On August 28, U-Pick, the “global fan platform for fans around the world who love K-pop artists and Korean actors,” announced that BTS fans had helped the sensational septet secure an advertisement video for their favourite music act by winning the fan-voted ‘Best K-pop Global Idol Group’ poll.
The voting contest initially sparked a war among K-pop fans, as fans faithfully participated in the voting to win the opportunity for the following groups: EXO, BTS, ENHYPEN, WayV, SEVENTEEN, ZEROBASEONE, NCT WISH, RIIZE, PLAVE and &TEAM. It was formally unveiled that the commercial board would be installed at a subway station in Seoul, South Korea, showing a video of the winning group.
The staggering voting numbers eventually helped BTS land a favorable commercial spot on Yeouido Station from September 20 to October 4. However, things didn’t go entirely as fans expected, with the all-rounder global idol group’s member Suga getting embroiled in a drunk driving episode.
The final draft of the commercial board was released on September 9, and instead of rejoicing over the achievement achieved for their beloved artists, the BTS Army took up arms against the U-Pick platform, which essentially forces you to install its app in order to vote for your favorites.
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U-Pick finalizes BTS’ Seoul subway station ad without Suga
The video, which will be shown at the Seoul subway station, features a great edit that compiles the identity and role of each member in the group except for one. Presenting BTS as the ‘Best Global Idol Group’, the ad brands RM as the ‘BTS Leader’, the ‘Best Rapper’, and one of the ‘Idols with Outstanding Artistry’. With Jin’s turn, the eldest member of the group is praised as ‘Our Universe Jin’, his classic nickname ‘World Wide Handsome’, and the ‘Silver Voice Vocalist’.
Meanwhile, J-Hope has been labelled ‘Genius Dancer’, ‘Freestyle and Street Dance Genius’ and ‘Our Sunshine’. Jimin has been described as ‘Best Dancer’, ‘King of K-Pop’ and ‘One and Only Fairy Voice’. V’s hallmarks have been listed as ‘Soft Husky Voice’, ‘Actor and Singer V’ and ‘Best Visual Idol’. Lastly, Jungkook has been highly praised as ‘a dancer who captivates the whole world’, ‘BTS Lead Vocal Jungkook’ and ‘Golden Visual Idol’.
Ideally, as per the group’s usual chant, Suga’s name should have been included before J-Hope’s. However, any mention of the group’s second-eldest member is completely missing in the clip.
Global fan forum reacts to furious fans’ anger
BTS ARYMS did not take this lightly and called out the platform for deliberately ignoring Suga’s presence, stating, “BTS is 7.” The commonly repeated keyphrase on social media once again caught fire on X/Twitter. U-Pick officials were forced to address the issue, which they did without naming Suga or BTS in their statement.
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Read U-Pick’s statement following the debacle:
“Hello, this is Yupik.
Recently, we received a new guide from the Advertising Media Organization.
As per guidelines, we have been informed that it is not possible to feature certain members in videos lovingly created by fans.
We have continued to express our views to the media from a fan perspective, but have repeatedly received a response that it is not possible to disclose it.
At the moment, we are continuing to coordinate with advertising media organizations regarding the potential scope and will announce the final position as soon as possible.
We would like to inform you that the above exposure impossibility has no relation to the opinion of UPIK.
We will continue our best efforts to provide services based on fans’ valuable opinions and views.
Thank you.”
Fans unite under ‘7 or nothing’ clause
Dozens of BTS fans unanimously agreed that U-Pick should drop the ad feature altogether or include all seven members. “1- Said guide should be on your website – which it isn’t-
2- If you are not going to publish the original draft ad with all 7 members, delete it completely.
You’ve lost a whole bunch of fans because of your lack of transparency,” someone wrote on X. Another said: “You’re unprofessional. Don’t blame others. Either 7 or nothing.”
A third angrily said: “No. If it’s not 7, we don’t want ads. BTS won this award as a group. It’s not fair to exclude any member from the army. There will be no liberal understanding extended to the army until Suga is included.”
Yupik Add Suga
BTS IS 7.”
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Many others also demanded legal action against U-Pick. “Fun Fact @UPICK_twt Do you know that misleading advertising can result in a fine of up to 150 million KRQ or two years in prison. You don’t want to play this game with us. We voted for BTS as a group and that group includes SUGA. You’re removing him, this is false advertising.”
Additionally, a Global Army Union statement representing the fandom’s 127 divisions around the world was also added as a strong response under several threads.
Incidentally, the incident coincides with the BTS Global ARMY releasing a collective statement over the weekend. In the wake of Suga’s DUI controversy last month, which saw Suga reportedly collapse while riding an electric scooter near his home, BTS fans condemned the actions of some people claiming to be ardent followers of the group in an attempt to tarnish the community’s image.
“The BTS Army is a massive fan group located all over the world, yet some individuals have recently released statements through the media in which they express opinions that are contrary to the beliefs of the majority of the Army,” the statement read.
“Despite ARMY’s protest to this atrocious behavior, they continue to act against fans’ wishes using ARMY’s name. It was also discovered that fans of other groups organized these actions. Therefore, we as the global ARMY alliance would like to clarify our position domestically and internationally.”
Again, this lengthy message didn’t directly allude to the Suga case, but it did heavily hint at it by emphasizing that the Global ARMY Alliance “supports all members of BTS.”
More details about BTS Suga’s DUI scandal
Suga wrote in a handwritten apology on Aug. 25: “In the process of installing an electric kickboard at the front door of the house, I happened to be alone, and there was a police officer surrounding me, so I took a breath test.”
The BTS rapper’s license was suspended after police found his blood alcohol content was 0.227, well above the permissible limit of 0.008.
However, that’s not all. Several mainstream Korean media sites exaggerated the story, reporting unconfirmed details that were eventually dismissed as “fake news.” JTBC also apologized for “causing confusion” after releasing footage allegedly showing Suga riding a scooter on the road at night. In contrast, police later revealed that the ’93 liner was actually driving his electric vehicle on a sidewalk.
Meanwhile, a certain group of netizen army demanded the removal of Suga from the K-pop group. However, the enthusiastic BTS Army vowed to support all the seven members of the band.
