78-year old Squid Game actor Oh Young-soo goes viral as Balenciaga x Adidas model

Squid Game actor Oh Young-soo has wowed fans with his latest fashion shoot as the 78-year-old Oh posed in outfits from a recent Balenciaga x Adidas collaboration that is on a South Korean men’s magazine Arena Homme+. Arena Homme+ posted the video on its Instagram platform ahead of the November issue. A quick check by MARKETING-INTERACTIVE saw the actor posing in different outfits, including the iconic green tracksuit with white stripes from the movie. Currently, the post has close to 10,000 likes and netizens are responding positively to the video and commenting red hearts and fire emojis. Some even commented the actor "is epic", "what a great photoshoot" and "iconic behaviour".

This is not the first time a brand has use an individual from the silver generation to front its style. Last year, IKEA Singapore worked with TBWA\Singapore to showcase its new clothing line for the campaign ‘Style for all’. TBWA enlisted the help of stylish, older adults over the age of 70 to wear the clothes to convey the campaign’s message. As early as 2015, French label Celine decided to use 80-year-old American writer Joan Didion as the face of its new advertising campaign.

However, it isn't often that we see mature models fronting ad campaigns despite there being a currently a sizable number of followers in the 50+ age bracket in the Philippines, China, India and South Korea. On the social media front, according to a report by Nielsen and Rakuten Insight Global, while seniors may not be digital natives, they have certainly come of age on social media. This means, the assumption that influencer marketing should only be used for Gen Zs and Millennials can be laid to rest. 

One well known mature influencer making her mark in the world of fashion and beauty is Helen Vanwinkle Honey who is born in1928. She goes by her Instagram handle @baddiewinkle and has 3.3 million followers. Since Honey blew up the internet, she has worked with several brands. In 2019, Honey collaborated with INC.redible Cosmetics and dropped the collection in Sephora. And in 2016, Honey worked with fashion brand Missguided on a Christmas campaign.

While Oh is thriving with the brands, both adidas and Balenciaga recently parted ways with Kanye West due to anti-Semitic comments made by him.

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