빵빵이의 무대는 유튜브가 아니라 백화점 팝업이다

Gwangju Shinsegae, a major Korean department store, released its first-half pop-up results. Among the top-grossing event hall pop-ups was not a luxury or fashion label but a YouTube animation character duo: Bbangbbang and Okji. The Kwangju Ilbo reported the ranking on July 1. Here is a data-driven look at how a channel with 2.51 million subscribers turns character fame into revenue far beyond YouTube.

The Top-Grossing Pop-up at Gwangju Shinsegae Belongs to a YouTube Cartoon

Among all pop-ups held in Gwangju Shinsegae's event hall in the first half of 2026, one of the top sellers was the "Bbangbbang and Okji Lovestagram Pop-up," built on the YouTube animation IP "Bbangbbang's Daily Life."

According to the Kwangju Ilbo, the pop-up drew young shoppers in droves and ranked among the top event hall pop-ups by sales this half. In a lineup usually dominated by luxury, fashion, and food brands, a YouTube cartoon character claimed a spot on the sales leaderboard. That raises one question: how does a channel with only 114 videos become an IP that moves department store revenue? The answer sits outside YouTube.

114 Videos, 2.51 Million Subscribers: The Channel Behind the Character

Bbangbbang's Daily Life is a YouTube animation channel produced by Spicy Turkey Studio. It has 2.51 million subscribers on just 114 uploads, a channel built on density per episode rather than volume.

Here are the channel's core metrics (Dhesy data, snapshot taken July 3, 2026).

The exact 57-57 split between Shorts and long-form sums up how this channel produces content.

The Shorts here are not clips cut from longer videos. Episodes like "Okji Possessed by an Evil Spirit" are standalone animated stories made for the format. The animation has been produced with creator Lee Ju-yong voicing every character himself, per an April 2026 report. The long-form episode "Bbangbbang and Okji's Twist Drama: Revenge Begets Revenge," released May 5, has passed 1.96 million views.

The Character Predates the Channel: A 2019 Emoticon Collab That Sold Out in 6 Hours

If you assume YouTube created Bbangbbang, the order is reversed. The YouTube animation channel launched in 2023, but the character is four years older. In August 2019, Bbangbbang, then a webtoon character by Lee Ju-yong, released 12 KakaoTalk emoticons with Chadolgun, the mascot of Korean restaurant chain Yichadol. The emoticon event closed out just six hours after opening. The IP was already proving itself in the collab market before the channel existed. YouTube was not the character's starting point; it was the amplifier that scaled an existing IP to 2.51 million subscribers.

The H1 2026 Collab Calendar: Ulsan HD, DASHCRAB, RDCOM

In the first half of 2026, collaborations landed three months in a row, each in a different category.

A pro football club, car accessories, and packaged consumer goods within three months, with no category overlap. This is textbook licensing: slicing character usage rights by category.

Apeak CEO Kwon Young-min described the RDCOM edition as "an attempt to connect widely recognized intellectual property with everyday products." Ninebridge, the company behind DASHCRAB, is an IP-focused manufacturer that has worked with Kakao Friends and IPX. Bbangbbang now sits in the same distribution partner pool that major character IPs pass through.

The Master Agent Deal with Sony: How the Overseas Licensing Works

Overseas expansion ran on contracts, not direct entry. In December 2023, the studio signed a master agent agreement with Sony Creative Products and began full-scale character business in Japan from January 2024. Under a master agent structure, a local partner handles licensing sales and contract management on the IP holder's behalf: a proven route for a character IP entering a market with a different language and retail network.

That structure became the springboard for simultaneous rollouts across Korea, Japan, and China. As of a February 2026 report, "Bbangbbang's Daily Life" is active in both China and Japan, and in March it ran a string of global collaborations spanning all three countries.

Not Sponsored Videos but License Deals: A Different Revenue Path for Creator IP

When people think of YouTube creator revenue, sponsored videos come to mind first. This channel breaks that formula. Based on Dhesy data (snapshot July 3, 2026), only one brand is linked to the channel through video sponsorship: RDCOM. For a channel with 114 videos in its catalog, that scarcity suggests the revenue center of gravity sits in license contracts outside the videos, not ads inside them. This count covers only what Dhesy has collected; uncollected collaborations may exist.

