Mnet's Trick? 'Street Man Fighter' Addresses BTOB vs BIIB Group Names Issue
While dance enthusiasts rejoiced following the introduction of eight crews for Mnet's "Street Man Fighter," Melody, the fandom of BTOB, showed anger after one crew had the same name and logo as the K-pop boy group. Here's how the program responded.
Mnet 'Street Man Fighter' Releases Side Following BTOB-BIIB Group Names Conflict
On July 8, an official from Mnet's upcoming dance reality show, "Street Man Fighter," released their response following backlash caused by BANK2BROTHERS crew's name.
In particular, Melody (fandom of BTOB), earlier expressed their anger and frustration after it came to their knowledge that the crew would also be referred to as BIIB. Although it was spelled differently, its pronunciation and Hangul will be the same with BTOB.
Fans also complained that BIIB's logo and slogan's "Born to be Hip" were similar to BTOB's past logo and slogan, "Born to Beat."
ALSO READ: 'Street Man Fighter' Dance Crew Draws Mixed Reactions From BTOB Fans
As more internet users and K-pop enthusiasts demand Mnet to apologize and change its name, the program officially announced on Joy News 24 that:
"This is Mnet's production crew.
This is a notice related to the crew name of BANK2BROTHERS, currently participating in "Street Man Fighter."
BTOB is an abbreviation that BANK2BROTHERS Crew already used. But we recognized the confusion and decided to use the crew's full name to reduce broadcast confusion and increase distinction in the future.
We will also quickly change the logo and signal to increase their originality, and from next week, we will introduce the changed version," he added. We ask for your interest in 'SMF'."
BIIB vs BTOB Group Names Issue: Is Mnet Using K-pop Group as Trick to Gain Attention?
As the controversy grew over this, the program released its side, announcing future changes. However, the fandom Melody is still disappointed that Mnet and "Street Man Fighter" didn't apologize to fans in the end.
As the issue is yet to be subdued, even K-media outlet such as JTBC expressed their thoughts on this and criticized Mnet for using the issue as a "trick" to gain attention from fans.
One point is that Mnet shortened BANK2BROTHERS to BIIB, pronounced as "BTOB" and encouraged fans to vote by listing the dance crew the same way "BTOB" was written in Korean.
The group is already an established 11-year group in Korea, while the dance crew is new. So if fans will vote and see the name, non-SMF fans will not even think they are voting for a group that is not BTOB.
Even if you search for Crew's full name BANK2BROTHERS on YouTube, no video related to SMF was searched at all as well.
BAN2BROTHERS Feeldog is also receiving frustration from internet users. This is because he is a junior of BTOB, and above everyone, he should know and understand the importance of identity for idols.
What are your thoughts on this?
READ MORE: Queendom, Street Man Fighter and More: Mnet Reveals Another Sequels of Successfully Ended Shows
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Written by Eunice Dawson
