[12.12.18] T-ara deny exceptional offer for alcohol CF deal so they can keep image of appealing to all ages

[nathaniel]

[12.12.18] T-ara deny exceptional offer for alcohol CF deal so they can keep image of appealing to all ages

T-ara have politely denied an exceptional offer for an alcohol advertising deal.

Besides their maknae Areum (19), all of T-ara are adults. According to recent news, idol groups have the second most amount of influence on today's youth and T-ara wanted to make sure they kept their image as an appropriate girl group.

T-ara said, "We want youth to mimic our dances, fashion styles and enjoy us for that instead of cater to encouraging the youth drinking culture. Because of this, we thought it would be inappropriate to advertise publicly for an alcohol brand."

T-ara also said, "In the future, we hope there will be less advertisement appearing to youth encouraging them to drink."

***

Source: http://news.nate.com/view/20121218n14067

Translated by: Nathaniel @ Diadem

[grimangel07]

yep, i think they made a good decision about this good job guys~!

[ily_shannon]

yeah Good decision! Jiyeon and Ahreum is too yaoung for that.

[Elienore]

*obligatory "I would have bought whatever they endorsed"

Nice to see KKS isn't throwing them at whatever earns him money, go T-ara

(although no fancy T-ara endorsed booze for me >,<)

[kuriya17]

good choice for T-ara

If they accept it, netizens will try to take that opportunity again to destroy their image again.

And besides, they have their maknaes areum and Jiyeon plus dani will join them later on.

really a good choice ^^

[t-araGO]

*Cry Cry* They're such good role models. T-ara are my heroes.

[keyy]

good girl...clap clap clap..

[xbot]

That's an absolutely right decision considering T-ara fans range from 50 to 5 year olds,

I always wonder on how people like to bash idols for innocently dating (most of them are in their teens and twenties after all) but on the other hand love to hear about their drinking stories and think it as cute. I have nothing against people who drink but it just sounds hypocritical to me..

I could be wrong, but one thing about T-ara that I love is that we don't hear any "cute drunk" stories from them or about how they are happy because they are old enough to drink or talking about their favorite alcoholic beverage.. I'm not saying that Idols shouldn't drink in their own free time, but why do you have to talk about it in the media? Aren't they supposed to be role models?

Lee Hyori has dropped her lucrative soju endorsement just because of the same reasoning, too bad other top youth idols (which I won't mention here) happily took it over..

[Klalic]

Great decision there our girls ^.^ With this decision, you can prove that you really care for others esp. the youth like us

Fighting!~

[T-4R4]

they made a good decision...

absolutely good choice...

T-ARA for everyone...

T-ARA THE BEST!! <3

[JohanaUS_Tara]

They made a good decision...t-ara always think first in their fans ...Queen's forever

[babybooboo]

Good decision that they've made! T-ara is making me proud *0* Plus, they also have Dani in the group lol

[shiro901231]

great decision indeed. money is not everything. they really care for their fans. t-ara fighting!!

[Renar]

Well i used to drink when i was younger myself. But due to the fact that id you over do it you get hangovers and the room starts to spin i cut down on the whole drinking thing, unless it's casual. Still al lot of youth here as well have the habit of drinking too much, so I'm not surprised that it's a concern in SK as well. All in all I Agree with you guys that they made the right call, encouraging youth to drink is always a bad idea, and idols should be a part of the solution like T-ara not part of the problem like others. (Yes Hara I'm talking about you). I applaud your stand on this matter girls, you done and made me proud.

[KaiC]

... well ... T-ara is the only idols that publicize their rejection of offers ..LOL ... at least this is good for youths ... hahaha

[Scatter_88mil]

"According to recent news, idol groups have the second most amount of influence on today's youth and T-ara wanted to make sure they kept their image as an appropriate girl group."

Well their image as an 'appropriate girl group' has taken a hit and it hasn't exactly recovered sufficiently enough in Korea. No surprise there.

