[EXCLUSIVE] KBS Media Clarifies THE BOYZ ZEPETO Photo Cards Controversy

On November 14, a post on the popular Korean community, Instiz, went viral, including some pictures of THE BOYZ’s virtual photo cards. The exclusive merchandise featured their ZEPETO avatars and autographs. The setting of the images resembled BTS’s concept photos from the ‘Proof’ album and soon began a heated discussion online. To stop the rumors and backlash surrounding this controversy KBS Media Consortium has released a clarification.

KBS Media’s clarification for THE BOYZ ZEPETO photo cards

The giant media house has shared the details regarding the controversy stating that they are responsible for the mistake. The photo cards in question were produced as limited-edition promotional items during an exclusive event in ZEPETO. They were distributed to approximately 10 fans as part of a small-scale promotion.

*이벤트 당첨자 추첨영상
*Video of the event winner pic.twitter.com/bmj50WWMEC

— kwonderland.official (@kor_wonderland) November 3, 2023

Unfortunately, due to some errors, they couldn’t pre-identify the similarities with the concept of BTS. Upon realizing the issue, they individually apologized to all the winners and implemented follow-up measures.

All the photo cards have been returned, and they have informed the details of the issues to all the people involved. It was an incident that occurred during the event, and the artists, their agency, and the ZEPETO platform were not related at all.

What was the event?

The exclusive event was organized to promote the ZEPETO World with THE BOYZ. KBS Media created the avatars and filmed the YouTube content with the artists. During this event, they wished to provide exclusive photo cards based on Metaverse to a few lucky winners.

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However, they did not wish to copy the concept of BTS. It was an effort to promote the features of the leading metaverse app which didn’t go as planned. After discovering their mistake they have taken the necessary follow-up steps and also noted the additional procedures required to rule out the possibility of repeating the mistake.

They have particularly emphasized that the K-pop boy group, THE BOYZ, and their agency IST Entertainment were not involved in the production of the photo cards at any stage. The platform ZEPETO was also not directly involved with the photo cards.

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Last but not least, KBS Media has apologized for the disturbance this issue has caused to the global fans of THE BOYZ and K-pop. They have also apologized to the winners and retracted the exclusive merchandise.

KBS Media Consortium is going to use this affair to deliver a better experience of K-pop and Metaverse collaboration with similar projects. They will also feature ZEPETO and K-pop artists and begin sometime around summer in the upcoming year.