Lotte World's 'Vesper' character lights up Times Square after employee's idea

A South Korean theme park character has made it onto one of the world's most recognizable billboards — and it all started with a single employee's suggestion.

Lotte World Adventure announced Monday that it ran an advertisement for its new parade, "Dark Fantasy Festival," on a large Times Square billboard in New York on Saturday. The star of the ad is Vesper, a character from the parade who has drawn a following online under the nickname "the lamppost gentleman."

The campaign traces back to an employee who floated the idea: "What if we could see Vesper in Times Square?" The suggestion was taken up and turned into an actual advertisement.

"I was inspired by the Times Square apple advertisement that recently went viral," the employee said. "When you fall in love with a character, you want to tell everyone about it. I wanted to share Vesper's appeal with as many people as possible."

The ad features a large image of Vesper set against a solid yellow background. Rather than a lengthy description of the character, it carries a simple message: "Lotte World's Vesper has made it all the way to New York!"

"I hope people who are seeing Vesper for the first time will be curious about the character, and those who already love Vesper will enjoy and celebrate this New York debut together," the employee added.

Meanwhile, Lotte World Adventure has extended the Dark Fantasy Festival through Nov. 20, pushing back the original end date of Nov. 15 in response to strong visitor interest. In October, the park released a line of merchandise and food items tied to the event, including a Dark Fantasy acrylic keyring and Vesper churros.