THE BOYZ Copied BTS? Group's Virtual Photocards Draw Flak for Uncanny Similarities

Netizens are criticizing the virtual photocards of THE BOYZ, which happened to have similarities with the ones in BTS's "Proof" album.

Here's what people are saying.

THE BOYZ's Virtual Photocards Slammed by K-Netz for 'Copying' BTS's 'Proof' Merch

On November 13, a netizen opened a forum discussing the virtual photocards of THE BOYZ, which were made by avatar platform Zepeto.

While the photocards showcased the members' avatar versions, the merch was criticized by the author and netizens for having so many similarities to BTS's "Proof" photocards.

The Zepeto cards acquired the same tiled background, dimmed environment, and the tilted pose of the members.

However, they claimed that the most obvious one was the crossed lighting on the photos, which was one of the memorable highlights in the "Proof" photocards.

Read their comments below:

• "I thought that the bottom ones were Bangtan's. That is totally the same. Are they from the same company?"
• "This is way too similar, what is this?"
• "Is this supposed to be a homage? If not, then this is dumbfounding."
• "Wow, that's freaking the same? And by the way, since when did Zepeto do photocards? Interesting."
• "The crossed lighting made it too obvious. Also, anyone who's spending money on Zepeto photocards needs help."

However, some fans called out Zepeto directly for not announcing the intentions behind the virtual photocards, while others defended that the group had nothing to do with the releases.

• "I don't know, but they should've been careful or at the very least made it clear if it was a homage, an inspiration, or whatever. BTS's "PROOF" album was released less than two years ago after all."
• "This is the fault of the group. It's the fault of Zepeto's company."
• "THE BOYZ are creative about their photocards IIRC. Maybe this is just another episode of K-netz accusing other groups of plagiarism just because they knew about BTS first."

In other news, THE BOYZ managed to secure a place on the November 2023 brand reputation rankings released by the Korean Business Research Institute. According to the list, THE BOYZ placed on the No. 7 spot with a brand reputation index of 1,920,403.

The list involves all boy groups in the K-pop industry. Its results were also derived from October 11 to November 11.

See the top 30 here:

1. BTS

2. SEVENTEEN

3. NCT

4. RIIZE

5. EXO

6. Stray Kids

7. THE BOYZ

8. ZEROBASEONE

9. Super Junior

10. TREASURE

11. SHINee

12. ENHYPEN

13. VIXX

14. TXT

15. MONSTA X

16. ASTRO

17. PENTAGON

18. ATEEZ

19. Shinhwa

20. WINNER

21. ONF

22. 2PM

23. BOYNEXTDOOR

24. Golden Child

25. Wanna One

26. TVXQ

27. YOUNITE

28. Highlight

29. BTOB

30. SF9

What are your thoughts on this? Let us know in the comments below!

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Written by Riely Miller