A controversial album teaser for Seventeen's upcoming album incorporating the Great Wall of China has since been deleted from the group's social media.
As part of the promotions for their 11th mini album 'SEVENTEENTH HEAVEN,' the group released a number of 'SVT RIGHT HERE' short teaser videos where the daisy flowers on the album's cover are playfully incorporated into popular landmarks of different cities around the world. For example, flowers bounced down Times Square in the New York City teaser and floated in the Seine past the Eiffel Tower in the teaser for Paris. However, an issue was raised when the Beijing version depicted the flowers on the Great Wall of China.
In response, Pledis Entertainment took to the group's official social media accounts to explain that the teaser has since been removed, writing an apology letter in both Korean and Chinese. The message can be translated as follows:
"On September 23, our company released a Beijing version 'SVT RIGHT HERE' teaser as one promotional content for 'SEVENTEENTH HEAVEN.'
The Beijing version was produced as a story involving daisies with the Great Wall of China in the background as a representative cultural heritage location symbolizing China, but after the teaser was released, fans pointed out that there was a lack of cultural understanding and respect for the Great Wall of China.
The Beijing version teaser was quickly deleted accordingly. We apologize for any inconvenience caused to our fans, and we will pay more attention in the future.
In the future, we will strive to create content that fans from various countries, regions, and diverse cultures can all enjoy together."
Meanwhile, 'SEVENTEENTH HEAVEN' is set for release on October 23.
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Huh? How was it disrespectful?
In one sense, the Great Wall is a testament of warfare, insurrection, and occupation from the northern nomadic tribes. It had a hand in allowing the Manchu to come in and take over the crumbling Ming Dynasty (and they imposed a very devastating hairstyle called the "queue" that went against the long-standing custom of growing out one's hair to show filial piety to one's parents. There are reports of Han people trying to resist the rule, but they were killed for disobedience to the Manchu rule. The Yuan and Manchu Dynasties were both hostile takeovers from northern nomadic tribes).
But on the other hand, its image shows how many dynasties have come and gone, leading to the existence of the country that would become known as "China" in 1949. If the Great Wall gives you pride for being Chinese, then what is the point of pride if you can't show it to people of other countries? The teaser image is really cool, especially when you compare it to the teasers of Tokyo and Seoul's modern day cityscapes. The Beijing teaser shows a landmark that went through countless wars and dynasties (at least the portion that is actually authentic lol), so why keep that to yourself? The teaser isn't downplaying the significance of the Wall, but instead uses its complex history to represent the Chinese people. How is that offensive? That's actually really flattering. Count yourselves lucky. At least it's not a modern day cityscape.
I also wanted to point out that the French river called the Seine, which was also used in one of Seventeen's teasers, holds great historical significance to the French people. Did you know that Joan of Arc's ashes were scattered in that river? Joan of Arc is a very famous female war hero, devout Catholic, and feminist icon from the 1400s in France who led the army to eventually prevent England from taking over France during the Hundred Years War. I'm sure many other significant things occurred around the Seine to mark it as a significant historical part of the country, but do you see French people gatekeeping it?
If your country has some incredible landmarks and historical relics, wouldn't you want to share their stories and images with the world?
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