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omonatheydid
South Korean actor Jang Geun-suk visited Japan this week. Media reports about his visit emphasized the fact that about 800 fans gathered to greet him on his arrival at Haneda Airport. Even Jang was surprised by the overwhelming evidence of his popularity in Japan:
“I was honestly worried that there might be an accident within the crowd because there were so many people there to greet me,” he said, expressing concern for the fans present.
[...]
“Honestly, it’s pretty scary. It just happened so fast; I gained a lot of fans in such a short amount of time,” he said about his new popularity in Japan.
800 fans at the airport is pretty impressive when you compare it to the greetings that other international stars have received. When Lady Gaga arrived at Narita Airport a couple weeks ago, about 200 fans were there to greet her. Johnny Depp, who is enormously popular in Japan, was greeted by a mere 400 fans when he visited Japan earlier this year.
The secret of the Jang’s huge fan gathering was revealed when a photograph of a flier found its way onto the internet:
It is recruiting women to participate in the greeting event at Haneda Airport. A reward of 2,000 yen (about $25) was offered to each “fan” who attended the event.
According to an article on Livedoor, there were some diehard fans who showed up out of genuine excitement. Many others, however, were paid. Some people found out about it through the fliers, while others were veteran members of event mailing lists. People who replied to the 2,000 yen job offer were driven to the airport on two special buses. While on the buses, the phony fans were given Jang Geun-suk merchandise to wave around when the media filmed them.
One participant said the buses carried about 80 paid fans to the airport. Combined with the legitimate fans, there probably weren’t much more than 100 people gathered for the event. One of the event promoters walked around declaring that 800 fans had come to greet Jang, and the media didn’t bother to verify the claim.
Source: Japanprobe
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no subject
Date: 2011-07-02 06:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-02 06:23 pm (UTC)Even artistes claiming they do not have in-person promotion, actually had a fiercer promotion than many Japanese artistes.
The only true artiste that had absolutely zero promotions in Japan and still top the charts with a US promotion song, was X-Japan's Jade :D
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Date: 2011-07-02 06:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-02 08:30 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2011-07-02 06:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-02 11:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-02 06:22 pm (UTC)still doesn't change the fact that the guy has sold 185k of his single thus far.
OT;
Date: 2011-07-02 06:23 pm (UTC)I used to love them so much. Even slept outside in London to be front row at their concert. xD
Re: OT;
Date: 2011-07-02 06:26 pm (UTC)Re: OT;
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Date: 2011-07-02 06:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-02 06:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-02 06:43 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2011-07-02 06:27 pm (UTC)And why do they always try to inflat the numbers? :/
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Date: 2011-07-02 06:28 pm (UTC)Every Kpop idol group is number 1 in Asia, at least thats what they claim lol.
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Date: 2011-07-02 06:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-02 08:35 pm (UTC)Why do they get errthing?
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Date: 2011-07-02 06:29 pm (UTC)I thought he was doing well enough in Japan, that this type of strategy wasn't necessary.
Either way, this made me laugh.
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Date: 2011-07-02 06:31 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2011-07-02 06:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-02 06:32 pm (UTC)u look so dum rn.
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Date: 2011-07-02 06:33 pm (UTC)his single is still the most bought korean artist single in japan tho... so i guess he a little bit more popular than the rest...
idk , i feel like im having the "oppa didnt mean it" syndrome right now , but if he did mean it/ knew about it then smh.
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Date: 2011-07-02 06:37 pm (UTC)This seems to unnecessarily point fingers at the artists for playing out a hoax. Sales numbers are fabricated (if so) by management or stats/news agencies, not the artists.
I also note that there's not mention in the article of the source of the flyer. I wouldn't put it past wealthy diehard fans/clubs to put together a venture like this to try and make their idol feel more welcome. Or again, for management/PR to do something.
We know there's lots of of exaggeration regarding Hallyu - but blame doesn't need to be thrown around willy-nilly, particularly not at the artists, and not without proof.
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Date: 2011-07-02 06:41 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2011-07-02 06:40 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2011-07-02 06:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-02 06:41 pm (UTC)also my first thought was that it was done by real fans of JGS, lol, only after reading the comments I got the idea that it could be done by his company.. lol
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Date: 2011-07-02 06:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-02 06:43 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2011-07-02 06:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-02 06:45 pm (UTC)unless it was like...9 buses of 80 fans.
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Date: 2011-07-02 06:51 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2011-07-02 06:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-02 06:50 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2011-07-02 06:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-02 07:06 pm (UTC)and it's the comments that really surprise me. Everyone is so eager to believe tabloids?
I may agree that there could be something to it like exaggerated numbers. And since it's not the first time k-stars are rumoured to do something like this. But JGS is quite popular in Japan as far as I can judge and it just doesn't make sense that such a thing needed to be done. And what about other Asian countries he visits? Fans there also get paid? I just remember seeing a vid on youtube where the poor guy could hardly get through the crowd surrounding him. It was like a traffic jam made of people. And what about the JGS temporary shop that recently opened in Japan? Do they pay some people too so that they come and buy something, lol.
It's just so weird %)
Am I am the only one who thinks so?
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From:no subject
Date: 2011-07-02 07:22 pm (UTC)but SMH at management rn
i wonder who actually had alot of legit fans show up for them...
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Date: 2011-07-02 07:23 pm (UTC)