Some netizens pointed out the scenes in BLACKPINK’s “Shut Down” MV that are similar to COLLAR’s “OFF/ON” MV.
On September 16, BLACKPINK released their 2nd full album “BORN PINK” and the MV for the title track “Shut Down”. The MV reached nearly 50 million views within 24 hours of release. “Shut Down” has received praise for emphasizing BLACKPINK’s maturity in music.
However, a controversy has sparked as many scenes in “Shut Down” MV were suspected of plagiarizing the MV for the song “OFF/ON” of the Hong Kong girl group COLLAR, which was released earlier.
Some netizens shared screenshots of similar scenes in the two MVs on social media, drawing attention. They pointed out the resemblance in the scenes where a member sat in the bathtub, the car driving scenes, the choreography with fingers pointing to the ground, wearing a fur hat. These netizens refuse to believe this is merely a coincidence and say that if “OFF/ON” MV came out first, COLLAR would have faced backlash for copying BLACKPINK.
However, there are also netizens who think that many scenes in “Shut Down” MV are references to their own previous MVs, so there is nothing to do with COLLAR.
This is not the first time this year a BLACKPINK’s MV has been caught up in suspicion of plagiarism. In early August, the virtual AI concept in BLACKPINK’s “Ready For Love” MV was accused of plagiarizing aespa’s trademark concept, causing a heated controversy.
BLACKPINK’s pre-release single “Pink Venom” out on August 19 was also under controversy for the resemblance to Rihanna’s “Pon de Replay”, Notorious BIG’s “Kick in the Door” and 50 Cent’s “P.I.M.P” in lyrics and melody.
An Instagram user posted a video comparing lyrics from “Pink Venom” with lyrics from the tracks mentioned above and immediately caught netizens’ attention.
BLACKPINK fans objected that YG already announced that BLACKPINK’s song would sample the other songs, so the similarity is meant to pay homage, not plagiarize.
Source: K14, HK01
