NewJeans recently had a complaint filed against them after using "non-Korean" iPhones in a Korean tourism promotional video.
A viewer criticized the group for featuring foreign products, particularly iPhones, rather than Korean brands like Samsung.
One viewer filed a complaint with the National Petition Service stating that NewJeans had used Apple's product for a tourism video, which should promote things from Korea. The viewer complained that there was an "indirect exposure of a specific mobile phone brand in the tourism advertisement."
In response, the ESG Management team at the Korea Tourism Organization explained that the issue stems from NewJeans' role as ambassadors for both the Korean Tourism Organization and Apple’s iPhone, which they prominently used in performances and videos.
The ESG Management team stated, "According to the Brand Content Team's review:
The 2024 new Korean tourism promotional video 'Koreans' Korea,' which aims to introduce trendy Korean culture, includes scenes of people taking photos with their phones to depict the culture of capturing moments at famous locations and with food. As NewJeans, the advertisement models, are global models for a particular mobile phone brand, contractual restrictions were preventing them using competing products from the same industry."
Korean netizens were puzzled that a viewer actually filed a petition with the National Petition Service. Many criticized the complaint and the person who filed the petition.
They commented:
"They have nothing better to do."
"They should leave NewJeans and Apple alone... When did they even file that?"
"Why are they like that?"
"There are so many weird people in the world... but I didn't imagine there would be this many. Lol."
"I now know that NewJeans are the global ambassadors for Apple thanks to this person."
"Why are they doing this to NewJeans?"
"It's not like Samsung is some Korean traditional product. Why are they making such a fuss? Lol."
"I really wonder what type of people actually file a complaint with the National Petition Service for something like this."
"They really are bored aren't they?"
"There are so many cruel people."
"I wonder if this was done by one of the HYBE people lol."
"They are much more obsessive than the fans."
"Leave NewJeans alone."
"Oh..! So NewJeans are global models for iPhone? I thought they were models for a telecommunications company, but it's kind of cool that they're iPhone models."
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