If you were on Twitter recently, you might have noticed the "Juice juice bread" topic that was trending in Korea. If you wondered what that meant, well, it's kind of a long story. Let me explain:
With the much anticipated debut of MOBB, the unit duo consisting of Winner's Mino and iKon's Bobby, came a bit of controversy regarding the actions of Bobby's fan union. The union, consisting of nine of the largest Bobby fan sites, banded together to send the duo support in the form of food and flowers.
However, a photo was released on the fan union's Twitter account, showing the vast difference between what Bobby received and what Mino received. Bobby's larger brown basket was full of a variety of food items, Mino's smaller basket contained just two bottles of juice and bread- hence the trending Twitter topic.
Immediately Innercircle members- the official fan club of Winner- were unhappy with the situation. There was further unrest since they were much more considerate with the food that they ordered for the boys than the fan union was. A screenshot of a chat between an admin onMino's fansite and a food distributor was released, showing that the initial order was changed to suit Bobby who could not eat seafood (last three messages).
The administrator also posted a notice on the fansite explaining why the order was changed.
"I had initially ordered a bunch of different food for their main meal, but a [YG Entertainment] staff e-mailed me saying that they're usually not allowed to eat so much when recording for music shows so I had to shorten the amount by a lot.ㅠㅠ I have also substituted Bobby's meal with different dishes because I was told he cannot eat seafood. Although I am Song Mino's fan and since I know his personality, I had a feeling that Mino might end up feeling bad if his meal was prepared differently than his dongseng Bobby's *crying emoticon*. So other than the eel (and other seafood), we have proceeded in preparing their meals the exact same way!"
Later in the day, when the food arrived, the same admin posted a second message saying:
"As we were planning this support project and researching different menus, we were told that the stars feel sorry and bad when each of their own meals are different.. so we wanted to prepare their meals exactly the same since Bobby is a younger brother figure that Mino truly adores and cherishes, but we were told that Bobby cannot eat seafoodㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ We ended up contactingEol Rang and they recommended their most popular meat selections and dishes and decided on ordering the sweet and sour chicken and short ribs, which we also changed one of Mino's to as well!"
Furthermore, a picture was released of a message attached to some flowers that congratulated only Bobby on his solo debut, despite the fact that Mino was also a part of the unit. It was this that added fuel to fire, and portrayed Bobby's fan union as inconsiderate.
After much backlash from Innercircle members and various other fans, the union decided to issue an apology for their actions, which is translated below:
"Hello, this is Bobby Fan Union. First off, we would like to express how deeply ashamed we are of ourselves for having to draft this letter due to such an awful incident. We apologize for giving such late feedback and would also like to apologize to all the fans who have been waiting for our feedback.
After we, Bobby Fan Union, sent an e-mail inquiring about holding a support project, we received a response of approval just one day prior to the [music show] pre-recording. Because YG Entertainment also informed us that the pre-recording would take place early in the morning and that Bobby's fans and Mino's fans were both preparing a support project, we decided that it would be best to just prepare light meals consisting of finger foods and several snacks.
As details and information regarding the pre-recording schedule kept getting delayed, as well as running out of time looking for a food distributor, we received recommendations for one specific distributor who was said to have quite the experience working with fansites who need to place orders on short notice. After we were told that they would be able to take our orders even with so little time, we decided to proceed with the preparations.
We placed orders for the Double Ham and Cheese Ciabatta and the Bagel with Fresh Fruit and Fruit Juice extract lunchbox for both Bobby and Mino equally. Though the meals for the staff members were also the same, we had asked them for a small favor to put a little more thought into Bobby and Mino's boxes.
On the day of the pre-recording and support, before any of the food was delivered, we received a call from the distributor who told us that a brand new batch of fresh fruit had arrived that day so as a complimentary service, they added a few more bottles of the fruit extract juices as well as other fresh fruit so that both Bobby and Mino could enjoy them.
Because it was an order placed by Bobby's Fan Union and they were giving a complimentary service which was not part of the originally planned over, we believe there may have been a mistake while the baskets were being put together. However, it was due to our carelessness and negligence that the complimentary items they provided were not evenly distributed to Mino'sbasket. This resulted in Mino's basket being so different, which was not part of our intentions, and we would like to sincerely apologize to both Song Mino and his fans.
It was for the pre-recording of a unit promotion and we should have paid more attention, yet we failed to do so. As we work under the name of Bobby Fan Union, we should have acted more responsibly and with more meaning, which we weren't able to do and we have absolutely no excuses and no one else to blame, but ourselves.
We deeply bow down and apologize for causing pain to both Song Mino and his fans with our shallow actions."
MOBB made their unit debut on September 7th on Inkigayo, which is the day fan clubs had decided to send their support for the boys. This incident came as a shock to netizens everywhere and was extensively discussed on Pann as well as trended on Twitter.
Bobby's fan union may have issued a formal apology, but it is unlikely that this incident will be forgotten. This situation brought to light the need for fan clubs to be conscientious when sending in their support for units that combine members of different groups.
How do you feel about what occurred? Leave us a comment below!
