LE SSERAFIM turns K-drama recommendations into Rakuten Viki's Pass It On campaign
LE SSERAFIM stars in Rakuten Viki's Pass It On campaign, sharing drama recommendations through a global ad and curated watchlist.
For K-drama fans, a recommendation from a friend can be the beginning of a new obsession. The next show often arrives through a group chat, a favorite artist's suggestion, or the excitement of someone who has just finished a series. LE SSERAFIM is bringing that familiar exchange into a campaign for Asian entertainment streamer Rakuten Viki.
The five-member K-pop group stars in Viki's new Pass It On campaign, which premiered on October 14. The creative follows the members passing a mobile device to one another as they share Asian shows they enjoy. Rather than treating a drama recommendation as a formal endorsement, the spot presents discovery as something people do together.
Table of contents
Jump to each section:
- How LE SSERAFIM stars in Viki's Pass It On campaign
- Why drama recommendations fit K-pop fandom
- Where Rakuten Viki is taking the campaign
- What marketers can learn from Pass It On
How LE SSERAFIM stars in Viki's Pass It On campaign
The ad puts the members of LE SSERAFIM in the role of viewers sharing their picks. The group consists of Kim Chaewon, Sakura, Huh Yunjin, Kazuha and Hong Eunchae. As each passes the device to another, the story moves from one recommendation to the next. Viki has also assembled a curated watchlist around the members' choices.
The campaign was created with agency UNFOLD and includes connected-TV, social and digital advertising. Its central action is deliberately simple: watch something, enjoy it and pass the recommendation on. That keeps the streaming service in view while giving fans a more personal reason to explore its catalog.
The official announcement describes a global launch focused on the United States and other key markets. Viki reported nearly 130 million registered users, a measure of its platform scale rather than a result of this campaign. It did not release figures showing the new ad's reach or subscriber conversions.
Why drama recommendations fit K-pop fandom
Music and television fandoms are not identical, but their habits often overlap. Fans exchange clips, discuss performers and recommend what to watch next. Viki's campaign builds its creative around that social behavior instead of asking LE SSERAFIM to deliver a conventional sales pitch.
The cultural connection is more specific than simply putting a popular group on screen. In an interview reported by Forbes, Kazuha discussed watching Viki while she was studying ballet abroad. That personal detail helps explain why the members can be presented as participants in Asian entertainment culture rather than detached spokespeople.
LE SSERAFIM has also appeared in entertainment partnerships beyond streaming, including a separate collaboration with Overwatch. The Viki campaign has a different purpose: it uses the group's visibility to invite fans to discover dramas, rather than introducing music-themed items inside a game.
Zoe Park
Where Rakuten Viki is taking the campaign
Viki offers Asian dramas, films and other entertainment to international audiences, including both ad-supported viewing and paid subscription options. The new creative emphasizes a familiar challenge for a large catalog: helping someone decide what to watch next.
Connected-TV placements can introduce the campaign in the same setting where viewers watch shows. Social clips allow the recommendation premise to circulate in feeds, while the curated watchlist gives interested viewers a destination after seeing the ad. These are connected parts of the announced campaign, not proof of a particular engagement outcome.
For viewers unfamiliar with LE SSERAFIM, the ad can still work as a straightforward demonstration of sharing recommendations. For existing fans, the appeal may be seeing the members' tastes and interactions become part of the viewing journey. Actual audience reactions have not been independently established.
What marketers can learn from Pass It On
Viki's campaign is a useful example of matching a celebrity partnership to an existing consumer behavior. The idea does not require viewers to learn a complicated challenge or remember a new catchphrase. It starts with the ordinary act of recommending a show.
Make the product part of the story. The streaming catalog and watchlist are directly connected to what the group is doing on screen.
Give fans a next step. The curated list turns celebrity curiosity into an opportunity to explore specific titles.
Keep the creative recognizable beyond the fandom. Passing along a favorite show makes sense even to people who do not know every member.
Avoid confusing platform scale with campaign impact. Viki's registered-user figure provides company context, not evidence that Pass It On has attracted new subscribers.
The campaign ultimately frames discovery as a social experience. Its commercial results remain to be seen, but the creative makes a clear case for using a cultural partnership to demonstrate how people already find entertainment.
