Cube Co., Ltd. (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo) announced that its luxury golf brand MARK & LONA has appointed KARINA, leader of the globally active K-pop group aespa, as its new brand ambassador. On Monday, April 27, the company held the “KARINA × MARK & LONA New Ambassador Press Conference” in Tokyo and unveiled the new commercial PLAY ILLUSION. KARINA is the brand’s first female ambassador, marking a step toward accelerating MARK & LONA’s global expansion. At the opening, Tomoaki Matsumura, President and Chairman of Cube Co., Ltd., presented the brand strategy and business development of MARK & LONA. He described Cube as a company founded in 1994 and listed in 2022, developing distinctive brands in Japan and overseas. Regarding MARK & LONA, he said the brand has opened up the market since its launch in 2008 with the new value concept of “Luxury Golf.” Explaining why KARINA was chosen, Matsumura recalled seeing her for the first time in aespa’s Supernova music video and feeling “a shock like lightning running down my spine.” He said he intuitively felt she was the right muse for the brand. During the talk session, KARINA said she was surprised when she first received the offer and was very happy, though she also wondered whether she could properly express golf wear. After seeing the completed visuals through the shoot, she felt she had successfully represented a new image for MARK & LONA. On her impression of the brand, she said her family likes golf, so she had long had a positive image of MARK & LONA and saw it as a brand with many luxurious and attractive items. The visuals and commercial were shot in South Korea. KARINA said the shoot was very enjoyable and was impressed that real grass was used on the set to recreate a golf round. She also discussed trying putting for the first time, saying she worked with the staff and tried to look as professional as possible. With humor, she added that the ball goes into the hole in the commercial, but whether it did so