Despite this victory, the celebration was overshadowed by controversy. The final draft of the commercial, released on September 9, ignited a backlash among BTS fans when it excluded Suga, who is currently embroiled in a DUI controversy. The ad featured a detailed presentation of the other six members – RM, Jin, J-Hope, Jimin, V, and Jungkook – highlighting their roles and attributes, but Suga’s absence was conspicuous. This omission went against the typical format where all seven members are showcased together, leading to widespread dissatisfaction among the BTS ARMY.
Fans took to social media, rallying under the slogan ‘BTS is 7’ to express their frustration. They accused U-Pick of deliberately excluding Suga and demanded either the inclusion of all seven members or the removal of the ad entirely. The uproar prompted U-Pick to release a statement explaining that the exclusion was due to restrictions imposed by the advertising media organization, which dictated the visibility of certain members in the promotional material. U-Pick assured fans that they were working to address the situation and reiterated their commitment to considering fan feedback. The full statement read:
“Hello, this is UPICK. Recently, we received a new guide from the advertising media organisation. In accordance with the guidelines, we have been informed that exposure of certain members in videos that fans have so lovingly created is not possible. We have continued to convey our opinions to the media from the fans’ perspective, but we have repeatedly received responses that exposure is not possible. Currently, we are continuing to coordinate with advertising media organisation regarding the possible scope and will announce the final situation as soon as possible. We would like to inform you that the above exposure impossibility has nothing to do with UPICK’s opinion. We will continue to do its best to provide services based on the fans’ valuable opinions and perspectives. Thank you”.
In parallel, a statement from the Global ARMY Union, representing BTS fans worldwide, condemned recent attempts to undermine the group’s image and reiterated their support for all BTS members. “The BTS ARMY is a vast fandom based around the world, yet a small number of people have recently released statements through the media claiming opinions that are contrary to the beliefs of the overwhelming majority of ARMY”, they announced in their statement.
The statement continued, “Despite ARMY’s opposition to this imperious behaviour, they continue to act against the fandom’s wishes while using ARMY’s name. It was further revealed that fans of other groups organised these actions. Therefore, we would like to clarify our position as the Global ARMY Alliance both domestically and internationally”. This statement, while not directly addressing the Suga situation, underscored the ARMY’s unified stance against any actions that threaten the group’s integrity. Meanwhile, these controversies are occurring because of Suga’s recent DUI incident, where he reportedly fell from his electric scooter near his home while being drunk, leading to an investigation.
