Son Heung-min cup coming to McDonald's Korea after resale prices hit 110,000 won

McDonald's global brand ambassador Son Heung-min, who plays for LAFC, will appear in South Korean advertising and promotions for the first time, with the chain set to distribute his limited-edition collector's cup at stores nationwide.

McDonald's Korea began airing a TV commercial featuring Son on Sunday, timed to the broadcast of the Argentina-Switzerland World Cup quarterfinal. Starting Monday, stores across the country will resume the FIFA World Cup Set promotion, which includes the Son Heung-min cup.

Last month, McDonald's launched a global limited-edition Collector's Cup event to mark the opening of the North and Central America World Cup, featuring illustrations of nine international football stars including Son, David Beckham and Ronaldinho.

South Korea — Son's home country — was left out, however. Son had been under exclusive advertising contracts with competing brands in the domestic market.

He currently serves as a brand ambassador for Domino's Pizza, Mega MGC Coffee and Lotte Wellfood's World Cone ice cream, among other food and beverage brands. It is standard practice in South Korea's advertising industry to bar exclusive models from appearing in marketing for competitors in the same or similar sectors during the contract period.

As a result, McDonald's Korea continued running the global campaign domestically while omitting Son from its local ads and excluding his design from the collector's cup lineup.

The move drew widespread frustration from football fans. Online, many asked why South Korean consumers could not receive a cup featuring their own country's player when he was the chain's global ambassador. Son Heung-min cups sourced from abroad traded on domestic secondhand platforms for 55,000 won ($37) each, with some reaching as high as 110,000 won.

The promotional restart appears to reflect a resolution of the contractual restrictions. A McDonald's Korea spokesperson said the company could not disclose details of the contract arrangements.

The FIFA World Cup Set consists of a Big Mac, french fries, a drink and a limited-edition footballer collector's cup.

With the promotion resuming, South Korean consumers can now officially receive the Son Heung-min collector's cup that had previously been available only abroad. Industry observers say the episode — widely seen as a prime example of a global sports star's marketing clashing with domestic advertising contracts — has in effect been resolved, paving the way for Son's global campaigns to roll out more smoothly in South Korea going forward.