Yeo Jin-goo Birthday Subway Lightbox Ads in Seoul (2022)

In 2022, fans of actor Yeo Jin-goo (여진구) celebrated his birthday with two lightbox ads hung next to each other in a Seoul subway station. One is bright blue and reads "HAPPY JINGOO 26TH BIRTHDAY". The other is white and reads "진구야 생일축하해" ("Jin-goo, happy birthday"). This page shows both and explains how fans abroad can plan a similar ad.

Where was the ad displayed?

The two frames hang side by side on a white tiled wall with a band of blue and teal patterned tiles running behind them. They are in a station passage, at about head height.

We can't read a station name in our photos and we have no record of it, so we leave it out.

What did the ad look like?

The blue panel. A photo of the actor in a dark jacket fills the left half, set against a blue sky with pink blossoms, peonies and floating petals. On the right, thin white letters read "HAPPY JINGOO 26TH BIRTHDAY", with "1997.08.13" underneath. A few lines of very small English text follow. They are too small to read in our photos, so we don't quote them.

The white panel. This one is calm and simple. Two photos of the actor holding a purple flower sit side by side in the middle, like two frames from the same shoot. "19970813" is printed at the top left, "2022" runs down the right edge, "HAPPY JINGOO DAY" runs up the left edge, and the Korean line "진구야 생일축하해" sits at the bottom right.

The ads use only his given name, "JINGOO" and "진구". We matched it to Yeo Jin-goo from the name together with the birth date printed on both panels.

When did it run?

The white panel prints "2022", and both panels print 13 August as the date being celebrated. That places the ad around August 2022. We have no record of the first and last day, and our photos carry no date stamp.

What is a subway lightbox ad?

A subway lightbox is a wall-mounted frame lit from inside. The print sits in front of the lights, so it reads clearly from across a passage.

This pair shows what you gain by taking two frames together. The fans did not repeat one design twice. They made one loud panel and one quiet panel, and let them sit next to each other like two pages of a spread. A walker sees the blue one first from a distance, then the white one as they get close. For a birthday, that is a nice way to say the same thing twice without it feeling repeated.

Neither panel carries a fan club name, so we can't tell you who organized it.

How can fans overseas place a similar ad in Korea?

Ads for actors are planned the same way as ads for singers, and you can do it from another country:

1. Settle on the occasion and the date.
2. Choose the place: a station wall, a bus, or somewhere else.
3. Prepare your text and photos, and make sure you hold the right to use the photos.
4. Send us the idea. We will tell you which options are open for your dates.

If you would like two frames next to each other, as here, say so early. Neighbouring frames are not always free at the same time.

See How It Works for details and request a quote when you are ready. Costs vary by ad type and dates, so please contact us for a quote.

We share past fan ads as examples of what fans have done. If you would like this page changed or removed, please use our removal request form.