HYBE & NewJeans Criticized For Collaborating With Coca-Cola Amid Israel-Palestine Conflict

Recently, the official account of NewJeans posted several photos of the members with Coca-Cola drinks. The post immediately aroused negative responses from fans and netizens.

The reason is that Coca-Cola has carried out inappropriate activities related to the Israel-Palestine conflict. Friends of AI-Aqsa (FOA), a non-government organization for the human rights of people in Palestine based in England, exposed Coca-Cola for owning a factory in Israel’s unauthorized colonies on the land of Palestine people.

NewJeans and Coca-Cola’s collaboration began in March last year when the girl group was announced as ambassadors for Coca-Cola Zero. As a result, NewJeans has participated in various advertising campaigns and even released a music video to promote Zero Coke.

However, there has recently been a large campaign boycotting brands supporting or funding the Israel-Palestine conflict. K-pop fan communities in many countries agreed with the campaign and even organized “Boycott the Big 4” project to prevent big K-pop agencies from collaborating with brands in the boycott list.

Controversy arose right after NewJeans’s official Instagram account posted Coca-Cola advertisements. Many fans are pouring comments expressing disagreement and frustration on NewJeans’s account.

This became a hot topic in online communities, causing netizens to question whether NewJeans’s agency HYBE is ignoring fans’ feedback and serious political issues to advertise a controversial brand for money.