V’s Coca-Cola Zero Ad Sparks Global Fan Disappointment

On Friday, July 31, BTS member Kim Taehyung (known as V to international fans) was chosen as the newest South Korean face of Coca-Cola Zero. Fans of the K-pop boy band are calling the move “tone deaf” and “deeply disappointing” in the middle of a genocide in Gaza, especially given that Coca-Cola is also on the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) list.

On that day, under the tag #BestCokeEver, Coca-Cola Korea announced that V will replace the girl group NewJeans, his label mates at HYBE, as the latest face of the international brand. Despite the huge unveiling event and photos of V, coupled with what is usually an accepted norm of product placement and celebrity endorsement for popular brands, the partnership deal has already gotten a huge amount of backlash from the same fans.

On the Surface: Advocacy On Social Justice vs Silence On Gaza

Members of BTS have in the past advocated for social justice issues, being more vocal about discrimination against Asians and anti-Blackness, as well as making public appearances in support of the BLM movement. There have even been BTS songs and music videos with subtly anti-war messages.

Fans expected more, however, in regards to what they see as the unfolding genocide in Gaza, the group has stayed silent on the issue, despite BTS’ otherwise vocal stance on human rights and self-empowerment. BTS has taken side projects before, whether with other brands or solo album promotions, while all seven members have focused on the global issue of Gaza in Palestine, which makes V’s recent endorsement seem to go against their public advocacy on social justice.

As noted by a Twitter fan, a year ago, V was criticized over the choice of clothing brand he used on IG, due to the line’s connection to Israel, even though all that V did was share a photo of McDonald’s fries on his IG. Comparatively, for global fans, this is further evidence of the group’s hypocrisy.

Attacking the Target: Why Coca-Cola Gets Booed for this Endorsement

Before choosing V, Coca-Cola has also been attacked by the BDS movement in recent weeks. In April 2024, a television commercial for Coca-Cola was pulled after the corporation was accused of lying about its relationship with Israel. In a Bangladesh advertisement, the soft drink giant wrote: “We don’t have business, operations, or partners in Israel.” But according to BDS advocacy groups, the statement is blatantly false.

In a July 2024 Facebook post by BNC, which provided evidence from WhoProfits that Coca-Cola Israel has a facility in the Atarot Settlement Industrial Zone in the occupied West Bank, activists accused the company of spreading false information about its operations. According to WhoProfits’ “Businesses Supporting Israeli Settlements in the Occupied West Bank” report, Coca-Cola Israel is located in Tulkarem, at the Atarot Settlement Industrial Zone, an industrial park.

Activists also say that Coca-Cola Israel’s “Tabor Winery purchased grapes from sources in the Occupied West Bank and the Syrian Golan Heights.” As a result of these findings, BDS organizations have targeted Coca-Cola for boycotts and called out its investments in Israel and the occupied territories.

For this reason and more, V taking on this particular endorsement with Coca-Cola Zero, which is selling water and sugar-sweetened soft drinks, is being dragged on social media by many of the same BTS fans.

Twitter Meltdown

Fans of BTS, especially the non-Korean international ARMYs, are now slapping back at V on Twitter and other platforms by calling out what they consider to be his hypocrisy and misplaced priorities at a time when an entire nation is under attack in Gaza. One online message, seen as an open letter to V, posted by a fan on July 31 and shared by thousands more, has the singer quoted as saying:

“Dear Taehyung BTS, Coca Cola has been operating on the stolen land of the Palestinians, some of whom are your ARMY. Please don’t work with and promote its products. Please educate yourself. Cancel the endorsement and stand with humanity.”

Fans who share the same opinion have also been urged to support or amplify this message. In particular, fans have also called out V’s silence on Gaza, adding that BTS needs to speak up too. One fan declared that the group was being hypocritical because they are both taking the money and not speaking up. While others have also drawn attention to what they saw as the difference between the high-traffic BTS concerts in the US, where V chose to wear a pro-Palestine t-shirt, and yet he was silent about Gaza the whole time.

Fans say they are also disappointed in BTS’s lack of advocacy, especially during this time in Gaza. While there has been no official response from either V or HYBE at the time of writing, in recent times, the BTS members have been adamant in their public silence on the issue of Gaza, even if V did not explicitly express his position on the matter. It was either he or his publicists who decided that taking this sponsorship was a good idea, which BTS and V are now paying the price for.

Celebrity Endorsements and Boycotts

The fact of the matter is that not all brands are created equal. From how they pay their workers to their carbon emissions and overall corporate policy on social justice, endorsements are being scrutinized more now than ever.

And for BTS members, who have used their platform for causes they see fit in the past, taking a Coca-Cola Zero ad deal while people are being bombed in Gaza doesn’t quite fit with the public image of them as socially conscious artists. While all of this is going on, neither V nor HYBE has made any official comment regarding the deal. We wait to see if there will be an update, but there are others, like the larger issue with K-pop groups taking Coca-Cola endorsements.