Who is Eileen Gu
When 18-year old Eileen Gu decided in 2019 that she wanted to compete for China, her mother’s home country and well known there as “Gu Ailing,” a dominant skier with an emerging supermodel career of her own; many people did not think it would be such great financial choice. Little did they know just how lucrative this decision would ultimately turn out!
Gu has become an international sports star after capturing the gold medal in China. She can count on deals and sponsorships from both her home country of USA as well as China
Why is Eileen Gu “So hot” right now
It seems that the win of Eileen Gu has caused a sudden surge in popularity for her as well. 5 out of 10 topics of the top trending topics on weibo all had something to do with love towards this 18 year old champion.
What are some of the endorsements that Eileen Gu has landed
By the end of 2021, 16 brands have choosen up Gu to be their celebrity spokesperson. Including massive name such as:
- JD.com
- China Mobile
- Estee Lauder
- Cadillac
- Luckin Coffee
- Louis Vuitton
- Tiffany & Co
She has become so popular that it’s estimated 1 brands endorsment by GU costs USD2.5 million to brands. It more than doubled compared to before 2021.
Eileen Gu is not just a brand amabassador, she is bringing Ski under the lights in China. Eileen Gu brought attention to a neglected winter sport and inspired many to give it a try. It cames at the right time with the wintere Olympics 2022 and Beijing motivation to popularize this sport.
Not everyone as lucky as Eileen during this Winter Olympics
Another US born athlete, Zhu Yi is unfortunately not receiving the same amount of love on Chinese social media and is being made fun of for her unfortunate prestation during the Olympics. Chinese citizen can be brutal and the ice-skating figures is discovers it the hard way.
She was not only made fun of for her fall but also critizised for her lack of mastery of Chinese mandarin. Although the outcry seems to dig further than that with some poiting out that to be picked on the chinese ice skating team another chinese althete had to give up its position leading to China’s team ranking only 5th on the classment.
Just like Gu, Zuyi was in Weibo trendy topics but instead of receiving love she received hate. Hundreads of Posts were taken down.
Can profile like Eileen Gu “save” China’s ambassador landscape?
China’s Kols, ambassador and wanhong has been striked with many scandales in the last few years from tax fraud to sexual assault scandales. These series of scandales were followed by sets of regulations and guidelines that would hopefully ensure a more healthy influenceurs landscape in China.
Eileen Gu, is coming in the world of brands as a “perfect” model for Chinese youth. Young, beautiful, ambitious and talented. She is seens in high regards by chinese netizens and brands going for her, are almost certains to be avoiding delicate situation.
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