Chinese social media users are using Ma Dong-seok's photos as their profile pictures to receive better responses from landlords and customer service agents.
Ma Dong-seok is a Korean American action star who has starred in Train to Busan and Marvel's The Eternals.
The trend started on the recommendation app Xiaohongshu, where a user changed her profile picture to Ma's and received better service from her property manager.
The trend then spread to Weibo and WeChat, two of China's most ubiquitous social media platforms.
Chinese social media users have started using the photo of a Korean American action star to get better responses from landlords and customer service agents. This trend involves swapping out their online avatar for Ma Dong-seok's photo, who is also known as Don Lee, a 52-year-old actor who has starred in horror-action film Train to Busan and Marvel's The Eternals. According to some Chinese social media users, using Ma Dong-seok's photos has made their lives easier and helped them solve tedious disputes and life administration tasks.
The trend appears to have started on Xiaohongshu, a recommendation app, where a user claimed her property manager ignored her requests until she changed her avatar from a picture of actor Liu Yifei to one of Ma Dong-seok. She reported that the property management solved her problem in minutes after the change. The phenomenon was described in a viral TikTok video, which helped it spread to Weibo and WeChat, two of China's most popular social media platforms.
On Weibo, discussions about the trend have been read and commented on more than 250 million times, with many users changing their avatars to Ma Dong-seok's photo. Some Chinese celebrities, including Li Xian, have also changed their gaming avatar to a picture of Ma Dong-seok. Users have reported that using Ma Dong-seok's photos has helped them in various situations, such as getting better service from customer service agents or recovering stolen property.
While some users have found the trend to be fun and useful, others have expressed disappointment that they have to resort to using a different profile picture to receive better service instead of being treated fairly. They view this trend as a form of discrimination, as it suggests that people are treated differently based on their appearance or social status. Despite this criticism, the trend continues to gain popularity among Chinese social media users.
Junkstar on April 26th, 2023 at 16:28 UTC »
I'm a guy. I had long hair for work for a long time. Nice looking cuts by pros. People were so fucking nice to me. Everywhere I went. I got a lot of positive attention. That all stopped immediately when I cut it short. People really do judge others based on visual perception alone. It's nuts.
wavewalker59- on April 26th, 2023 at 13:57 UTC »
That actor also plays the role of "muscle" in some of his movies. Actually, ALL the movies I have seen him in, he's beating people. Looks friendly in this picture.
creamonbretonbussy on April 26th, 2023 at 12:51 UTC »
I imagine it's because he's smiling and looks friendly, which leads to other people being in a friendly mood.