LE SSERAFIM's latest comeback truly has been crazy. As soon as they released their first concept photos for theirCRAZY comeback, the group was accused of plagiarism. Their concept, pictures and songs have been compared to almost every girl group out there, be it aespa or XG. However, it doesn’t stop there. Recently, LE SSERAFIM’s Eunchae was heavily criticized for allegedly ‘copying’ aespa’s iconic Armageddon promotional strategy. So, what did the maknae do? Well, she ‘copied’ some stickers.
Let us break it down for you. During the Armageddon promotions, aespa distributed ‘alien invasion’ stickers to their idol friends, who were tasked to stick them all across their agencies. “In case of an alien invasion, the person who doesn’t listen to Armageddon will be eaten first,” the stickers read.
▶︎▶︎▶︎ ๐ㅔ스파 찌౽߅시 스㈋ㅣ㈊ㅓ 무료 ㉯눔 ◀︎◀︎◀︎☎ 문의 ) 2024-0527 ☞ KWANGYA☞ 서울숲, 뚝섬, 성수 ર처 카페 5곳 힌트는 타래로…#aespa#æspa#에스파#Armageddon#aespaArmageddon#Supernova#aespaSupernovapic.twitter.com/ldVANfTY7L
— aespa (@aespa_official) May 21, 2024
Now, during LE SSERAFIM'sCRAZY comeback, a similar promotional sticker featuring Eunchae’s face was spotted on elevators and staff members’ items. Of course, LE SSERAFIM were immediately accused of copying aespa.
Well, sorry to break it to some of you, but promotional stickers like these have existed for years. Music show staff and fans often create cute and creative stickers during groups' comebacks, and idols love to place them everywhere they can. As a matter of fact, in Eunchae's case, contrary to popular belief, the stickers had been made by KBS/Music Bank staff. Neither LE SSERAFIM nor their team reportedly make the stickers. The staff of the broadcasting network, who frequently make stickers to show their support for Eunchae as she is an MC on their weekly music show, made the business card style stickers to promote LE SSERAFIM’s comeback.
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Having clarified that, we have one question. Why are aespa's promotional stickers being treated as a novel idea? Firstly, it's because the girls and their team came up with the sticker idea themselves. Aside from that, aespa’s promotional stickers became popular with other fandoms. It all started when aespa's Karina gave NewJeans' Minji some 'alien invasion' stickers to place all over HYBE. After Minji successfully carried out the mission, the news immediately blew up. Why, you ask? Well, that’s because Minji put up the stickers just days after chats of HYBE's founder Bang Si-hyuk asking ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin to ‘crush’ aespa were leaked. Fans were loving Minji’s bold move during HYBE and ADOR’s feud.
[📸 240608] @aespa_official’s GISELLE & KARINA asked #MINJI to spread Aespa ‘Alien Invasion’ stickers around HYBE so MINJI secretly sprinkled them all over the company without their manager knowing 😂#NewJeans#뉴진스#ニュジpic.twitter.com/MNazIMaMuX
— NewJeans Central (@NewJeansCentral) June 8, 2024
Do aespa and Eunchae's stickers look somewhat similar? Yes. Do they have catchy quotes related to the group's recent releases? Yes. However, if you actually take a closer look, they do have their differences. aespa’s stickers were meant to promote their song with humour. It’s clearly visible as they focused on the song's name and their concept on the stickers. Meanwhile, Eunchae’s ones were created by KBS’ staff to show support for the maknae during LE SSERAFIM’s comeback. That’s why they only included her face on the sticker (and not all the members). Does that mean the staff weren’t inspired by aespa’s sticker design? Well, we can’t say no. However, considering that many groups such as BTS and SEVENTEEN have had such promotional stickers in the past, accusing LE SSERAFIM of copying seems a little far-fetched.
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It is more than a plagiarism issue here; it is an issue between two groups' fans. Due to HYBE founder Bang Si-hyuk’s ‘crush aespa’ remark and his feud with ADOR, LE SSERAFIM and aespa's fans are at odds. If the fandoms had been close, fans would have called this same thing 'crumbs.' So, are LE SSERAFIM copycats? As far as we’re talking about the stickers, no they are not. The girls didn't even create the stickers in the first place.