[Sportschosun Reporter Jo Min-jung] Choo Sung-hoon, a mixed martial arts fighter and broadcaster, has shared how he personally keeps track of the restaurant brand he models for. He drew attention for going beyond a simple advertising role, visiting stores to check the taste and communicating with franchise owners.
On the 22nd, the YouTube channel "Human Story" released a video titled "Why the successful fighter-celebrity Choo Sung-hoon goes to work at a restaurant."
In the video, Choo Sung-hoon traveled about 390 kilometers from Seoul to Ulsan Metropolitan City to visit a steak restaurant he currently models for. That day, he made it clear that he was "not running a business, just modeling," but still showed a strong sense of responsibility.
He said, "I brought this steak through my YouTube channel, so I have a responsibility," adding, "It does not end with just being a model. If the taste is even a little different, I speak up right away." He also said, "When I am in Seoul, I go there two or three times a week to eat," explaining that he likes the menu enough to visit the store himself.
The brand has now opened up to its 19th location in South Korea. In particular, the video also revealed one franchise owner's sales figures, drawing attention.
A franchise owner who runs the Daegu Dongseong-ro Street and Ulsan locations said, "The Dongseong-ro store posted about 300 million won in monthly sales in March, and about 200 million won in April," adding, "It is still recording monthly sales in the mid-100 million won range." The fact that these figures came from a relatively small store with only about 14 tables made the result even more surprising.
Choo Sung-hoon also admitted that he had serious concerns when he was first offered the modeling role. He said, "Since it was related to food, if something went wrong, it could eventually affect my own image. So at first, I wondered whether I should do it or not."
As for why he accepted the role, he explained, "When I first tried it in Japan, I thought it would do well if it were brought to Korea," adding, "Koreans love meat, and it has a slightly different style from existing options, so I thought it had enough potential." He said he has since been adjusting the sauce to suit Korean tastes and continuing to check the meat's flavor.
Above all, Choo Sung-hoon stressed that it is important to take responsibility to the end when his name is attached to something. He said, "At first, people may come because I am the model and they are curious, but in the end, the food has to be good for them to come back," adding, "The most important thing is to have customers who keep returning."
Jo Min-jung mj.cho@sportschosun.com
This article has been translated by GripLabs Mingo AI.