"T-ara said, "We want youth to mimic our dances, fashion styles and enjoy us for that instead of cater to encouraging the youth drinking culture. Because of this, we thought it would be inappropriate to advertise publicly for an alcohol brand."

T-ara also said, "In the future, we hope there will be less advertisement appearing to youth encouraging them to drink."

I'm curious as to what fashion style they're exactly referring to since T-ara are not exactly big pioneers of fashion within Kpop or Korea's youth as a whole, at least compared to those like Big Bang. I doubt it's the stuff they wear for the concepts they do.

Furthermore, underage drinking isn't uncommon in Korea so it doesn't make much of a difference whether if there's more or less advertisements encouraging teens to drink. The drinking culture in Korea is heavily seeded into society anyway and has been for God knows how long - and it's not uncommon for parents to even let their kids drink at special occasions either.

Most, if not all alcohol CFs in Korea to my knowledge are also often done by actresses or older singers for the most part - and are more pickier with who can pull them off - SISTAR, Uee and Hyuna are also considered 'sexy icons' in Kpop (ditto about Hara) so they get a pass even as idols. Hell, you don't even see other big groups like SNSD, WG or 2NE1 doing alcohol CFs for image reasons but they don't go around saying it in public like this. Much like T-ara, a big portion of their fandoms consist significantly of teenagers so it's obvious entire groups aren't going to go around advertising something that's meant for adults in a legal sense.

Even then, the only members in T-ara who would qualify for an alcohol CF or come close to it are Hyomin, Eunjung and Jiyeon. From an advertiser's view, it would be quite illogical to have say, Boram in an alcohol CF.

Putting it simply, few if any are going to bother taking this news seriously. This is at best for PR purposes and grasping at straws at worst. How many people actually think T-ara would give much of a concern for public health after the hit they took months from the public before?

[Grimlock]

Their maknae Areum? Whatever happened to Dani lol.

Somebody needs to tell them you can't have an adult-version of a MV, several MVs that have a handful of violent scenes under your belt and then try to play the all-ages friendly card. Does not bother me one bit. I actually buy Chum Churum cause it has Hyori on it. Otherwise I stick to more conventional drinks.

[@Eunjung4eva]

I'm curious as to what fashion style they're exactly referring to since T-ara are not exactly big pioneers of fashion within Kpop or Korea's youth as a whole, at least compared to those like Big Bang. I doubt it's the stuff they wear for the concepts they do.

You dont have to be ULTIMATE SYMBOL of FASHION to be followed by ppl. There are few ppls or say Queen's who would love to follow their styles....

Putting it simply, few if any are going to bother taking this news seriously. This is at best for PR purposes and grasping at straws at worst. How many people actually think T-ara would give much of a concern for public health after the hit they took months from the public before?

Just because T-ara were badly received by general people, it doesnt not mean that they shouldnt try anything to clean their image. Just a scandal and idols shouldnt be humble or honest because ppl will not take them seriously is xxxx... so basically only majority are ppls are koreans right??? Then what about the K-queen's who are in minority!!! Arent they Koreans and wont they THINK THAT T-ARA IS GIVING CONCERN FOR PUBLIC HEALTH AFTER THE HITS THEY TOOK FROM PUBLIC B4/NOW. They actually think T-ara are not faking and that's the only reason they bear the name Queen's.

anyone who doesnt believe in T-ara but claim that they are Queen's are basically delusional peoples. why bother to be a fan and be part to that fandom when you dont believe in them..

Bottom line: I always like reading your post. They were always full of logic and substance but today we are on different page.. and its not an offence to you at all...

[jiyeunjung]

I think they made a good decision. Some may say "it doesn't have any affect" but for real, yes it does maybe not on you but to some t-ara fans and others because they avoid seeing one more add

[SimonH]

This is at best for PR purposes and grasping at straws at worst. How many people actually think T-ara would give much of a concern for public health after the hit they took months from the public before?

