In a recent flooding of all-girl Kpop groups, we saw plenty of pretty, cute, and sexy - but the problem is that they were all too similar and repetitive in their concept. The ones who broke through that and created a new paradigm was the group Crayon Pop. Even in a culture that has seen too many girl groups dressed in every which way for attention, Crayon Pop was able to appeal with a unique look - namely trainers and dresses topped by helmets. Their song wasn't blatantly targeted for the male audiences but presented a unique, albeit corny, taste in their song "Bar Bar Bar."

Going against the grain worked for Crayon Pop. They didn't have to directly appeal to grab the attention of the male audience; their indifference summoned that attention. Women also became their fans for this attitude. Their dance, dubbed the "Five-Cylinder Engine Dance", was parodied many times by fans. Their uncommon concept appealed to the masses, and they became an instant hit and the center of attention in the media.

In other words, going against the grain of endless TV appearances and spending tons of money by doing the very opposite thing worked for Crayon Pop. "Bar Bar Bar," released last June, still remains in the Top 5 of most music charts - both online and offline - and is enjoying a popularity that brings Wonder Girls' "Tell Me" to mind.

When Wonder Girls' popularity exploded with their legendary hit song "Tell Me," a mind-boggling number of parodies were made every day. Wonder Girls, however, was backed by a huge company whereas Crayon Pop is supported by a management company that is still wet behind its ears. The fact that Crayon Pop's popularity was comparable to Wonder Girls' height of popularity despite this discrepancy is in itself a huge success.

It did not take long for this popularity to be stained by "scandals." Wonder Girls and "Tell Me" also had their share of negative publicity, but it was usually dismissed as the reactionary dislike of their immense popularity. Yet the negative publicity and the reproach against Crayon Pop are rather harsh. It began with their ties to the ultraconservative political website Il Beh (Daily Best Website).

Crayon Pop's members were caught using derogatory names such as "Limp" or "Nomu Nomu" for ex-presidents Kim Dae Jung and Roh Moo Hyun.

This was followed by the head representative of Crayon Pop's management company sending out a public tweet saying, "Thanks for spreading Crayon Pop on DC (DC Insider) and Il Beh". Even if what they did had nothing to do with Il Beh and was a normalcy to themselves, the general public questioned whether Crayon Pop indeed had ties with Il Beh and this suspicion went on to damage their reputation with their audience.

When things began to snowball into a scandal, the head representative made it clear that it was not for a particular political reason that they joined Il Beh - in fact, they had joined almost all the popular media outlet sites for advertising reasons. However, he issued an apology, further adding that this might just be a witch hunt against his company and Crayon Pop.

The problem was that Il Beh is not simply a place of advertisement. The general population of Korea has hatred against Il Beh site for its dismissal of democracy, refusal to accept Japanese Concentration Camps as a crime against humanity, and denial of women's social and political freedom - all of which seems to stem from a mindset that is still rooted in the 70's. 

Korean people even have a name for people who work for Il Beh - the Il Beh Worm - and use it for a common insult. Hyosung, a member of the girl group Secret, was harshly criticized for saying "I will not make it a democracy" on a TV program. Although it's safe to assume that Hyosung didn't have any political agenda, people heavily criticized Hyosung for it.

This current issue is on the same page as the Hyosung incident. Even if it was simply a coincidence or a misunderstanding, dismissing the criticism of their participation of Il Beh a 'witch hunt' and a 'blame game' is disappointingly shallow and unsatisfying to the general public.

One of the members of Crayon Pop wrote "Shi-An-Gyun-Yu-Shi Bul-An-Gyun-Yu-Bul" (Pigs only see pigs, Buddha only sees Buddha - a Korean saying) to express their position, but this phrase implies that the people who are criticizing them are the ones who are to blame - and this statement only further ignited the antagonism against them. It was not a wise move, especially after the company representative let known that one of the Crayon Pop members knew the Il Beh lingo. Following this incident, Crayon Pop had to drop their attendance to a city festival. They also were dropped as exclusive models to an auction site because many of the members of the website cancelled their membership.

Just as the masses were drawn to Crayon Pop's uniqueness, so the small, subtle things can cause a long-lasting distaste to the masses as well. Mistakes can be made, to be sure, but as a group that's just beginning to be noticed by the public, it is a serious error on their part for not being able to correctly read the public opinion of their mistakes and exacerbate the issue.

Unfortunately, that's not all. They are also being accused of plagiarism of Momoiro Clover Z, a Japanese all girl group, because the girl-group concept of both groups are very similar. They not only dress alike, but their performances, which center around defeating the bad guy, is also very similar. Their pose and even the big name tags that both groups wear are all too similar, and summoned negativity from the people.

In an interview Hwang Hyun Chang, the representative of Chrome Entertainment (Crayon Pop's agency) said, "Why are all girl groups the same? Why don't they try something new? That's where we got creative," and "We created the Crayon Pop concept by trying really hard to capture the essence of a cute younger sister or a friendly neighborhood girl friend." He explained, "Because we are not the big guys like YG and SM, we were able to do what they couldn't," and "We aren't thinking of profits or an image to upkeep."  The new plagiarism suspicions shoot down every one of these statements.

Perhaps the plagiarism might have been a non-issue had they not also overlapped with the Il Beh publicity. Sadly, this isn't the case. The Il Beh negativity and the plagiarism concerns have overlapped and are destroying their public image. In the general population's mind, Crayon Pop has both supported the ultraconservative right (who are accused of being in cohorts with Japan since the Occupation) and plagiarized a Japanese group. Understanding the Korean-Japanese cultural dynamics allows a bigger view of the problem.

Crayon Pop's success was unstable. They had to continue the sensation by a newer concept and an even more eye-catching performance. It's regrettable that even before the sensation of this new and unique girl group died down negative publicity surrounding Il Beh and plagiarism doomed them. It's too much of a stretch now to ignore all that negativity and consider them as just a cute and likable girl group. It's always been the psychology of the masses to take back their affection as quickly as they give it.

Crayon Pop still has some things going for them - such as being the first group of a small entertainment company, hitting it big and becoming huge celebrities - but the thing that they lack, perhaps because they are managed by such a young company, is the ability to analyze the situation in the eyes of the general public. Can Crayon Pop overcome such adversities? Do they have a trick up their sleeve to get them out of these holes? It's time for them to dig deep for a solution.