With the Korea men's national soccer team failing to reach the round of 32 at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North and Central America, the retail and food industries have moved to overhaul their World Cup marketing strategies. With the boom tied to cheering for the national team effectively over, companies are shifting their focus during the remaining tournament to target "home viewing" demand.
On the 29th, the retail, food, and liquor industries said they are reexamining World Cup marketing that had centered on supporting the Korea national team. After Korea fell behind in the ranking battle among third-place teams and failed to advance to the round of 32 the previous day, companies are weighing how to adjust strategies while keeping limited-edition World Cup packages, ad videos, and promotions that have been in place since before the tournament began.
Some follow-up promotions aimed at fans cheering for the national team are being scaled back or reconsidered, but most discounts and promotions are being maintained with an eye on games featuring popular teams such as Brazil, Argentina, Spain, and Portugal and on home-viewing demand.
A prime example is Oriental Brewery. As an official FIFA World Cup sponsor, Oriental Brewery pushed support marketing by fronting its beer brand Cas and operating "Cas Viewing Pubs" and experiential pop-ups aligned with the three group-stage matches.
Plans that had been discussed and reviewed, such as operating additional viewing pubs and extending pop-up events, will not move forward. With round-of-32 matches set for 5 a.m., the marketing effect was judged to be limited, and the team's elimination from the round of 32 has been confirmed. A representative at Oriental Brewery explained, "From Korea's standpoint, the World Cup games are effectively over, so you can consider the World Cup-related marketing we were running domestically to be finished."
Convenience store chains say the World Cup itself is not over, so they will continue events targeting tournament viewership demand and summer promotions.
GS25 will proceed as planned with monthlong discount events. CU will also continue its summer discount sale regardless of the end of the national team's games. 7-Eleven will keep marketing focused on products with high viewing-related demand.
A convenience store industry representative said, "The national team's exit in the round of 32 will halve the special sales effect we saw," but added, "We will continue promotions centered on beer, snacks, and ready-to-eat meals to target 'home viewers' watching popular nations' matches featuring star soccer players."
The fried chicken sector also expects the cheering-driven boom to ease with the end of the national team's games, but plans marketing that factors in viewing demand during the knockout stage.
A BBQ representative said, "We did not run any separate World Cup-targeted promotions. The sales bump on national team match days came from franchisees' voluntary early opening," adding, "Existing discounts and promotions will continue as scheduled regardless of the World Cup." A bhc representative also said, "We did not run a standalone World Cup promotion," but added, "During the remaining World Cup period, we plan to target home viewers with benefits offered through our app."
Hitejinro will continue its existing brand marketing that uses captain Son Heung-min as a model. Because it is not a campaign directly linked to the World Cup, TV ads and promotions will continue under contract. Still, with the national team out of the round of 32, the company expects the World Cup bump to diminish and plans to focus on peak summer promotions.
A Hitejinro representative said, "The effect will partly decline with the team's exit, but since the matches were in the morning to begin with, we expect the sales impact to be limited."
Although forecasts had largely called for limited World Cup buzz and a smaller bump due to weekday morning matches and high inflation, the mood flipped when the national team won its first group-stage match. According to Baemin, between 9 a.m. and noon on the 12th, when the match against the Czech Republic was held, total orders jumped 65.4% from a year earlier. By category, chicken orders surged 875.8%, pizza 220.8%, and jokbal and bossam 97.9%.
At CU convenience stores, sales at locations near Gwanghwamun rose 240% on the day of the Czech Republic match, 280% for the Mexico match, and 150% for the South Africa match. In particular, during the Mexico match that followed the first win, GS25 store sales climbed 138%, and at 10 major Gwanghwamun locations of 7-Eleven, sales increased 304%.
Retailers expect the cheering-driven sales effect to diminish with the national team's round-of-32 exit, but say they will focus on viewing demand with World Cup knockout matches still to come.
A retail industry representative said, "It's true the team's failure to reach the round of 32 is disappointing, but that does not mean the World Cup is over," adding, "We will carry on with ads and promotions already prepared as scheduled, while continuing marketing aimed at tournament viewership demand."
A food industry representative said, "Because ad videos and packages are prepared months in advance, stopping them is difficult," adding, "The trend is to adjust the marketing message from cheering for the national team to focusing on tournament viewership."