Chinese netizens are using pics of actor Ma Dong-seok to get better customer service
[Source]
Chinese social media users are changing their profile pictures to photos of "Eternals" actor Ma Dong-seok to receive better customer service.
In the growing trend, the Korean American action star’s face has become the profile pictures for Chinese netizens who hope to gain respect and better responses from customer service agents and landlords, reported The Guardian.
“He’s not very well known in China unless you are a K-drama fan so not a lot of people know who he is. Netizen said whenever they meet someone new online, the other party will address them politely as ‘big bro.’ And whatever they need to get done is taken care of quickly,” Chinese TikTok user Candise Lin explained in a video.
@candiselin86 He’s not very well known in China unless you are a Kdrama fan so not a lot of people know who he is. Netizen said whenever they meet someone new online, the other party will address them politely as “big bro”. And whatever they meed to get done is taken care of quickly. #korean #actor #madongseok #traintobusan #madongseokfan #chinese #netizen #avatar #liuyifei #xiaohongshu #greenscreen #greenscreenvideo ♬ Old Disney Swing Jazz - Nico
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Many social media users claimed that the shots of the 52-year-old actor, which appear to have been taken from his Instagram account, helped them solve tedious disputes.
“When I used a girl’s avatar, the customer service ignored me,” one person said. “After changing to the avatar of Ma Dong-seok, the customer service attitude was much more polite, and they even took the initiative to make up the price difference.”
In another incident, a woman claimed that her property manager, who had initially been ignoring her requests, was able to fix an issue for her in a matter of minutes after she changed her avatar from actor Liu Yifei to Ma.
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Many netizens have hopped on the trend as it has grown in virality on Weibo and WeChat.
Chinese celebrity Li Xian also changed his gaming avatar to a photo of Ma.
However, other social media users expressed disappointment in having to change their pictures to one of Ma’s in order to receive better treatment.
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“It’s fun and useful, but it makes me sad that it shows a form of discrimination,” one person said.
Ma, who is also known as Don Lee, has starred in numerous South Korean hit movies, including “Train to Busan,” “The Outlaws” and “Unstoppable."
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