The news of NCT collaborating with Starbucks and the release of a merchandise line featuring the boy group was announced recently. While Korean fans have responded with mild reactions, international fans have shown a contrasting response due to the ongoing crisis in Palestine. This is because Starbucks, being a target of boycott, has affiliations with the crisis.
The ongoing situation in the Gaza strip, where Israel’s airstrikes have resulted in the deaths of numerous Palestinian people, has led to a global boycott of brands that support Israel.
Despite various targets, Starbucks has been particularly focused on due to their attempts to prevent the Starbucks Workers’ union from using their name and logo in support of Palestine, and an executive’s involvement in investing in Israel was exposed.
The backlash against Starbucks resulted in international fans taking action by protesting against NCT’s recent collaboration. Specifically, not only have fans urged for a boycott of the merchandise line, but they have also made a conscious effort to refrain from listening to NCT’s music and unfollow the members on social media platforms.
The impact of this boycott is evident in the increased number of followers on NCT members’ and NCT’s official group accounts.
According to Social Blade, a social media tracking platform, the NCT Instagram account has experienced a decrease of over 670,000 followers. Similarly, individual members such as Mark and Taeyong have also seen significant drops in their follower count, with decreases of over 980,000 and 688,000, respectively.
Despite being the least impacted, members still experience a significant decrease of more than 200,000 followers on Instagram, resulting in a collective loss of over 8 million followers on the platform.
It appears that the boycott against NCT has been effective, as fans are currently trending in hopes that SM will rethink their decision to collaborate with the group.
It has been widely recognized that in previous instances, other idols and agencies, including Jeon Somi and LE SSERAFIM, have also received significant criticism for promoting Starbucks or endorsing the brand through their own consumption.
Original source: Fireplace
Revised paragraph: The original source is Krb.
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