A Korean man said he gets over 4,000 calls a day after his phone number was used on "Squid Game."
"Squid Game" is a new Netflix hit series about a deadly survival game based on kids' games.
A South Korean presidential candidate has offered to buy the number off the man for $85,000.
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A Korean man has reportedly been offered 100 million won (about $85,000) by a South Korean presidential candidate in exchange for his phone number, which has been bombarded with calls after featuring in Netflix's new series "Squid Game."
"Squid Game" is a fictional Korean drama series in which contestants compete in a mysterious survival game that turns children's games into deadly traps, for the chance to win 45.6 billion won (about $38.7 million). Variety reported that Netflix's co-CEO Ted Sarandos told Vox Media's Code conference that the series has "a very good chance" of becoming Netflix's most popular show yet after taking the top spot worldwide on the service.
In the first episode, business cards containing an eight-digit number that gets contestants involved with the survival game are given to multiple characters. An unnamed man living in Gyeonggi Province in South Korea told the broadcaster MBC (according to the South China Morning Post) that the phone number used in the show was his own and he was getting about 4,000 phone calls a day, from children who also "wanted to be in the game" unaware that it is fictional.
In "Squid Game," the contestants compete in children's games with deadly traps Youngkyu Park / Netflix
The South China Morning Post also reported that South Korea's National Revolutionary Party's honorary chief, Huh Kyung-young said on Facebook: "I heard that the owner of the phone number showed on a business card in 'Squid Game' is suffering serious damage from prank calls. I would like to buy the number for 100 million won."
SCMP notes that Huh is known for his eccentric campaign pledges, which also include giving 100 million won in relief funds to all adults as well as a 1.5 million won monthly dividend.
The phone-number owner told MBC that, at first, he thought they were spam calls until he was told his number was shown on the Netflix series. He said he was getting phone calls all through the night as well as text messages and pictures, but he could not change his number because he had been using it for 10 years and it was linked with his business.
According to the newspaper Hankook Ilbo, Netflix said the drama-production company, Siren Pictures, is negotiating with the phone-number owner to resolve the issue.
Insider has reached out to Netflix for comment.
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here4dambivalence on September 29th, 2021 at 20:45 UTC »
So outside of the money the politician is offering him for the phone number, and the monthly payments, would he be entitled to some form of payment from Netflix/Siren Pictures? It said in the article that he has had the number at least 10 years and it is tied to his business. I'd imagine at the very least that he might be losing business because his line is tied up with constant calls. And here I thought I got irritated with telemarketers etc... Reminds me of the "Telemarketers are the Devil" episode from Mr. Pickles...
Bind_Moggled on September 29th, 2021 at 17:55 UTC »
I'm old enough to remember when phone companies nationwide had to de-list a specific phone number because of a popular song.
Havvocck2 on September 29th, 2021 at 14:55 UTC »
It's offbeat because how would you like to be offered tens of thousands of dollars for your phone number.