I really doubt it's for PR purpose. T-ara's articles have been garnering a lot of views lately, albeit for the wrong reasons. The money generated from advertisements (by clicking their articles) are many folds greater than that of other top idols. The response, while generally negative, are a lot greater too.

No matter how dumb KKS might be, he would have figured that such articles will not reverse public opinion by now. The real question is what plans does he have for T-ara in the future. Whatever KKS had done for the past few months (forbidding Davichi from leaving, creating an official app for T-ara, creating a T-ara version of the Japanese gambling machine, planning for future concerts, etc.) has only proved 2 things:

1) He's not giving up on T-ara

2) None of them will be able to leave even if their contracts have expired.

While KKS might always be inclined to do the least expected, I really doubt he can do otherwise with all these commitments he has given T-ara.

[Sf0706]

wise decision made by them

[Scatter_88mil]

"You dont have to be ULTIMATE SYMBOL of FASHION to be followed by ppl. There are few ppls or say Queen's who would love to follow their styles...."

I never said or implied they have to be an ultimate symbol of fashion but reading the article, it sounds like T-ara's claiming they have a significant impact in Korea's youth fashion sector which isn't exactly the truth. As you say - 'only a few people or Queen's that love to follow their styles' - the article doesn't say this specifically or whom exactly in Korea's youth they're referring to either.

"Just because T-ara were badly received by general people, it doesnt not mean that they shouldnt try anything to clean their image. Just a scandal and idols shouldnt be humble or honest because ppl will not take them seriously is xxxx... so basically only majority are ppls are koreans right??? Then what about the K-queen's who are in minority!!! Arent they Koreans and wont they THINK THAT T-ARA IS GIVING CONCERN FOR PUBLIC HEALTH AFTER THE HITS THEY TOOK FROM PUBLIC B4/NOW. They actually think T-ara are not faking and that's the only reason they bear the name Queen's."

The point is, the article (or its original Korean form) was in Korea, hence, purpoted to a Korean audience in the first place. This isn't America or anywhere else and compared to other groups in Kpop, T-ara's influence overseas is pretty miniscule at best. Regardless of where they promote, Korea is the source of their main income and it's an absolute must that they need to fix the issues they have there first if they're going to think about becoming as popular as they were prior to the scandal occurring.

Furthermore, fans' opinions cannot be taken as a legitimate source of T-ara's actual intentions of this all the time, if that's what you're trying to claim. Being a Queen's doesn't mean one has to believe everything they say and do in front of the camera - after all, idols are manufactured products.

"anyone who doesnt believe in T-ara but claim that they are Queen's are basically delusional peoples. why bother to be a fan and be part to that fandom when you dont believe in them.."

As said above, being a fan doesn't mean I have to believe in them on everything. Given that they're under excessively tight control by CCM, it's not exactly wrongful or delusional to not believe what they say all the time because there's a decent chance what they say is just scripted and therefore, cannot be taken seriously.

For example, in that show not so long ago called 'T-ara: Confession'. There was no confession at all and if anything, the entire subject talked between the members in that show changed completely into something else.

I really doubt it's for PR purpose. T-ara's articles have been garnering a lot of views lately, albeit for the wrong reasons. The money generated from advertisements (by clicking their articles) are many folds greater than that of other top idols. The response, while generally negative, are a lot greater too.

No matter how dumb KKS might be, he would have figured that such articles will not reverse public opinion by now. The real question is what plans does he have for T-ara in the future. Whatever KKS had done for the past few months (forbidding Davichi from leaving, creating an official app for T-ara, creating a T-ara version of the Japanese gambling machine, planning for future concerts, etc.) has only proved 2 things:

1) He's not giving up on T-ara

2) None of them will be able to leave even if their contracts have expired.

While KKS might always be inclined to do the least expected, I really doubt he can do otherwise with all these commitments he has given T-ara.

