'Brother' fever and Senior Lieutenant Le Hoang Hiep: Is Vietnamese fan culture changing?

When surface emotions replace deep values

The parade celebrating the 50th anniversary of the country's reunification in Ho Chi Minh City created an unprecedented cultural phenomenon: idolizing soldiers on a scale equivalent to entertainment stars. A 3-second clip recording the scene of Senior Lieutenant Le Hoang Hiep stepping out of a car in his military uniform made him a "male god" in the hearts of thousands of young people, mainly women. Although he is only a soldier, information related to him has millions of interactions on many platforms.

Communications expert Nguyen Ngoc Long shared with VietNamNet: "It is not unusual for a soldier to suddenly become an idol in the era of social networks. Everyday, genuine moments with symbolic meaning such as images of soldiers, doctors, teachers... sometimes spread strongly, touching the emotions of the community. The appeal of Senior Lieutenant Le Hoang Hiep comes from his solemn, dignified image, combined with the ceremonial setting, uniform and the element of surprise. That is the formula for creating a viral effect.

What needs to be taken into account is the role and social position of the person being exposed. Senior Lieutenant Le Hoang Hiep is a soldier in a force with special discipline, principles, and responsibilities. Being hunted, surrounded, constantly called out online, and even stalked in real life… not only affects personal privacy but can also negatively impact the image of the organization, hindering the person from performing his duties.

Hundreds of fans jostled to meet Senior Lieutenant Le Hoang Hiep. Photo: VietNamNet

Admiration that exceeds limits, invades personal space and makes life and work difficult - especially in the military environment - is no longer an act of affection. It is a manifestation of soft violence in the consumption of images, a form of 'fanaticism' disguised as admiration.

This phenomenon shows that the ability of social networks to shape public image has gone beyond showbiz. What is more worrying is the lack of standards in receiving and behaving towards that image from a part of the young public. In fact, admiration often comes from very superficial reasons (appearance, viral clips, beautiful moments), lacks depth (background, journey, true life values of the idol) and lacks limits (admiration accompanied by hunting, attacking private life, attacking people who are not on the same 'side').

When a person who is noticed for his good looks in military uniform is more famous than someone who is working hard in the community in silence, it is time for society to review how it defines 'ideal role model'.

This phenomenon also poses a challenge for the media and social media platforms: to report responsibly, avoid 'adding fuel' to the crowd effect, and at the same timeeducate users, especially young people, how to admire someone properly.

HIEUTHUHAI is one of the young faces admired by many female fans. Photo: FBNV

The risk of imbalance in the entertainment industry

In addition to the "phenomenon" of Senior Lieutenant Le Hoang Hiep, in recent years, idol culture in Vietnam has witnessed a clear "masculinization". The most obvious difference lies in commercial appeal. The concert series Anh trai say hi achieved impressive results with 6 shows, more than 100,000 total audiences. The producer of Anh trai vu ngan truc gai confirmed that the program's revenue was more than 340 billion VND. When tickets for the second concert in Hanoi were opened for sale at the end of 2024, the system crashed due to too many visitors.

On the contrary, the concert "Beautiful Sisters" in Ho Chi Minh City in April 2024 is said to be less exciting. The ticket sales speed of the "beautiful sisters" is slower, with many ticket categories remaining after 3 days of opening for sale. The producer of "Anh trai vu ngan cong gai" has a profit after tax 10.7 times higher than in the third quarter of 2023 - the time of production of "Beautiful Sisters" .

According to Socialite, the Top 10 Social Media Influencers of April 2025 include 6 male artists (HIEUTHUHAI, Son Tung M-TP, Quang Hung MasterD, Soobin, Rhyder, Quoc Huy), and no female artists. According to Vietnam Chart, 9/10 of the top domestic artists of 2024 are male (Son Tung M-TP, HIEUTHUHAI, Vu., Low G, Wren Evans, Den, Rhyder, itsnk, RPT MCK).

Hundreds of fans waited outside My Dinh Stadium since late at night before the event, braving the pouring rain to watch the Anh trai say hi concert in Hanoi. The fandoms (fan communities) of the "brothers" invested in food trucks, LED screens at events, organized celebrations, birthdays... Most recently, because of joking about the song Trinh by her senior HIEUTHUHAI, the 19-year-old "pretty girl" Anh Sang AZA was continuously condemned.

The area of the 'brothers' FC is invested in meticulously.

Fans are willing to spend a lot of money on their idols.

Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Long commented: "The obvious 'masculinization' in idol culture in Vietnam can be explained from a media perspective. First, the way of building public images is changing. Management companies and media teams are now investing heavily in 'producing images' for male idols: Appearance, character stories, approachable personalities, inspirational ideals (although sometimes carefully staged). This makes fans, especially female ones, easily attached for a long time, with a 'protective' nature.

Meanwhile, female artists are sometimes bound by gender stereotypes such as having to be beautiful but not 'too sexy', strong but not 'overpowering men'... so it is difficult to develop a complete image and are easily criticized.

Digital media is creating conditions to 'emotionalize' relationships with idols. Social media platforms encourage artists to interact directly, making fans feel 'familiar' and 'exclusive' with their idols. With male idols, this often creates deeper emotional effects such as: 'He is gentle, vulnerable, I want to protect him'. In contrast, female idols are rarely placed in a position of 'needing protection', which is the very element that is at the heart of modern fan culture.

For male artist fandoms, this is a form of 'identifying oneself through the community'. For many young people, belonging to a fandom, participating in activities to protect and support idols, becomes a part of their personal identity. This makes the relationship between fans and idols a form of social bonding, where loyalty is sometimes expressed through confrontation with 'other factions'.

Mr. Long also believes that communication strategies, entertainment products, show scripts, etc. are all being adjusted to serve the male idol's fandom: "This can help increase revenue and create many short-term breakthroughs. In the long term, it also has the potential to tilt the artist balance, put pressure on female artists, and limit diversity in the market. When the craze focuses only on one gender or a certain group of images, the entertainment industry is at risk of becoming monotonous, one-sided, and easily 'dominated by algorithms, instead of art'.

In the long term, the entertainment industry needs a balanced strategy, not to 'elevate' female idols, but to re-establish the evaluation criteria - through talent, artistic depth, human values, instead of fan base, beauty. The media also plays a big role in reshaping the public's criteria of 'deserving of idolization'.