According to sources in the food and beverage industry, the Korean brand Compose Coffee is promoting a plan to re-sign a contract with male singer V (Kim Taehyung) of BTS group as a brand ambassador for the 3rd consecutive year.
However, this move is facing opposition from a part of franchisor shop owners.
On June 22, Compose Coffee sent a questionnaire to franchisors about extending contracts with V in the period from July 2026 to June 2027. If more than 50% of franchisors agree, the contract will be approved according to the provisions of the amended Law on Franchise Transactions in 2023.
The advertising cost of Compose Coffee this year if V extends the contract is estimated at about 7.35 billion won (about 4.8 million USD).
Although about to enter the 3rd year of cooperation with a globally influential ambassador, many store owners are not satisfied because they have to bear a part of the advertising costs.
Compose Coffee has applied a 6:4 advertising cost sharing ratio between headquarters and franchise owners.
If the new contract with V is extended, franchise store owners will have to bear 40% of the total advertising fee of 7.35 billion won, equivalent to about 2.94 billion won, meaning they have to spend about 80,000 won per store per month.
Store owners said that with the characteristic of selling cheap coffee, this expense is not small at all. The price of an Americano at Compose Coffee is 1,500 won, simply calculated, a store must sell more than 54 Americano cups per month to achieve revenue equivalent to the amount of advertising money to pay.
However, because it has to deduct raw material costs, labor costs and land rent, the actual burden is much greater.
A store owner said: "Most store owners do not feel the BTS effect. If it were true as the company said, the advertisement brought great efficiency and we felt V's sincere love for the brand, there would not have been such strong opposition.
This person added that some store owners are considering suing, because they feel frustrated when they have to pay monthly fees for an advertising contract with a celebrity that they have never wanted.
Store owners also questioned transparency, requesting headquarters to publicly list stores that voted in favor or against the contract. However, Compose Coffee refused on the grounds that this announcement could cause conflicts between store owners.
On the company's side, Compose Coffee said that the partnership with V has "significantly improved brand recognition and sympathy", while emphasizing that the monthly cost burden of each store has decreased by 11.3% compared to last year.
The company also announced that their self-payment of 60% of total advertising costs is already higher than normal in the industry.
Compose Coffee has chosen V as its representative face for 2 consecutive years. The company spent about 6 billion won in 2024 and 10 billion won in 2025 on advertising campaigns with his participation.