Given the scandal's effects and T-ara's general image, I don't think it should come off as a surprise that they'd receive large amounts of attention from the public. Putting it simply, their scandal can be seen as the biggest of all this year and a particularly special one at that - no one is going to forget it easily.

As far as I see it, what he seems to be doing is stooping down to desperate levels to stay afloat or even trying to delay the inevitable of going bankrupt as T-ara is CCM's flagship.

The fact that Davichi wasn't able to leave peacefully goes to show that the losses on CCM would be tremendous in the long term, not to mention that he's actually planning SPEED and Co-Ed's comeback next year even though they've pretty much gone dead for God knows how long and that no one's going to give much of a damn about them anyway. At this point, it's getting clearer that CCM obviously isn't going to be able to survive relying only on T-ara's income.

Davichi doesn't even benefit much of being in CCM anymore either, seeing how that they weren't particularly active in the music industry as of late unless being in weekend music shows like 'Immortal Singer' and the 'I Am a Singer' are counted while their popularity has also seem to have gone stagnant.

[abcfsk]

CCM should just stop with these "T-ara didn't accept this offer" stories. People everywhere are laughing at the ridiculousness of these PR offerings and it's hurting the image much more than an alcohol ad would. This has nothing to do with not trusting T-ara and everything to do with not trusting increasingly silly PR xxxx from the label.

[meenool]

T-ARA. IS. THE. BEST.

THEY'RE. A. GOOD. ROLEMODEL.

enough said.

[@Eunjung4eva]

I never said or implied they have to be an ultimate symbol of fashion but reading the article, it sounds like T-ara's claiming they have a significant impact in Korea's youth fashion sector which isn't exactly the truth. As you say - 'only a few people or Queen's that love to follow their styles' - the article doesn't say this specifically or whom exactly in Korea's youth they're referring to either.

You didnt say that but you stated Bigbang,right?? They are the fashion icon and have huge impact on youth. And going by the situation, you can without a doubt say that those words were for Queen's or thier followers more or less because general people arent with them or will listen to them. As simple as that. article never states such things. It's we, people who act on our own account and decide things on our own.

The point is, the article (or its original Korean form) was in Korea, hence, purpoted to a Korean audience in the first place. This isn't America or anywhere else and compared to other groups in Kpop, T-ara's influence overseas is pretty miniscule at best. Regardless of where they promote, Korea is the source of their main income and it's an absolute must that they need to fix the issues they have there first if they're going to think about becoming as popular as they were prior to the scandal occurring.

NO TWO WORDS ABOUT THIS but now, T-ara is getting more money from abroad(showcase) while they couldnt have proper promotions in Korea for SL.

Furthermore, fans' opinions cannot be taken as a legitimate source of T-ara's actual intentions of this all the time, if that's what you're trying to claim. Being a Queen's doesn't mean one has to believe everything they say and do in front of the camera - after all, idols are manufactured products.

I never said that fans(Queen's) should buy everything what T-ara throws. what i'm trying to say is if we know or think that T-ara is wrong then we shouldnt follow them. I mean, like why should we follow something knowing that its wrong to do so... and trusting T-ara with all of our hearts isnt wrong but following them knowing that they are wrong is DELUSIONAL.

As said above, being a fan doesn't mean I have to believe in them on everything. Given that they're under excessively tight control by CCM, it's not exactly wrongful or delusional to not believe what they say all the time because there's a decent chance what they say is just scripted and therefore, cannot be taken seriously.

For example, in that show not so long ago called 'T-ara: Confession'. There was no confession at all and if anything, the entire subject talked between the members in that show changed completely into something else.

Confession always doesnt refer to confessing about bad or unhappy things. T-ara never claimed that the confession was about scandal. No no. It was assumption own our own account. They did confessed and that confession was about how happy and glad they felt for being Queen's along their sides through out the scandal. Just because you wished them to speak about scandal and how it didnt go your way doesnt mean that it cant be a confession. It was confession about the happiness they felt from Queen's support and by no mean the confession episodes had caps like" about scandal or bullying"