The video results from that period hold up as well. The Short "Okji Possessed by an Evil Spirit," released June 4 and classified as a sponsored video in Dhesy data, reached 1.63 million views within a month.

Lay the revenue paths side by side and the picture sharpens.

Video sponsorship fills one row; the other four paths run entirely outside the videos. Advertisers come for the character's recognition and fandom, not for ad slots inside episodes.

The Flip Side of Licensing Expansion: Trend Cycles and Fan Fatigue

The strategy is not without shadows. Character IP trend cycles can be short, and too many collabs risk fan fatigue and eroded scarcity. Three consecutive months of collaborations raise exposure and burn rate at the same time. The channel uploading only 3 videos in the past 90 days is another variable on the content supply side, since a character's lifespan is ultimately tied to how fast its source content refreshes.

Fewer uploads do not mean less firepower, though. Here are the view counts for the three episodes released in May and June.

All three crossed one million views. The output shrank, but per-episode performance held.

2026 as the Global Inaugural Year: Simultaneous Promotions in Korea, Japan, and China, Plus a North America Push

Spicy Turkey Studio has declared 2026 the inaugural year of its global expansion. The reported plan runs on two tracks: holding identically themed offline promotions in Korea, Japan, and China simultaneously within the year, and entering North America by releasing episodes through the official Facebook page.

For creators who own their characters, this case leaves three checkpoints: manage the character as a standalone asset rather than channel material, split usage rights into category-by-category license deals, and consider a local agent contract before attempting direct overseas entry.

If the announced schedule holds, the second half of 2026 will likely bring identically themed Bbangbbang pop-ups running simultaneously across Korea, Japan, and China. The next stage for this YouTube character on the department store sales chart is not a Korean event hall but storefronts in three Asian markets.

FAQ

Q. How do reservations for Bbangbbang pop-up stores work?

Bbangbbang pop-ups rotate across department stores: the Gwangju Shinsegae Lovestagram pop-up (H1 2026), the Daejeon Shinsegae pop-up (Nov 2025), and The Hyundai Daegu pop-up (reported Jan 2026, held in Feb). Popular runs often use advance reservations, so check the hosting store's notices and the channel's official accounts for the booking method and opening time before visiting.

Q. Can I make custom goods like phone cases with the Bbangbbang character?

Bbangbbang is a commercial IP managed through license contracts; usage rights are traded deal by deal, as the Sony Creative Products master agent agreement shows. Using the character on manufactured or sold products without permission carries copyright infringement risk. Even personal-use orders can become a problem if resold, so official goods are the safe route.

Q. How do I use the Bbangbbang collab exchange ticket in PUBG Mobile?

The "Bbangbbang's Daily Life box exchange ticket" issued during the collab is redeemed on the collab event screen in the game lobby. Collab events run for a limited period, so redeem before the event ends.

Q. Can I bring a Bbangbbang muffler to an Ulsan HD match?

Ulsan HD ran an official collaboration with the channel in April 2026: the Bbangbbang mascot took the ceremonial kickoff on April 15 and a photo zone was set up near the club store. Given the club itself built the character into its matchday culture, no rule against bringing a character muffler has been identified.

Q. How does advance reservation work for the Bbangbbang tarot pop-up?

Concept pop-ups like "Bbangbbang's Tarot House" at Shinsegae Gangnam generally take reservations through the hosting store's advance booking process. Slots often fill right after opening, so log in at the opening time and confirm exact schedules through the store and official channel notices.

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Methodology: Based on collaboration data covering 6,450 brands and 11,346 creator channels on the Dhesy platform. Channel metrics reflect a July 3, 2026 snapshot; sponsorship link counts are limited to what Dhesy has collected. Analysis period: Aug 14, 2019 to Jul 4, 2026. Data source: Dhesy External sources: Kwangju Ilbo, Etoday, SEN TV Last updated: 2026-07-04