1. Fans throwing NCT’s albums out on the street
Recently when NCT made their year-end comeback as a tribute to fans through the album Universe,
things started out on an incredibly high note as they managed to surpass 1.7 million stock
pre-orders, breaking their own records in the past.
Sounds all pinky and supportive, right?
Sadly, life is not always rosy and as soon as the albums were put on sale, the situation
quickly took turn for the worse as netizens found out some NCTzens just bought a bunch
of albums to search for fansign tickets and gather photocards, then trade them with the
price as scary as transactions in the black market.
As if treating the work and dedication of NCT like an opportunity to earn money wasn’t
bad enough, these so-called NCTzens even went extra lengths, threw those albums and the
attached photo books out on the street after having their goals checked.
The situation was such a shocker that on theqoo, a post calling others to help make better
use of the albums quickly garnered over 60.000 views, almost 1200 comments and countless
complaints as to how people self-claimed to be fans could treat the dedications of idols
so insensitively like that. Moreover, as the soul of the album is the CD where music is
recorded at lossless audios but fans ended up prioritizing some photocards for the sake
of profit, netizens also found the culture of NCTzen a huge disappointment.
However, there are also opinions saying that these fans weren’t totally to blame as long
as award shows still took the amount of album sales into consideration for granting big
titles and companies still stuck with the random system of handing out tickets to fansigns,
nothing could be done on the NCTzens’ side to improve the situation. Moreover, it’s
also not true to say the culture of NCTzen was way too toxic because in fact, the same
thing has been taking place in many other fandoms for a very long time.
2. Fans treating WANNA ONE’s albums like trash
Needless to look way further into the past, even a part of WANNA ONE’s fandom, Wannable,
was also caught to have done the same thing back in 2018.
As some suddenly saw when walking in the street, a bunch of WANNA ONE’s brand new albums
(without the photocards of course) were thrown outside in a random filthy corner somewhere.
Things are even more painful to watch compared to the case of NCT because this time, WANNA
ONE’s albums weren’t even organized in a box but left scattering on the ground along
with a bunch of old newspapers, dirty used plastic ramen bows, soiled doormat and thrown
away notebooks.
At that time, one album would cost around KRW 16,000 and a great deal of the members’
dedications but seemingly to those “fans,” the albums were just as valuable as a piece
of trash.
Triggered by the mindless action of these so-called Wannables, netizens have straight
up called them out. According to them, as photocards are just some pieces of paper that
were super easy to duplicate, the overhype around them seemed ridiculous and since idols
had spent tons of time and efforts into the making of those songs, they of course would
expect fans appreciate their music and creativity more than some pieces of plastic with their
face on.
3. Chinese fans making BTS boycotted in China
There are also times when fans didn’t give a crap about pushing their idols’ reputation
through pushing the album sales just because they felt like being offended while in fact,
nothing really happened.
Back in 2020 when BTS released the album BE, lots of fans were eager to place their pre-order
and show their support to the boys as this was the milestone album marking the participation
of all members into the production. However, in total contrast to the expectation where
BTS would break their past record sales, many ARMYs in China suddenly cancel their pre-orders
out of the belief that RM had…looked down on them?!
Particularly when RM received the Van Fleet Award by the Korea Society, he paid a great
tribute to people who had sacrificed their life for the peace of the nation. In the speech,
he said “This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Korean War. We will always remember
the history of pain that our two nations shared together, and the sacrifices of countless
men and women.”
Confusingly, some Chinese fans believed he was actually dismissing the noble sacrifices
made by Chinese soldiers during the Korean War and that the acceptance speech ignored
the American invasion and Asia’s interference on popular news portal websites.
The aftermath of his allegedly disrespectful speech quickly grew out of mere criticism
and adversely affected the album sales of BTS.
As Chinese fans have always been famous for spending a crazy amount of money on supporting
idols, the album cancellation that time apparently took a hard toll on the group when Baidu Bar
decided to stop completely the pre-order of the BE album. While no exact numbers were
disclosed, the Toutiao anticipated that it amounted to around 800,000, accounting for
⅕ the total album sales, based on the previous order of Baidu Bar.
Because of the overwhelming power held in hands, Chinese ARMYs didn’t stop there but
also took a step further, publicly criticizing and dismissing BTS out of the country.
Under the fierce pressures from fans, SAMSUNG had to take down the advertisement of BTS
at the Chinese branch despite the fact that the group has been the face of the brand for
years.
