Music / Idols
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JYJ Fans Take Down the City of Seoul

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Written by On October 7, 2011

JYJ fans were upset that the City of Seoul launched an ad campaign that resembled their own campaign they made for JYJ earlier this year.

Before we get into the technicalities of today’s incident, who’s idea was it to pay good money to slap on this poorly designed advertisement on a bus to cheer for the trio?  Aren’t there about a hundred and one better ways to show support other than paying good money to display JYJ and “We support your youth” on public buses?  Actually, let me take that back.  I’m pretty sure that JYJ fans are doing everything imaginable to express and show their support.  The ad on the bus was probably the cream on top.

Back to today’s incident.  The City of Seoul released a display banner ad today that had a similar font and tagline as the fan-made ads.  And as expected, the JYJ fans got upset, for how dare the City of Seoul use a commonly used font as well as an everyday expression to market Seoul!   Unbelievable.  Astonishing.  Unacceptable.

It didn’t take very long for distraught JYJ fans to take their emotions to twitter, the City of Seoul to release an apology, and to pull the ad campaign.  (Also, what are JYJ fans called these days?  Cassies?  Orions?  Enlighten me please!)

Incidents like this makes me realize how powerful and fearless fandom is (and how bad the advertising agency for the City of Seoul must be).  JYJ fans made the City of Seoul, a government entity, release an apology statement within hours.   I’m sure the City of Seoul did not want a parade of angry JYJ fans at city hall demanding an apology but in all seriousness, what are these fans doing on a daily basis that they can catch on things like this?  And who are they to think that they own the rights to a font and an expression that are widely used?

A part of me wishes that the City of Seoul ignored these emotionally charged tweets and went on with their campaign because this is another win that JYJ fans did not need to stroke their fandom egos.  But I guess kudos to them for being big brothers of all things related to JYJ.

I wonder how JYJ members really feel when they encounter reports like this.  I hope it’s a mixture of embarrassment and fear.  Imagine what would happen if one of these boys came out with a girlfriend!

(Money Today)

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  • braveviet Le

    Firstly I have to say that this problem was already settled nicely. If City of Seoul announced that they would change, it means something. And nobody want their ads are similar. One is for support JYJ, One is for youth in general. So when you read “Support youth or young” who you will think of. They decided to change because obviously they don’t want to mix up 2 different targets. People just don’t like the idea that fans “win” in some official issues, especially when fans are of TVXQ or JYJ. In this case there are many misunderstanding. Look at those 2 ads, pls. don’t just mention the font or expression. You have to consider it on the idea, the design also. Printing ad is about photo, expression, font, font size, colors. Advertisement is always looked down on, it seems it is less guilty to copy ad in general. 
    To clarify, some people mistook that this ad is made by JYJ, it is made by fans. Fans gave the idea, Fans designed it, fans paid for this ad. So saying JYJ don’t mind why fans went protest is wrong. Feeling so sorry for those fans who put their effort and money into this and turned out to be bad people in some people’s eyes.

  • Anonymous

    Sorry i must disagree here. I think the fans have every right to be angry. If it’s just the font and the expression, fine. But a tag line is somethings that takes careful thinking, it’s not easy. Ad look at the font size, how the 1 word was bold and of larger font size, in the same proportion compared to the smaller text. That makes the look and feel very similar, if not exactly the same.
    I am not sure if you have really spent time to design and create things to show support your idols. But every fan-project requires lots of effort and dedication and it’s painful to see anyone rips off your idea just like that. VIP can be angry at YG for copy their headband why JYJ fans cannot? A government agency should knows better than this.

  • Hyo

    Well, the City of Seoul could have just ignored the tweets and the angry fans. But the fact that they didn’t and immediately apologized, IMO shows that there was truth to the claim that they copied the JYJ banner. The issue would have gotten bigger if they didn’t pull the ad and apologize, and it’s easy to see the similarities between the two banners. City of Seoul wouldn’t have won this. 

    Anyone who has done poster projects and the likes for school would know that designing takes a lot of work, brainstorming, and effort. You don’t want your poster to look like anyone else’s, but you also don’t want it to be too ‘flashy’ that people would be turned off by it. But the worst is the feeling you get when someone shows up with a poster very similar to yours. 

