Why Students Criticize the BTS Featured College Entrance Goods Set

Photo from BT21 Official Twitter Account

BTS featured character brand, BT21, released a special line for students, in time for the college entrance exam in Korea, this Thursday.

Are they supposed to encourage or discourage?

Photo from BT21 Online Mall

A collaboration project with LINE FRIEND CREATORS and BTS, the 8 featured characters of BT21, Tata, Van, RJ, Chimmy, Cooky, Shooky, Mang, and Koya, are claimed to be the handiwork of the BTS members themselves. From sketching to character elaboration, the 7 members are said to have actively participated in each stage of the process.

Photo from BT21 Official Site

This November, in light of the upcoming Korean college entrance exam, the Soo-neng,many brands are coming out with a special line of items in order to encourage students for their upcoming tests and college applications. BT21 has also released a line of Soo-neung goods, warm fluffy lap blankets and sitting cushions, all featuring the 8 BT21 characters.

Photo from Gmarket Online Mall

Photo from Gmarket Online Mall

One of their products, however, have brought an uncommon level of attention. A blanket and cushion set, called the Mang_Soo-neung Set, is based on the BT21 character Mang. However, in Korean "mang" also means to fail. When a customer complained about the name, saying "Isn't it for the Soo-neung? What's up with the character name, seriously, mang?"

Photo from Gmarket Online Mall

Photo from BT21 Online Mall

To this comment, an employee replied that it meant the "mang" used in the Korean word hope "hee-mang". However, the association with the sound "mang" with the word "fail," is inevitable, going viral among netizens and receiving serious criticism from students who were sensitive to any kind of indication of failure.

By Bongbong and SongGirl voomvoomk@gmail.com