Squid Game and the wine produced (in France) by Thanos

Squid Game 2 has just left us with bated breath, and while waiting for the third series (which will arrive, apparently, in summer 2025) we have already fallen in love with many of its protagonists. In addition to the main character, the now very popular Lee Jung-jae (Seong Gi-hun in the series)they got noticed Lee Byung-hunrevelation of these last episodes as the Front Man; the sweetest Jo Yu-ri (who plays Kim Jun-hee, Myung-gi’s pregnant ex-girlfriend) and, among the most successful characters of this season, there is also Choi Seung-hyunwho in Squid Game 2 is the not very good but very self-confident and unscrupulous rapper Thanosbut who in Korea was already well known for his musical career under the stage name of TOP.

Who is TOP

Unlike the character he plays in Squid Game 2, TOP is a very successful rapper in his countrya K-Pop star. In the most famous (and copied) Korean series ever, the work of a notable artist, Thanos (in turn the stage name of Choi Su-bong, in a spiral of roles in which it is not difficult to get confused) has in fact arrived at the games of his death after contracting a debt of 1.19 billion Won due to cryptocurrencies (in which he invested at the suggestion of the former YouTuber MG Coin, who was also at the games) and with a less than successful career behind him, the most great achievement it is was a second place to The Rap Battleground.

In reality, however, TOP is a very popular rapper in South Korea and, after making his debut in boyband BigBang (which was one of the best-selling groups in Asia in the early 2000s), he embarked on a solo career and concentrated above all on acting, reaching audiences around the world thanks to his role in Squid Game 2 (which according to some follows his life a bit, given Thanos’ drug addiction which is linked to TOP’s past problem with marijuana, illegal in South Korea).

T’Spot, the TOP wine

Not just music and cinema: Among TOP’s interests there is also wineso much so that the artist has his own brand of French wines, which he called T’Spot. As we read on the label presentation website, Choi Seung-hyun personally participates in the entire process of creating his wine, from the selection of the grapes (which grow in France) to the creation of the labels and the graphic line, which he sees on each bottle printing «Direction #50», work by the Japanese artist – friend of TOP – Kohei Nawa.

There are not many bottles in the catalog among the T’Spot wines. The proposed references are in fact three: a Bordeaux (Merlot 80%, Carbernet Franc 15%, Cabernet Sauvignon 5%), a Charmat method sparkling wine (100% Airen) and a still white, produced with white grape Grenache.

Wines which, in TOP’s marketing idea, must be “good wines to share with as many people as possible at reasonable prices”. Indeed, T’Spot wines appear to be quite cheap, and are sold with a fun and young communication (very far from European standards), which also includes a YouTube video.

The refinement is all in the minimal and signature graphics, as well as in the product, which also receives critical acclaim. An interesting communication strategy, which perhaps the West – where wine builds the vast majority of its market, and where today the sector feels the crisis of a product that seems to be very far from the young public, and which has demonstrated poor capabilities to reinvent itself on a communicative level, perhaps due to a certain underlying snobbery – could and should look with curiosity.