Okay-Pop followers are shelling out huge bucks for a fleet of protest vehicles, all to demand that feminine backup dancers get axed from their favourite boyband's music video

• Followers of Okay-pop group Enhypen despatched LED protest vehicles to the group’s firm constructing. 
• The indicators name for the elimination of feminine backup dancers from the group’s newest video. 
• These protest vehicles are more and more frequent in Okay-pop, and are vital threats to firms.

Followers who disagreed with the choreography chosen in Okay-pop group Enhypen’s newest music video determined to do one thing about it. 

Protest vehicles with LED indicators had been despatched over to the workplace constructing of South Korean leisure firm HYBE on Wednesday. This occurred two days after the discharge of Enhypen’s newest tune titled “Chew Me,” per Okay-pop information outlet Allkpop.

The followers had been requesting the elimination of feminine backup dancers from the group’s newest choreography. Within the tune’s music video and stage performances, every singer of the seven-member group paired up with a feminine backup dancer in the course of the refrain. 

On Wednesday, pictures of the protest vehicles had been uploaded on theqoo, a well-liked South Korean web discussion board. “Take away the paired choreography with the feminine dancers utterly. Solely put the seven members on stage,” learn an LED signal on a protest truck.  

“Belift Lab makes a idiot out of ready followers. The corporate that obstructs the way forward for singers. The corporate that does not have the desire to develop. The label underneath HYBE with the least energy,” learn one other.

Belift Lab is the administration label of Enhypen, and is a subsidiary label underneath HYBE, which homes different well-known Okay-pop acts like BTS and NewJeans.

The tune offers with themes of darkish fantasy, telling the story of a person’s need to be with an individual whose love can solely be claimed via blood, per Genius.

The vehicular protest sparked combined opinions

“If the followers are saying they do not prefer it, do common individuals actually have a say if the followers are those spending the cash?” learn a Korean touch upon theqoo. 

“In the event that they’re simply sad, is not sending a truck a bit extreme? It is not even an ethical problem price criticism,” learn one other on theqoo. 

Some followers have even despatched protest vehicles in response, to point out their assist for the choreography.

—Lily (@heeeism) May 24, 2023

“Chew Me choreography one of the best!” learn an LED signal on a truck despatched by worldwide followers of Enhypen, as seen in a Tweet. 

Protest vehicles have gotten a staple in Okay-pop fandoms

Simply inside the previous month, not less than three fleets of protest vehicles have been despatched to varied leisure firm buildings for a mess of causes. 

A fleet was despatched to complain a few Okay-pop group not releasing music for over 530 days, and one other was despatched calling for the elimination of Okay-pop group members who had been beforehand embroiled in controversies, per Allkpop.

These LED protest vehicles can price round $220 to hire for a day, in accordance with the CEO of Advert Whole, an promoting company that rents out these vehicles, per South Korean information outlet The Hankyoreh.

These LED chariots appear to have an influence. 

“Having vehicles drive round positively has an influence on us on many ranges,” mentioned an worker of an organization who witnessed an LED truck protest final yr, per South Korean information outlet Korea JoongAng Day by day.

“Individuals close to our firm who did not precisely know what was occurring turned conscious and even our personal workers — or worse, individuals larger up — requested the associated groups what is going on on. If the CEO or others develop into conscious, then it will get critical for us,” mentioned the worker, per JoongAng.

As an business that’s simply impacted by shifts in shopper sentiment, these LED vehicles can function a major menace to Okay-pop leisure firms as they carry individuals’s “on-line voices” into actual life, mentioned Kim Si-wuel, professor of shopper data science at Konkuk College, per JoongAng.

“Firms take utmost care to point out one of the best model and picture of themselves, so when shoppers get individuals unrelated to the difficulty concerned, it damages the businesses quite a bit,” mentioned Kim.

Insider has reached out to Belift Lab for remark.