    Looking at the two posters, I can see why JYJ’s fans were angry. The font used and the “We protect the Youth” phrase look exactly the same, as well as the way the graphics were placed on the banner of the City of Seoul. This wasn’t just a coincidence, not some “Oh, it’s a widely used phrase and font. We all have the right to use it.” Sure, you do. But using the exact same font and the exact same bolded/emphasized phrase exactly like JYJ’s fans used them? I don’t think that was some honest mistake. That was deliberately done with the hope that nobody would notice.

    As for JYJ’s fans, yes they can be quite aggressive. But not all of them are, and not all of them just tune in all the time to every media scouring for any news about JYJ and looking for something to bitch about. After 5 and more years of supporting the boys, they’re actually a bit at the point where their efforts should be recognized. These people didn’t abandon JYJ, they followed them out and away from SME. They put in a lot of work to campaign for the group, and while they don’t exactly have guns pointed to their heads to keep supporting JYJ, I’m sure they’re proud of their work and don’t want anyone just taking their idea of a banner and using it for their own purposes.

  • Anonymous

    “I wonder how JYJ members really feel when they encounter reports like
    this.  I hope it’s a mixture of embarrassment and fear.  Imagine what
    would happen if one of these boys came out with a girlfriend!”

    Yeah, sometimes I wonder about the same thing. How those idols really feel? I know what they say but most of those statements are full of sacharine and don´t feel real to me. Don´t get me wrong I´m not saying they lie or anything bad, maybe it´s just my different culture background as I´m not familiar with all that “we will work even harder” or “fans are our everything” or “I´m deeply sorry for having a girlfriend”. It´s a common knowledge that idols have to protect their image but at the same time they are real people with personal lives and personal opinions. We can hardly see that so I´m just curious. I´m sure JYJ are thankful for any kind of support they get from their fans as they seem to be harassed little too much just for leaving their company. Anyway I feel sorry for their girlfriends (I´m quite sure they all have one) in advance but maybe JYJ fans will be different and they will protect their oppas´ happiness… by supporting them in their relationships. No? You think it´s not gonna happen? Well, it would make them a really cool fandom, maybe I would join the club …

    • braveviet Le

      having a girlfriend or boyfriend to celebrities in Korea is always a problem, not JYJ only. But being honest, after some dramas that Yoochun and Jaejoong acted in, reaction from JYJ fans is surprisingly positive, they wish their idols have some special ones. I haven’t come across any fans who are against it.  

  • http://twitter.com/WhisperYJ s u r i s a d a y

    they are too serious, they do a big fuzz about everything, like forgetting being a fan is supposed to be fun not making statements about law and other ridiculous things.
    Fortunately, like they themselves have said thousand of times, they aren’t Cassies anymore… so yeah, that crazy thing doesn’t come from Cassiopeia, but JYJ stans, orions or whatever they want to be called.

    • mischa

      Hee-hee. You must be new to KPop. Nothing is fun being in a fandom. Everything is serious business. These people pay a membership fee and are encouraged to donate money to support their favorite group. Why wouldn’t they get angry if someone, let alone a freakin’ government sect who should be creative enough on their own, decided to ‘plagiarize’ their work? Nothing is funny about copying someone else’s work and idea and presenting it as your own. 

      This kind of thing doesn’t come from Cassiopeia? LOL. Oh, you really are new to Kpop. 

      Cassies have mellowed out now, but they were just as crazy as ELFs a couple of years ago. They’re matured with the times, but they participated in the Dream Concert “Black Ocean” of 2008, and I think there’s a video of Cassies shouting “Wonder Girls!” while SNSD performed. Rude.

      Cassies used to bash both male and female celebrities interacting with DBSK that some female celebs were scared to say they were friends with any of DBSK because they were afraid Cassies will retaliate. 

      Cassies used to fight against other fanclubs: VIPs, Wonderfuls, Shapley, Sones, ELFs, Shawols, etc. Cassies have fought with them all. And the greatest Cassiopeia battle: within itself. JYJ fans vs HoMin fans vs. fans supporting all 5. 

      Cassies are not innocents. Nice try making it out like the fans who follow JYJ are the only bad ones, though. 

      • http://twitter.com/WhisperYJ s u r i s a d a y

        yeah, Cassies are guilty for everything… just remember that most of JYJ fans were once part of “Cassiopeia” so yeah, I still think they are crazy.