Son Heungmin on Cass, Son Heungmin on Terra... The Secret Behind the 'World Cup Sponsor' Title [Matjalal X-File]

Intense Competition in Domestic Food and Beverage Marketing for the North and Central America World Cup

All-Out Strategies: FIFA & KFA Sponsorships, Celebrity Endorsements

Conflicts Arise Over Packaging Featuring Son Heung-min

The global football festival, the "2026 FIFA North, Central America, and Caribbean World Cup," has begun. This year’s tournament features an expanded lineup, growing from the previous 32 participating nations to 48, resulting in a record-breaking 104 matches. Are you fully enjoying the passionate and intense matches of 1,248 players from 48 countries, including "football legend" Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and the veteran goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa?

Yonhap News Agency

This World Cup is likely to be the fourth and final World Cup for Son Heungmin, the captain of the South Korean men's national football team. For the food and beverage industry, sports events present lucrative opportunities for special sales, prompting large-scale marketing campaigns. Reflecting this immense interest, Son Heungmin’s face is featured on a wide array of food and beverage products in Korea—from beer, coffee, and hamburgers to ice cream and pizza.

Even before the World Cup kicked off, the food and beverage industry had already launched its marketing war. Companies are moving swiftly to capture the hands and palates of consumers enjoying the matches. With Son Heungmin’s image omnipresent this year, many products might appear to be official World Cup sponsors. However, each company and product faces different circumstances. In this edition of Matjalal X-File, we will take an in-depth look at the food and beverage industry’s bustling activity during the World Cup season.

According to the industry on June 14, there are three main strategies that food and beverage companies employ for World Cup season marketing. First, a company can become an official sponsor of FIFA, securing rights to use the "FIFA" and "World Cup" names for marketing purposes. Another approach is becoming an official sponsor of the Korea Football Association (KFA), which manages the national football team. Finally, companies can sign national team players—including Son Heungmin—as advertising models.

Among domestic food and beverage companies, OB Beer, McDonald’s Korea, and Coca-Cola Korea are official FIFA sponsors. Their global parent companies—AB InBev, McDonald’s, and Coca-Cola—have signed sponsorship contracts with FIFA, granting their local subsidiaries the rights to conduct related marketing in Korea. All three global firms have maintained long-standing partnerships with FIFA, spanning several decades.

Photo from the Cass beer commercial video, an official sponsor of FIFA and the Korea Football Association. Provided by OB Beer

Becoming an official FIFA sponsor requires a significant financial commitment, as well as overcoming competitive bidding and rigorous brand verification procedures. Through these contractual relationships, these companies are allowed to use terms directly related to the tournament—such as "FIFA," "World Cup," and "North, Central America, and Caribbean World Cup"—in their products and advertisements. Other companies are not even permitted to mention these terms.

This restriction is primarily due to concerns about so-called "ambush marketing." Ambush marketing refers to tactics where non-sponsoring companies attempt to appear as official sponsors during major events like the World Cup, misleading consumers. In the past, companies would use indirect expressions and actively engage in ambush marketing, but as legal issues have become more prominent, the industry has grown increasingly cautious about employing such strategies.

For this reason, the three official sponsors actively leverage their exclusive rights, such as featuring the World Cup trophy directly in advertisements. OB Beer, for example, included both the Cass and FIFA logos at the top of its commercial video released last month. On June 3, McDonald’s unveiled a global commercial featuring Son Heungmin and other football stars alongside the FIFA World Cup trophy.

Photo related to the World Cup advertisement released by McDonald's on the 3rd. McDonald's official website

In January, Coca-Cola held an event in Seoul showcasing the actual World Cup trophy as part of the "FIFA World Cup Original Trophy Tour." More recently, the company has been airing advertisements that prominently display the term "FIFA World Cup."

Companies other than these official sponsors must use indirect expressions such as "football festival" or "targeting football fans" instead of "World Cup" or "FIFA." As a result, some companies have opted to become KFA sponsors as an alternative. In this tournament, OB Beer and Coca-Cola, both FIFA sponsors, also serve as official sponsors of the KFA—continuing the arrangement from the previous World Cup in Qatar in 2022.

HiteJinro Terra's Son Heung-min advertising poster. Provided by HiteJinro

Previously, KFA’s official liquor sponsors were HiteJinro in 2014 and Lotte Chilsung Beverage in 2018. During those periods, OB Beer, having secured rights from its parent company, used the title "Official Beer of the FIFA World Cup." As a result, only KFA sponsors could use phrases like "We support the Korean national football team," while only FIFA sponsors could use titles such as "Official Beer of the FIFA World Cup." This distinction in advertising and support campaigns led to fierce competition and subtle differences in terminology.

This year, a conflict arose during the process of selecting symbolic national team players as advertising models. Son Heungmin’s face appeared simultaneously on the Terra beer by HiteJinro and the Cass beer by OB Beer. Since March, HiteJinro has featured Son Heungmin as the advertising model for Terra, a brand now in its seventh year, throughout the World Cup season. For Terra, only Son Heungmin is pictured, while Cass features the faces of all 11 national team players, including Son Heungmin, resulting in subtle differences. However, due to Son Heungmin’s iconic status, coordination was necessary, and it is reported that related discussions took place behind the scenes.

Marketing scene of Cass and Terra, beer brands currently sold in major supermarkets. Photo by Hyunjin Jung

Currently, Son Heungmin appears as an advertising model for HiteJinro, McDonald’s, Lotte Wellfood, hy, MegaMGC Coffee, and Domino’s Pizza, among others. McDonald’s, an official FIFA sponsor, released a global commercial on June 3 featuring Son Heungmin, David Beckham, Thierry Henry, Ronaldinho, Lamine Yamal, and other football stars. The company also introduced a World Cup special menu accompanied by limited-edition commemorative cups featuring these athletes’ faces.

Lotte Wellfood selected Son Heungmin as the model for its World Cone brand in February and has been running related marketing campaigns since last month. Since 2024, hy has also aired commercials featuring Son Heungmin as the advertising model for its "Helicobacter Project Will" brand. MegaMGC Coffee and Domino’s Pizza have also featured Son Heungmin’s face on their product packaging, drawing consumer attention.

Lotte Wellfood World Cone's Son Heungmin advertising poster. Provided by Lotte Wellfood

Seeing the fierce World Cup marketing battles in the food and beverage industry, one may wonder whether this translates into increased sales. An industry insider commented, "In reality, it doesn’t significantly boost sales, but the global exposure that comes from participating as a sponsor in such a major event greatly enhances brand recognition. Especially during periods of economic stagnation, companies hope that participating in sports events or national celebrations will allow their products to serve as a bridge to consumers."

As you watch the World Cup matches, what foods and drinks are you enjoying? We hope that by learning more about the food and beverage industry’s World Cup marketing efforts, you will have an even more enjoyable time with delicious food and drinks.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.