In the first days of May, the K-Pop group NCT announced a new collaboration with Starbucks, but this brand-bad reputation has caused the boys to lose millions of followers on social networks and receive negative reactions from netizens.
Starbucks Korea announces exclusive collaboration with NCT for drinks, food and merchandise.https://t.co/1HvzJcbIYN pic.twitter.com/7S7POPVBLf
— Kpop Charts (@kchartsmaster) May 30, 2024
Previously, the chain of coffee shops was in the middle of a scandal for supporting Israel in the Palestine war. For that reason, fans decided to boycott the collaboration with the boy group to support Gaza, but this seems to go beyond the exclusive line and merchandise together.
It is common that when a boycott is started, people protest by avoiding listening to the artists’ music on legal platforms and unfollowing them on social networks, and when checking the official account of NCT, it is evident how this has declined since their announcement.
According to social media tracker Social Blade, the official Instagram account of the boygroup suffered the biggest loss at 674,370 over the last 30 days. For their part, the subunits NCT 127, NCT DREAM, and WayV accounts have lost 629,760, 633,210, and 455,340 in the same period of time.
However, as not only the group account is losing followers, the members are also losing followers in recent days, such as Taeyong, who, despite seemingly speaking out against the collaboration, has lost almost 680K followers, while Mark has experienced a drop of more than 988K, meaning a success in the boycott.
NCT's Taeyong seemingly asks fans to boycott the latest Starbucks Korea collection with the group via Instagram stories. pic.twitter.com/mHiq0JwDQQ
— Pop Base (@PopBase) May 30, 2024