Not long after that, FILA also followed suit, taking down all posts related to BTS in China
in the blink of an eye. Even with a brand whose influence was huge
and market share was considerable like Hyundai, the company still had to plead with Chinese
fans and deleted photos where BTS promoted the latest car line.
4. Fans cutting and burning Irene’s photocards
So, have you ever wondered why photocards are so favored among fans and they could be
exorbitantly inflated despite the fact that at the end of the day, they are just some
plastic sheets with random photos of idols printed on?
While it’s hard to explain because different fans have different reasons, one major reason
comes down to the fact that in cases where idols upset their fans, they could use such
bloody costly photocards to show the supremacy over idols, destroying and posting those broken
things online to tear the idols down mentally.
And that was exactly what happened to Irene in 2018 after she admitted to reading a feminist
book called Kim Ji-Young, Born in 1982 by feminist Cho Nam Joo. Because the work portrays
the growing up journey of the character in South Korea, along with exploring a lot of
the sexism that society tolerates, lots of males were upset by it.
That’s why when Irene said in a fansign that she has been into Kim Ji-Young, Born
in 1982, some salty male fans immediately brought the topic online, criticized her for
reading such a book and even burning, cutting her photocards which they had probably spent
a ton to acquire.
A so-called fan even went extra lengths, sending a DM to the account that uploaded Irene’s
video admitting she was reading the book and insisting on how he wanted it to be taken
down as soon as possible.
5. Fans burning APRIL’s albums to ashes
If photocards, aka the soul of the album according to some fans, could still be burnt down to
ashes, of course other things like the hardcovers of the album, CDs, and photobooks will also
suffer from the same fate when fans are triggered.
And that’s exactly what happened at the beginning of 2021 to APRIL when the allegation
about the group’s bullying of Hyunjoo broke out. While not only the members of APRIL,
DSP Media and even the staff members who used to work closely with the group all denied
the rumor, lots of fans still decided to turn their back on APRIL, post photos of them burning
down the group’s merchandise to ashes and publicly criticize the girls for something
that was still in the gray area.
Reacting to the post, many said that fans were just fooling themselves in this kind
of situation because all the truths remained unknown till that point. Some also criticized
these fans for not learning from the case of T-ARA but instead chose to tear the idols
down just for the sake of showing their supremacy.
6. Fans destroying SNSD’s merchandise
Even when the idols didn’t do anything wrong, got into no allegations and just simply was
pursuing their own dream after all these years working as a group, some fans could still
do questionable things to tear the idols down.
While that was initially thought to happen only in young fandom where not much beefs
had been cooked, a famously united fandome like SONE [so-one], the one that got SNSD
through the dark phase of black ocean, still did some questionable things when Seohyun,
Sooyoung and Tiffany left SM in 2017.
After the news was published and all three members emphasized that the departure just
came down to their wish to pursue their dream rather than the end of SNSD, some so-called
fans still ripped all SNSD’s photos, broke their CDs and even the merchandise of Taeyeon’s
promotions.
Because it's common sense for senior idols to depart from their group and pursue their
dream, most people found it ludicrous that some self-claimed fans were throwing shade
at SNSD just because some members didn’t want to stay as a group. Moreover, as things
related to the Mr.Mr. promotion, which marked an important milestone for having Jessica
as a member of the group for the very last time, were also destroyed, some SONEs were
extremely mad and called out these fake fans as some scabby sheeps that spoiled the whole
flock.
7. Fans turning their back on Mina over some dating rumors
Another time when fans casually hurt idols to show their supremacy is the case of Mina.
Back in 2017 when the dating scandal between her and GOT7’s Bambam broke out, a big wave
of criticism was heading toward Mina despite the fact that JYP Entertainment soon explained
there was nothing between the two idols.
The worst was that, when some ONCEs had turned their back on Mina over this dating scandal,
to show their discontent, some even decided to cross out her face in TWICE’s photos,
asking her to leave the group or else they would be the ones to leave.
While this incident quickly cooled down as most people believed these fans, mostly males,
were being jealous, some sources said that lots of Mina’s photos were burnt down to
ashes and she herself even received a bunch of death threats.
As these reactions were extremely ridiculous and to some extent, objectify idols to some
beautiful entertaining things, not only ONCEs but even netizens also called out the mindless
fanboys for being psychopathic ajusshi. Plus, as Mina is a grown-up person, those who criticized
her for dating were basically violating her private life and overindulging in their fantasies.
So, why do you think these fans treat their idols that way? Are there any solutions for
this? Comment down below to share your thoughts with us. Also, remember to like, share and
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