As SEVENTEEN gears up for their comeback with their new mini album SEVENTEENTH HEAVEN, the group’s agency PLEDIS Entertainment has been releasing teaser videos featuring various cities all over the world. Each city’s teaser shows the smiling chamomile flowers from SEVENTEEN’s album artwork for SEVENTEENTH HEAVEN floating around a famous landmark from that city. In the Paris teaser, the flowers are shown floating on the Seine River, while in the New York teaser, the flowers bounce up and down the streets of Times Square.
@seventeen17_official SEVENTEEN Right here! #NewYork #SEVENTEEN #세븐틴 #SEVENTEENTH_HEAVEN
However, the Beijing version sparked controversy. The video showed the flowers growing all over the Great Wall of China, leading to backlash on social media. Fans expressed dissatisfaction, citing a lack of understanding of the country’s culture on the part of PLEDIS Entertainment. In response, the agency quickly addressed the situation, deleted the teaser, and released a statement.
Their statement read, in part, “We immediately deleted the Beijing version of the video. We apologize for making the fans uncomfortable, and we’ll be more careful in the future. We’ll try to create content that fans from many countries, cultures, and regions can all enjoy together.”
[공지] 세븐틴 미니 11집 베이징 티저 영상 관련 안내
[公告] SEVENTEEN 11th Mini Album Beijing版本预告视频相关公告안녕하세요.
플레디스 엔터테인먼트입니다.세븐틴 미니 11집 '세븐틴스 헤븐 (SEVENTEENTH HEAVEN)' 베이징 티저 영상 관련 안내드립니다.
당사는 9월 23일 중국 현지 시각…
— 세븐틴(SEVENTEEN) (@pledis_17) September 23, 2023
CARATS remain unhappy with PLEDIS
Despite the agency’s apology, fans had mixed reactions. Some were satisfied that the agency addressed a sensitive issue quickly. Others pointed out the agency’s inconsistency regarding other controversies. For instance, when Joshua, a member of SEVENTEEN, was embroiled in a dating rumor with influencer/model Mi Young, the agency remained silent despite significant backlash against the idol. Since the rumors surfaced, Joshua has faced unwarranted hatred on social media. Fans are now trying to protect Joshua from this hate. They’re also urging the agency to respond as swiftly to any unwarranted hate towards their artists. They want PLEDIS Entertainment to handle such cases the way they handled the album controversy.
SEVENTEEN‘s mini-album, SEVENTEENTH HEAVEN, is set to release on October 23. Fans await the release, hoping for a successful comeback for the group. – K-Pop News Writer
Featured Image: Their teaser missed the mark. Sources: X/@pledisnews and @svtcontents.