Is this band one reason why South Korea has so few covid deaths?

Long before K-pop boy band BTS took over the world, there was Big Bang.

The band, which is still around today, began in 2006 and has sold over 150 million records. Their influence on South Korean style and habits goes far beyond a few catchy pop songs though.

When one of the group was pictured with a Sakun facemask, a designer mask from a now defunct company that had glowing white teeth on the front, millions of teenagers copied his style.

The masks displayed an aura of cool and intimidation on the part of the wearer, disguised pimples and might even have helped avoid respiratory illnesses. The style was then replicated by dozens of social media influencers

And as the covid19 pandemic took hold, South Koreans used to wearing face coverings were not afraid to don masks again as it was the right thing to do.

In South Korea, there has been 433 deaths from covid19 while in the US the current number is over 210,000 and rising all the time. In the UK, over 42,000 people have lost their lives because of this disease.

In the US and to a lesser extent the UK, many people see wearing a face covering as weak and it has been difficult for governments to encourage people to wear them. You can see in South Korea how cultural change over many years fostered habits that benefitted public health and how the US and the UK desperately need to catch up on this.

You can learn more about Winning Habits in my new book. It is available in paperback and on Kindle and can be found here.