's fashion show in Milan, Italy.

However, the Korean male artist's career faced many storms when information emerged that he dated the late actress Kim Sae Ron before she was a minor.

Prada Korea has had to announce the termination of its contract with Kim Soo Hyun (Photo: Prada).

The allegations involving Kim Soo Hyun have sparked a wave of backlash on social media. In the Korean entertainment industry, celebrities’ image has become a key factor that directly affects the commercial strategies of many major brands.

At the climax, Prada confirmed to Xports News on March 14: "After considering the seriousness of the incident, we decided to terminate the contract with Kim Soo Hyun."

However, not all scandals lead to the termination of cooperation. Fashion brands often evaluate the severity based on a number of criteria such as legal, ethical, cultural, public reaction...

Becoming Dior's first "Friend of the House" in Vietnam, Miss Thuy Tien brought in an estimated media value of 1.7 million USD - according to a report from data company Launch Metrics - within the framework of Paris Fashion Week (France) held last March.

With her new role, Thuy Tien was invited by the French fashion house to attend the show launching the Fall-Winter collection, posting pictures on social networks with a series of world-famous names.

Caught up in the vegetable candy scandal, Thuy Tien was "turned away" by many brands (Photo: Tommy Hilfiger).

After the beauty queen was involved in a scandal related to the Kera vegetable candy product, her image on Dior's official social networking site was deleted on the evening of April 7.

Thuy Tien's wave of criticism from public opinion has directly affected the reputation, positioning and sales of the brands she has worked with, such as Dior, Tommy Hilfiger, Sunsilk...

Prioritizing silent actions such as deleting images, temporarily suspending cooperation, etc. is also a way for brands to avoid legal conflicts with their representative faces or close friends.

In particular, official announcements to the media are only made when an artist's scandal exceeds the prescribed level and becomes uncontrollable.

Most advertising contracts between artists and brands often include a "morality" clause that allows the partner to unilaterally terminate the cooperation if the face of the brand engages in behavior that negatively affects the brand's image or values.

In some cases, artists not only have their contracts terminated, but also have to return all the remuneration received or compensate for damage to reputation and media losses.

The more famous, the higher the compensation

One of the important criteria to evaluate the level of influence of an artist is the number of advertising contracts. Actor Yoo Ah In - the king of movies in Korea - was once considered the top choice of many brands.

Before being involved in the drug scandal, the male artist had worked with 10 large and small brands, ranging from fashion, food, cosmetics to pharmaceuticals and outdoor activities.

In the Chinese market, Yoo Ah In is also a model representing a clothing brand. Each annual advertising contract brings him an estimated income of 800 million won to 1 billion won (about 14.5-18.1 billion VND).

Yoo Ah In (second from right) appeared in Burberry's global campaign (Photo: Burberry).

According to DongA , the level of fame of the representative is directly proportional to the amount of compensation when a scandal occurs. That means the more famous, the higher the penalty for breach of contract.

For example, in the case of Yoo Ah In, SBS estimated that the advertising fine the actor would face could be up to 8 billion won (about 145 billion VND). However, this compensation level depends on the specific terms of each contract.

After the resounding success of the movie It's Okay to Not Be Okay (2020), actress Seo Ye Ji quickly became a sought-after face in many fields such as cosmetics, fashion, video games...

The Korean actress's annual advertising salary is estimated to range from 500 million won to 1 billion won (about 9.1-18.1 billion VND). However, the scandal involving her manipulating her boyfriend caused brands to simultaneously remove her image.

According to MBN , advertising industry experts believe that Seo Ye Ji's compensation could be up to 2-3 billion won (about 36.2-54.3 billion VND).

Compared to many scandals in the Korean entertainment industry, Han So Hee is considered relatively lucky. Her domestic advertising contracts are mostly in the final stages or about to expire and require little compensation.

Han So Hee is involved in a love scandal but is still favored by Dior (Photo: Dior).

Han So Hee's love controversy in early 2024 was not as serious as Yoo Ah In's case and was only enough for some domestic brands to "turn their backs" on her.

For major international brands like Dior, Omega and Boucheron, they choose to stay silent, waiting for public reaction before making an official decision on the partnership.

A typical endorsement contract between a celebrity and a brand often includes a non-disclosure clause, which specifies compensation if the artist takes actions that negatively impact the brand's image or reputation.

Depending on the commercial value and influence of each star, the sanction terms will also have significant differences.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giai-tri/vi-sao-cac-thuong-hieu-xa-xi-nhanh-chong-quay-lung-voi-hoa-hau-thuy-tien-20250412181553606.htm